Bulletin 42 RCoBS (May 22, 2020)

Week	27-May	3-Jun	10-Jun	10-Jun
Chairperson	Stan Hendy	Barb Mitchell	Doug Lougoon	Graeme Lynas

Presidents Notes

Thanks to our Chairman Graeme Lynas for stepping up to take control of our meeting last Wednesday morning. 28 members participated - it was good to see our numbers remaining high and participating via this remote media. Graeme organised a very successful, interesting and fun-filled Q & A session involving most of our members.
It’s amazing to have Guest Speakers from remote areas joining us on line; this week, Jenny Griffiths joined us from her home in Albury. Jenny is an educator in the Catholic system, and gave us an insight into the effect of parent and community engagement and its importance in the delivery of a rounded education to students. She highlighted the importance of Rotary being involved in supporting schools as an example of valued community engagement with long-term benefits for students.

Club Secretary: Geoff Michell notified members of some minor changes to our Draft Constitution and ByLaws to ensure they are in line with new District requirements. The new documents have been circulated to all members, and will be discussed at our Special Meeting set down for Wednesday, 3rd June, at 7.30am.

President Elect:
Ted Gretgrix gave an update on plans for our Changeover, which will occur on the first Sunday in July. More details will follow as the saga unfolds …………..
A reminder to all that our District Assembly will be held this Sunday, 24th May. All sessions will be recorded and be made available for those not able to attend via Zoom.

Bridge Hotel Update
Adrian has contacted Jason at our normal meeting site at the Bridge Hotel. Jason stated that he will not be able to provide breakfast as yet because restrictions for gatherings of a maximum of 10 people only apply from next week. He can’t foresee any changes until at least some time in June at best, so it’s not viable for him to provide a service for us for the time being.

Just in case you may think this is the virus and how it develops, it is a Hakea species popularly called the ‘pincushion’. Spotted in Castlemaine.

Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for the Club meeting was Jenny Griffiths. Jenny works in the area of Wellbeing in the Catholic Education Office. She specialises in parent and community engagement in schools. She offered some insights about the way in which schools and families are adapting to the current need for online learning at home. Schools are providing paper resources for families without access to technology and some students are still attending face to face classes.

Jenny outlined some of the research about community and family engagement in schools. Effective schools have high levels of family and community engagement. There is clear evidence that this translates into increased attendance, improved behaviour and higher levels of achievement. Eighty percent of learning in its broadest sense occurs in the family and community and is determined by the level of motivation and positive attitude of the individual. Schools and formal educational institutions only contribute up to twenty percent of our learning. Schools and families have capitalised on this information with in many cases positive outcomes.

With less travel time and the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of recreational activities at home have comes increased motivation and more productive use of time. Schools in many cases are reporting 100% at morning gatherings and in some cases marks have improved. Whilst there are increased pressures for parents working from home many have reported that they have enjoyed working with their children. Teachers are certainly embracing more the opportunities to enhance learning through the use of Technology.

Whilst generally everyone is looking forward to the resumption of face to face learning there are some valuable lessons which have been learned for the future. Greater opportunities for alternative delivery of learning and the benefits of schools positively engaging with families and the community have the potential to reshape schooling in the future. Members enjoyed hearing of the benefits which result from the participation of the Club in the schools which have been allocated to us. All agreed that Jenny provided a timely and thoroughly research summary of what has transpired in schools this term. Many thanks Jenny for the generous giving of your time to be our guest.