Category: Updates from Rose Bay Secondary College

Learning from home; schools are open for families who need it – applies to schools in Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour).

Students learning from home. No student is to be turned away. Early childhood education services can continue to operate.

All non–core curriculum related activities are to cease on school site.

Schools should not turn away any student from attending the school site in person. Schools will provide a program of learning for students who attend school, and students who are learning from home.

Schools will revert to their remote learning mode, using existing resources and programs. For additional support, refer to Learning from home.

Under the current health orders, there is nothing to restrict students and staff who must attend school from moving between two areas with different levels of restrictions.

Latest advice

Refer to Advice for families for the latest information.

The Homework Centre is up and running again this term.

We are proud to be a Share Our Space school these school holidays, placing the school at the heart of our community by helping provide more quality open spaces to enjoy.

Whether you’re looking for a place to play sport with friends, exercise using fitness equipment, or simply to relax and gather with your family, you can Share Our Space with participating schools opening from 8am to 5pm from Monday 28 June – Friday 9 July, including weekends and public holidays.

Key things to know about Share Our Space:

• Gates are opened at 8am and closed at 5pm each day.

• To remind visitors to maintain appropriate physical distancing and COVID safe hygiene practices, additional signage will be provided. An external cleaning service will also be provided twice weekly to all Share Our Space schools during the holidays and at the end of the program.

• The list of schools that are open may change because of emergencies or natural disasters.

• Each school will have only one gate open during Share Our Space.

• School toilets are not open during Share Our Space.

 To find out details and a school near you, go to the Share Our Space webpage at https://edu.nsw.link/ShareOurSpace

Good morning members of the Rose Bay Secondary College community,

On Wednesday 4 May, 2022 there will be industrial action taking place. As a result, minimal supervision only (no actual teaching of classes) will be available at Rose Bay Secondary College on that day. We will however, still be running the scheduled cross country carnival, for competitors only, at school that day. Further communication for competitors from Mr Flack will be forthcoming shortly. Students who attend on 4 May are advised to bring their own recess and lunch as the canteen may not be available.

Kind regards,

Melinda Bright

Principal

Rose Bay Secondary College

This year Ed Week will be held from 26 to 30 July 2021 celebrating the theme Lifelong learners. 

NSW public schools will celebrate Education Week from 26 to 30 July 2021 with the theme Lifelong learners.

Education Week is an annual celebration of NSW public education and it’s your chance to celebrate the achievements of your school, students and learning community.

This year’s theme is ‘Lifelong learners’ and celebrates education as a lifelong journey from before a child enters an early childhood setting, progressing to primary and secondary school, and continuing their learning journey into adulthood; learning a trade, entering tertiary education, or the workforce.

Continuous learning is critical for success throughout life and everyone can be a lifelong learner.

This year’s celebrations will kick-off with a virtual live stream launch from 10am on Monday 26 July, with more events to follow.

Schools can enter the Ed Week video competition by creating a mini documentary that showcases the theme of Lifelong learners.

Tell us about a unique or interesting story from your school community for the chance to win filmmaking gear for your school. Visit the Ed Week video competition webpage for details on how to enter.

Visit the Education Week website for ideas and resources to plan a celebration in your local school community and share your Ed Week celebrations and activities on social media using #EdWeek21. 

Good morning to all community members of Rose Bay Secondary College.

Term 2 starts today for all students and we look forward to welcoming them all back on campus. We hope all our families had a restful and healthy break.

We welcome two new permanent staff members to RBSC this term, MS Sai Hemvititum in the TAS faculty and Mr Siva Pathmanathan in the Mathematics faculty. I can tell already that they both have a passion for teaching and great expertise in their subject areas. We also welcome in a temporary capacity, Ms Elisha McINtyre, replacing Mr Mike Bailey in History and Ms Nikki McWhirter and Mr Patrick Renford in the PDHPE faculty.

A reminder please of the high expectations for uniform compliance at RBSC as we head into the cooler months. With ventilation so necessary, we recommend all students bring a warm jumper with them every day but ensure they have the correct uniform underneath. Please contact the front office if you need assistance with purchasing uniform items.

