This week the College again entered the Home-Based Learning environment. I would like to thank my staff for their dedication and professionalism during this time. It was just over a year since we last used HBL and the teachers have quickly responded to this situation to ensure your children have had a continued educational experience during lockdown.

It was announced today that we may not hear about a possible lifting of the lockdown until Sunday. If the lockdown is extended, the teachers have already prepared HBL for next week, so the learning from home will continue. If the lockdown is lifted, the College will follow all the required government health directives to ensure a safe, happy learning environment is again created on campus.

Parents of senior students, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) is in contact with QLD school principals regarding senior assessments. QCAA is committed to ensuring that our senior students have a complete assessment pathway this year. The College will act upon its advice.

Thank you to the parents who are at home at the moment, taking care of your children during lockdown. Thank you for helping your children access and participate in HBL. The government has again reiterated that it is vital that only essential workers' children and vulnerable children attend campus during this time. All children on-site must have a valid reason for being here. We all look forward to these restrictions lifting as soon as possible and for all children to return.

We have received many messages of support from our parents this week in the office. It is so encouraging to hear how positive our community is and I look forward to seeing our staff and students rise to overcome this challenge together.

Mrs June Melbourne

"I just wanted to write you a quick email to let you know how amazed I am at the incredible job TMC is doing with HBL. It has been organised so well and the teachers are amazing. 

After being at a state school last year and having hundreds of printed pieces of paper and zero teacher support, the quality of HBL and the support the teachers are providing at TMC is second to none. 

Last year was a massive challenge especially for one of my children at the other school. But this year, he has really enjoyed the delivery of learning and has made him enjoy HBL. 

Thank you for all of your hard work. Hopefully we are back at school on Monday."

Schools don't feel the same without children! This week's featured image is an empty basketball court, sitting in front of quiet classrooms. We look forward to this scene filling with friends, laughter, learning and fun in the near future.

Congratulations to TMC student, Talia Criss, who has been named Interschool Queensland State Team Combined Training Captain, 2021. What a well-deserved honour for Talia and a recognition for our entire equestrian team. Congratulations, Talia - you will do us proud!

If the HBL continues next week, Secondary students will resume ARC classes. A focus of this program is well being. Our ARC teachers, Form teachers, and our Year Coordinators are working to support our students during this challenging time. Please reach out to us if we can be of support in any way.

Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service have put together some helpful advice for parents to support their teenagers through this time. Click HERE to read the article. 

Mrs Fiona Stevens - Head of Secondary

The Chief Health Officer has indicated that mask-wearing may be in practice for some time to come. If we are able to return to campus on Monday, it is likely that the QLD Health directive will be that all students in Years 7 to 12 will be required to wear masks. This will apply to all areas of campus except when students are eating and/or drinking whilst seated. We ask that parents discuss this with students and prepare them for this regulation. We also ask parents to support students  in obtaining a school-appropriate face mask to wear. Colours and patterns are accepted  - please note we have young children on campus so any student wearing a mask that is frightening or inappropriate for a school context will be asked to replace it with a plain surgical mask form the office. 

Mrs Fiona Stevens - Head of Secondary

On Thursday, Ms Hiron couldn’t attend to her online learning duties, so in a panic she had a substitute teacher attend her morning video chat. Sunny did eat the kids' homework, but the children didn’t mind. 

Mr Hall and his daughter were super busy Friday morning so they asked for substitutes to fill in as well. The new teacher and student were not that helpful as they couldn’t operate the microphone.

1VAL has been learning about different cultural stories from around the world and writing retells. This week the children were able to choose their own special books to retell and share with the class in the presentation style of their choice. We have enjoyed viewing their reenactments with toys, storyboards, and dramatic performances. Well done with all your effort at home and a big thanks to all the parents and siblings for their assistance and acting roles too! We can't wait to see you all again soon. 

Mrs Fern and Ms Boyd, Year 1 Val

Prep Vic has had a blast this week. We have used the fact that the children are at home to do some wonderfully practical things with measurement in Maths like going for a 1km walk, weighing objects on scales, and filling up containers with coloured water to measure volume.

Every day we have had writing tasks with Ms Meadows in class and the amazing parents at home have helped with. 

On Thursday we all enjoyed a guided drawing activity, having a go with a dolphin and a Bluey picture. 

We have sung, danced, had Show and Tell, learnt about materials, played with sight words, enjoyed our new Matific games and chatted every morning in our Meet call.

I'm so proud of everyone for rolling with something new and making it look easy. Well done.

Mr Fern

This term our Year 3 students are investigating Earth and space sciences. Recently, we have monitored and recorded our shadows, at different points throughout the day. Students made predictions about the changing appearance of their shadows, reflective of their understanding of the relationship between our Earth and sun. At various intervals throughout the day we recorded the time, traced the position of our shadows (from the same position) and measured their length. 

This experience fostered our students' understanding of the world around them, as they planned, predicted, observed and investigated the relationship between our Earth and the sun.

Ms Jodi Byron

Year 5 started learning Ukulele this term and through lockdown have been learning the parts of the Ukulele and completing an online worksheet as seen below. We also watched and listened to this fabulous version of Bohemian Rhapsody on Ukulele by Jake Shimabukuro. Student comments in Google Classroom included:

'I love it because it has a lovely harmony'  Charlie Hunter

'Wow that was so relaxing to listen to!'  Abby Harding

'Wow that sounds like it should be a song in minecraft!'  William Callow

Take a moment to sit back and enjoy the music just as our students have been!

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