Dear Secondary School Parents and Caregivers,

Well, what a very unusual time we are currently experiencing! All of us have had to adapt to new restrictions, behaviours and routines. Our lives have been transformed in a few short weeks.

At the College, we are aware of how challenging this may be for our students. We want to be proactive in supporting our students’ wellbeing and ensure that we journey through the Remote Learning phase as sustainably as possible.

In order to support student wellbeing, each Wednesday will have a more intentional wellbeing focus where we implement strategies which should reduce the use of digital devices and help enhance students’ physical activity, mood and coping mechanisms.

From 25 August 2021, we will have the first of our ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’. On these ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ the normal daily routine will be much the same for students, however Secondary School teachers will implement the following strategies in their lesson planning:

• Reduce the amount of time spent in front of devices
• Minimise Zooms and online activities
• Increase offline activities which engage with the home and surrounding environment
• Provide time to read a book, catch up on missed work or revise previous material

Learning activities will continue to be provided by teachers, however they will be tasks designed to be mostly completed offline. Teachers will still be available to support students if they have concerns and some online classes may continue if an assessment is due. However, we want Wellbeing Wednesday to be a circuit breaker from a technology focused schedule, and most lessons will require students to be away from their devices.

God has clearly made us for relationship. From the very beginning, He has said it is not good for us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). While technology has been helpful in maintaining social distancing, it can also make us feel isolated and disconnected from the world.

We want our students to excel in all aspects of their lives. We have been impressed with our students’ resilience and want to continue to build an environment where our students thrive.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

____________________________

Nate Miller
Head of Wellbeing 7-12

Belmont Christian College

Phone: (02) 49228300
Email: college@bcc.nsw.edu.au
Web: www.bcc.nsw.edu.au
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Street: 65 John Fisher Road, Belmont NSW 2280
Post: PO Box 492, Belmont NSW 2280