b'FEATURED ARTICLETRUSTPost-COVID-19 shutdown, were feeling a cautious sense of confidence here in the Great Southern region. We live and work in WA, land of the hard border, after all. How long that feeling will last is anyones guess, but, either way, what are we choosing to take forward with us, and what are we leaving behind?D uring the Term Two shutdown of Great SouthernAndwhatwegainedinfollowers,ingratitudeandin GrammarinAlbany,WesternAustralia,therecomprehension through this approach, we tried to give back. wasanalmostshinysenseofnewnesstoBecause theres no point talking unless youre listening, too. everything.Shiny,becausewithnewnesscomesan elementofexcitement.Excitement,becauseourITWe looked and we saw children and young people surviving departmenthadpulledoutallstopsanddevelopedandthriving,sometimesboth,atdifferenttimesandtried anincredibleonlinelearningsystemsecondtonone,tohelp.Welistenedandweheardpeoplestrugglingand usingTeams.Buttheshininesshadaflipside,andstumbling and tried to lift them up. And we spoke openly and that felt a lot like dread and worry and anxiety as weclearly and regularly about these things, because they were navigatedturbulentwaterswehadnttravailedbefore.real and tangible and happening to us. The disquiet of the Twitterati was heard loud and clear, including the concern that the learning from home load ofWhat did we feel, then? We felt listened to and we felt trusted. our children plus our own workloads fell disproportionatelyTrustedbyourcommunity.Listenedtobyourleadership on the shoulders of women. We agreed, and felt it. Thereteam.Andtrustedbyourstudents.Ourworkingathome was the concern that the NBN would not cope with thearrangements were a by-product of trust. Our online learning demands. We agreed, and felt it. And there was the notapproach was based on trust. Trust was our currency, and the knowing when we might or might not be back on campus.conviction that we would care for each other kept us going We felt it. There was plenty of feeling going on duringuntil we were together again.lockdown here in Term Two that will probably resonate with you, now. Feeling different, feeling scared, feelingNowthatwearebacktogetheronourglorious144-acre unsure, feeling sad, worried and anxious. Many of you arewaterfrontcampussurroundedbythesightsandsmells still feeling those things, and more, and Im feeling for youof nature and the laughter of children, we realise that there and hoping for the best for you.are, of course, things we could have done differently during There is a very real sense that we dodged a bullet, to putshutdown. This was nothing if not a learning experience, right? it crudely, here in the deep south of WA. Thats not to sayQuite separately from us all ruminating on what we took away that we didnt work hard to pivot as those in the know arefromourshutdownexperiences,ourPrincipallistedseven quaintly calling our capacity to face upheaval and makethings we all learnt together, from his perspective. Interestingly it work for our community. And thats not to say that theenough, they were the same as ours.virus wont return. It may well. But we worked like weve never worked before in TermIf the seven things we learnt are the only things we take forward Two in WA. Hats off to families, students, IT, teachers,with us, we have learnt well. Our response to COVID-19 was support staff, boarding, executive, my team (Communityanorganisationalresponse,butitwasdrivenbyhumans, Relations) and the whole community that makes a schoolfor humans. It was an approach that put our peopleour work. We talked and communicated and empathised andcommunityfirst. We looked out for each other and we cared corresponded and connected and shared like our livesfor each other. That came from a place of deep trust in each depended on it. Because they did. other. That trust will shape the future of our school.Asaco-ed,dayandresidentialPre-KtoYearTwelve countryschool,wetalkedtowhoeverwethought helpful to talk to about our approach to COVID-19. We educated,weexplained,werevealed,weinstructed andwedirectedinacross-platformapproachthat hadatitshearttheneedtocommunicatewith consistencyandclarity.Thatisourmottoandour strategy:communicatewithconsistencyandclarity. So we did. Claire HansonVISIT SCHOOL WEBSITE Director Community Relations, Great Southern Grammar, Albany, Western Australia10 FACE 2 FACE MAGAZINE'