Mary's Way December 2020

Marymede Early
Learning Centre
St Mary’s School
for the Deaf
Just as life has been different for students this year within
the College, the ELC also took a different approach to allow
the 3 Year Old and 4 Year Old kinder groups to participate
in a remote learning program via SeeSaw that replicated the
planned on-site learning program.
The children enjoyed taking part in set tasks and activities
and were given the opportunity to upload their learning
experiences using videos and photos.
The return to normal in Term 4 was a much-needed blessing.
The classrooms were again full of laughter, excitement and
learning with the children and staff as joyful as each other to
be back together again.
Remote learning certainly provided a share of challenges for
the Marymede St Mary’s team to overcome.
Whilst masks may have been uncomfortable for some of us,
they have been a huge challenge for the St Mary’s students
who utilise lip reading as an extra way to understand. Equally
challenging have been online Zoom sessions where the sound
is distorted. Staff and students embraced the new technology
and made use of chat functions, emoticons and captions
where possible. Students focused on mental and physical
wellbeing alongside their studies.
The time apart this year has provided an appreciation on how
important social interaction is for all human beings.
Book Week celebrations were a fun way to welcome the
children back to on-site learning. It was wonderful to see
the children dressing up and celebrating together.
In preparation for Prep next year, our 4YO groups have
participated in two Gearing Up for School (GUS) sessions run
by the Marymede Prep Transition team. The ELC children
took part in these sessions during their own kindergarten
program time, in addition to our own classroom preparations
for those moving on to Prep in 2021.
With the end of the year upon us, we are thankful and
grateful to all of the ELC families for their commitment and
encouragement throughout our home learning period. We
look forward to the upcoming celebrations that will take
place within our classrooms, celebrating the children for their
resilience and hard work within the last few months.
Mary’s Way 10 11