I would also like to stress the importance of compliance with our mobile phone policy. This includes the use of any kind of earphone. After one warning a student’s phone will be confiscated for collection by the student. On the next occasion it will be confiscated for collection by a parent and then a formal caution followed by a suspension for any further infringements. All mobile phones and ear phones should be placed in a student’s bag once the bell rings for class and should not come back out again until break 1, 2 or the end of the day. We recommend parents have passwords to all social media accounts on a student’s phone and that they are monitored regularly.

I want to give you an overview of how we are continuing to ensure our school remains COVID-safe through our updated Term 2 settings.

Some of the layered COVID-smart measures you’ve come to know in recent months will continue this term. These ‘baseline measures’ are aligned to the NSW Government’s general community settings and include:

• rapid antigen testing for symptomatic students and staff
• vaccinations – including booster shots (from 3 months after your child’s primary COVID-19 dose) are encouraged for all eligible students and their families. Staff and volunteers on school grounds are to follow vaccination guidelines
• ventilation
• good hygiene practices
• enhanced cleaning.

Continuing these baseline measures allow us to prioritise student and staff wellbeing while giving our learners a consistent and productive learning environment this term.

What’s new in Term 2?

As we head into the cooler months, our COVID-smart measures have been updated in consultation with NSW Health, to provide additional protection to our school community.

• Change to close contact isolation requirements. On 20 April the NSW Premier announced that from 6pm 22 April 2022, close contacts (including household contacts) could leave home isolation with certain restrictions. The announcement means that from Week 1 of Term 2, students and staff who are identified as close contacts will be able to attend school with the following risk mitigations in place:
  • You must notify the school if you/your child have been identified as a close contact and are intending to return to school.
  • You/your child should conduct a daily rapid antigen test (RAT) and receive a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 subsequent school days as part of your personal responsibility to minimise the risk of transmission.
  • Staff members and high school students must wear a mask indoors at all times except when eating or exercising. Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors at all times (except when eating or exercising).
  • No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to participate in overnight excursions, including school camps.
  • Students and staff in SSPs or support classes or utilise assisted transport who are identified as close contacts must not attend school during this time.
  • Visitors in contact with students including volunteers, allied health partners and staff providing professional learning who are close contacts should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending a school or ECE site. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times (except when eating or exercising) if they are 12 years old or over. If attending a school site and interacting with students for an extended period of time, the visitor should advise the school that they are a close contact.
  • In line with these changes, students with health conditions should speak with their treating medical practitioner or specialist to review their health support plan or COVID-19 action plan and speak with the school around any local considerations.
• Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs). The department will continue to supply RAT kits to students and staff to support symptomatic testing and testing for close contacts returning to school (as mentioned above). Within the first three weeks of term we will provide [DELETE AS REQUIRED: 1 multipack of rapid antigen tests per student and staff member OR 2 multipacks of rapid antigen tests in each per student and staff in schools for specific purposes (SSPs) or support classes]. Once these department-supplied RATs are exhausted, please continue to access PCR tests and store-purchased RATs which are now readily available in the community or let the school know that you need more and we will try and assist. [Include details on how RATs will be distributed at your school].

• Masks. The latest NSW Health advice recommends wearing a mask for people who have recovered from COVID-19 and recently completed their 7-day isolation period for an additional 3 days (from days 8 to 10 after receiving a positive COVID-19 result). [DELETE AS REQUIRED: Staff in SSPs and support classes are also required to wear masks to provide additional protection for our students]. Additionally, as outlined in the above section on close contacts, mask wearing is mandatory for staff and high school students returning to school as close contacts for 5 days and recommended for primary school students returning to school as close contacts for 5 days. Where students or staff are unable to wear a mask, they should be supported to learn or work remotely.

• Responding to our local situation. We will continue to liaise with NSW Health and the department’s Health and Safety case management team to ensure our COVID-smart settings keep-up with the latest developments. If local conditions require it, this may mean temporarily reintroducing some additional COVID-smart settings including:
  • mask wearing for all staff and students in Year 7 and above
  • directing cohorts to learn from home for short periods of time
  • postponing or limiting non-essential activities like excursions, indoor assemblies and visitors to the school.

We will make sure to update you at the earliest opportunity if any of these additional measures are required in Term 2.

