My name is Tristan Forsyth and I am the Director of Curriculum (Years 7-12) at BMGS. Most of you may also know me as the Head of Department for Languages and Religious Studies.
As we enter a new phase in the delivery of learning and curriculum here at the School due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am writing to reassure families that all staff are working hard to ensure that the learning opportunities the School is providing online, is on par with and exceeds the already high standard that we have as a School.
As a parent myself, I am concerned about our children's learning and well-being. I have had many inquiries around what this learning will look like here at BMGS, hence this resource being put together.
In an increasingly fast-paced world with regards to information, it is easy to miss things so my aim is to use this page as a collection of helpful resources that will ease the transition from classroom-based learning to home-based learning.
Resources will be added here as time goes on and families are encouraged to visit this page and use it the first point of call if they have any questions.
As always, my 'virtual' door is always open and I can be contacted at school via email at [email protected], my landline number is 47579000 (extension 274) and by Zoom video conferencing. Please email me to set up a meeting.
Online Learning:- Often named 'e-learning' and sometimes misunderstood to simply mean 'delivering content electronically', online learning actually is a means of delivering content-rich lessons that both caters for and extends all learning types. When done properly, online learning can (literally) open up a world of possibilities for students and it is the goal for teachers at BMGS to explore this concept to not only get us through the next period of time of home-based learning but to learn , engage and then adapt these experiences to our existing teaching structures once school resumes in a face-to-face context.
Zoom:- You may have heard your child saying that they have a Zoom lesson coming up and wondered what that was. Zoom is a video-based conferencing system that allows up to 100 participants to join in a conversation (think Skype or Facetime but on a much larger scale). The beauty of this tool is that it allows teachers to engage face to face in live time with our students whilst they are at home alongside sharing their laptop screens, writing on a virtual whiteboard and facilitating group work to allow our students to work with each other no matter where they are. More information can be found at www.zoom.us
Screencasting:- simply put, screencasting is where a teacher can construct a lesson utilising a variety of resources (like video, websites etc) and pull it all together into a video package that then can be watched by a student in their own time. Many of our staff are using a software platform called Loom to produce amazing lessons for your child. Visit www.loom.com for more information
At the core of everything we do, quality education is central. Just as all students learn differently, all teachers teach differently. To facilitate this, the School has allowed staff to use any and all platforms that they feel comfortable using with the recommendation to start experimenting with technologies they may not be familiar with, in order to deliver even better lessons in the near and far future.
Whilst this list is not exhaustive, it should provide an overview of some of the technologies what staff are using. This will be added to as staff experiment with platforms.
Our School Portal is where students should always check first to see what they need to do for the day:
http://home.exetel.com.au/bmgs/studentnet/ (links to portal and school email)
or the direct link to the portal