When lockdowns lead to breakthroughs

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for schools, students and home-schooling parents doing their best to educate whilst working from home. However, despite the challenges, some schools rose above in meeting these changes and forging ahead with new ways to learn and keep safe.

An engaging education

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers at Firbank Grammar school were determined that students would continue to learn in spite of Melbourne’s repeated lockdowns. During Melbourne’s two years of disrupted onsite learning in schools, they developed educational programs that ensured student engagement and growth, raising the standard of best practice.

Firbank Grammar principal Jenny Williams said their goal was for students to experience interacting with their teachers and classmates despite being isolated in their homes, and that teachers had to look for every opportunity to innovate in ways that kept the students engaged.

“During the lockdown, our natural face-to-face interactions disappeared so we prioritised ensuring all our students, from the youngest to our seniors, had access to safe devices that enabled online real-time learning. We were able to open up all our platforms to our entire student body in record time – there was almost no downtime,” she said.

Firbank’s students, whose ages range from three in ELC up to VCE students, could attend virtual and interactive presentations, participate in activities, and even take part in sports competitions from home. Even the Allied Health VCE students were practicing CPR on pillows in their own homes.

“When other schools had weeks off to adjust to the new online climate, our school took advantage of the investments it had previously made in its IT infrastructure,” said Williams.

“Our staff knew what had to be done and they not only turned it around quickly, but they excelled. We even had innovative ways to continue school life, such as a ‘click-and-collect’ library service and team-training sessions.”

Exciting additions

In the face of the restrictions, Firbank’s building works went ahead on the new Arts Precinct that will change the way creativity is taught and explored through world-class facilities. The new building, which will be ready for next year’s students, includes a state-of-the-art lecture theatre and contemporary gallery space.

When it came time to return to onsite learning, the school made national headlines when it implemented leading safety protocols, such as mandatory staff vaccinations and rapid COVID-19 testing at the gate.

“Our priority was to provide the safest environment possible for staff and students, and particularly to protect our returning VCE students and keep them safe during their exam period,” said Williams.

“We have been quick to turn it around again: our formal is going ahead, we just had a beautiful valedictory service for our school leavers, and our experiential programs are up and running.”

Even though Firbank Grammar was already an innovative and progressive school, the lockdowns and the pandemic showed the whole of Australia that for them, no challenge goes unanswered.

For more information, contact Firbank Grammar ‘s admissions team on (03) 95915188 or visit firbank.vic.edu.au