• Ventilation. The NSW Department of Education is reviewing environmental differences across NSW as part of their winter ventilation planning, ensuring that local climatic conditions at each school are considered. The department will provide local guidance to schools, including advice on maximising natural ventilation while balancing thermal comfort and the use of indoor and outdoor learning areas for school activities to support schools to adapt to local climate conditions through the winter months.
• Reducing the risk of illness this winter. Finally, it’s important to note NSW Health’s advice to reduce our risk of not only COVID-19, but also other illnesses that may affect our school this winter like the flu. We can all protect our loved ones and our community by:
  • taking a RAT before visiting vulnerable loved ones or going to large gatherings and events.
  • staying home if unwell
  • keeping up to date with our vaccinations – including the flu vaccine, which is available from your local GP, pharmacy or Aboriginal Medical Service now. Flu vaccines are free for all children aged 6 months to under 5 years, or for a small charge for those aged 5 years and older
  • getting tested immediately for COVID-19 if you become symptomatic and isolating until you receive a negative result
  • practicing good hand hygiene by washing regularly with soap and water

We wish you all a healthy and productive term 2 and thank all our community members for working together to promote a safe, welcoming and high expectations educational setting.

Kind regards,

Melinda Bright

Principal

Rose Bay Secondary College

Every child in NSW deserves the opportunity to develop the necessary mathematics and numeracy skills to succeed in life, increasing their post-school pathways and life options while building the foundations for future dreams.

From 2022, all NSW secondary schools will have access to the new Numeracy course in Stage 6.  This course is proven to lift student engagement in mathematics and numeracy and contribute to their HSC.

The new course is being rolled out following evaluation of the pilot that was led by the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE).  The evaluation found an increase in participation and engagement with students of Stage 6 mathematics including Students enrolled in Vocational Education and Training courses, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students and Students in rural and remote areas.

To support and drive awareness of the importance of mathematics in everyday life – a group of well-respected ambassadors and content creators will continue to share with students how they use mathematics in their daily life. 

Some of our ambassadors have already shared their stories with us:

• Sports brains with professional athlete, Steve Solomon, and mathematics teacher, Eddie Woo
• Creative brains with former Harper’s BAZAAR editor-in-chief, Kellie Hush, and mathematics teacher Eddie Woo 
• Chef brains with former Masterchef contestant, Alice Zaslavsky, and mathematics teacher Eddie Woo.

For more examples and ideas for you and your child to explore mathematics in a fun and engaging way, check out the Everyday Maths Hub.

The Everyday Maths Hub was designed specifically to support students and their families to bring mathematics into the everyday, developing and supporting positive attitudes towards mathematics and numeracy.

As we know from evidenced-based research, when teachers and schools work together with parents and carers, our students’ attitudes, engagement and success are enhanced.  We can work together to achieve great results across mathematics and numeracy. For ideas on how to engage your child visit Everyday Maths Hub.

High school is full of excitement, new experiences, and, of course, the occasional challenge too. Getting the most out of it requires preparation and a clear sense of what lies ahead.

The release of the HSC timetable marks the beginning of the final leg of the Year 12 school journey.

As of 29 April, 76,000 NSW school students received their personalised timetable for the 2021 written HSC exams.

HSC written exams will start on Tuesday 12 October with a compulsory English paper and finish with the examination of Food Technology on Thursday 4 November.

Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the release of the HSC timetables were the final leg of the school journey for Year 12 students.

“The HSC is a logistical behemoth, it includes scheduling 18 days of HSC exams involving around 76,000 students, 129 exams and more than 775 exam centres,” Ms Mitchell said.

“The HSC is the culmination of years of schooling and receiving your timetable makes it all the more real for students.

“Students are already working hard in their final year, and I wish them all the best during an exciting time.”

NESA CEO Paul Martin said planning for the HSC exams was a necessarily rigorous process, especially after last year showed just how quickly things could change.

“The timetable is designed to provide a schedule which is as fair and equitable as possible to ensure all students get the opportunity to do their best in their written exams,” said Mr Martin.

“Last year showed that plans can change in an instant and we always want to make sure students, schools and exam supervisors feel prepared for anything, so they can focus on exams.”

To develop the timetable NESA follows rigorous procedures to:

• provide sufficient breaks between exams for popular courses
• provide sufficient breaks between exams for frequently combined courses
• enable all exams to be marked and students to receive their results from 6:00am on Friday 10 December
• minimise the number of students with two exams scheduled at the same time.

All 2021 HSC students can access their timetable on Students Online.

The full 2021 HSC written exam timetable is available on the NESA website.