COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) Student Update 6
To all SWTAFE students,
I am writing to update you with the latest information on what SWTAFE is doing to prepare for students to resume studies in Term 2 on 14th April, 2020.
While many things right now are quite uncertain, I am pleased to be able to provide you with certainty around your study.
The Department of Education want to ensure that all TAFEs are operating in a way to keep people as safe as possible and to reduce the rate of spread in our and the wider community, while enabling education to continue.
SWTAFE will be continuing training with classes being run virtually, Our amazing teaching staff are working hard to adapt our courses for students to study from home via digital or remote methods. Some students will speak daily with their teacher, others may login and share a class online. Some students will be working on paper based learning materials with calls daily from the teacher.
We are also organising access to equipment and facilities for those students who may have some challenges with being able to study from home.
You may have already heard from your teacher in regard to these plans and how your course will be adjusted to ensure your studies can continue. Don’t worry if you haven’t as yet – this is all being organised and they’ll get in touch with you shortly.
Given the government restrictions that are now in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus in Australia, we expect this new model of study will continue for some time. It’s hard to put a time limit on this at present, but be assured that we aim to make the best use of this time with our students and provide continuity of study.
- Our campuses remain operational at this time, with limited staff on-site. So you can still call in during business hours 8.30am – 5pm Mon to Fri, or phone us on 1800 648 911, email us at learn@swtafe.edu.au or access our web chat at swtafe.edu.au.
- We remind those students who do come on-site to strictly adhere to the Victorian Government’s social distancing and hygiene guidelines that we have in place at SWTAFE
- We are developing a SWTAFE Study From Home Guide that will contain everything you will need to know and all the support services you can access. This information will be provided before the commencement of term 2.
- You can now find the SWTAFE Student Hub on the SWTAFE website. Here you can find support documents and utilities like Password Reset while studying from home. The link is https://students.swtafe.edu.au/
- Library borrowing (Warrnambool Campus only). The Warrnambool campus library collection is available for students at a limited capacity. To request an item, message us on LIVE chat from the Library homepage library.swtafe.edu.au or email us at library@swtafe.edu.au. Items will be retrieved by library staff and made available for you to collect from reception, or posted to your address upon request.
- Live Chat with a Librarian. Live Chat is available Monday - Friday 9 am to 5 pm on the library’s website: library.swtafe.edu.au under “Ask a Librarian”.
Simply click on the Live Chat button. If the library is closed or unavailable for any reason, the Live Chat button will say “offline”.
You can either click on the “offline” button and submit your after-hours enquiry or email us directly at library@swtafe.edu.au. Library staff will reply to the query as soon as possible.
- COVID-19 Library Update & Support Guide. The library has prepared an online guide in response to the COVID-19 situation. This guide will provide updates on affected library services as well as links to online resources to help with your study. Access the guide at https://library.swtafe.edu.au/covid19.
Our Student Wellbeing team are available to assist all students and are always happy to chat.
The adjustment from on-site at SWTAFE to study at home can be a challenge and we can help to talk through this transition, or anything else we can help with.
We encourage you to get in touch with any of our team members if you feel you need some assistance. They are a friendly bunch!
- Glenn McKenzie - Student Wellbeing Officer
Phone: (03) 5564 8840 | Mobile: 0478 332 289 | Email: glenn.mckenzie@swtafe.edu.au - Jasmine Wyllie - Student Wellbeing Officer
Mobile: 0481 916 092 | jasmine.wyllie@swtafe.edu.au - Lucy Whelan - Student Wellbeing Officer
Phone: (03) 5564 8830 | Mobile: 0435 301 402 | Email: lucy.whelan@swtafe.edu.au - Bryan Amarant - Manager, Student Services
Phone: (03) 5564 8861 | Mobile: 0403 390 480 | Email: bryan.amarant@swtafe.edu.au - Jonathon Campbell – Koorie Liaison Officer
Mobile: 0434 854 036 | Email: jonathon.campbell@swtafe.edu - Locky Eccles – Koorie Liaison Officer
Mobile: 0429 942 849 | Email: locky.eccles@swtafe.edu.au
Our team can be contacted on 5564 8720 or via email Disability.support@swtafe.edu
If you have any questions you can contact our Customer Service Teams or speak to your teacher. Call 1800 648 911 or email learn@swtafe.edu.au.
We have also created an information portal on the SWTAFE website that can be accessed for the latest information, FAQ’s and student updates:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL UPDATES FROM SOUTH WEST TAFE
We will be staying in touch
We know that this will be a new way of studying for many of you, and a new way of teaching for many of our staff. But we are all determined to make sure this is a positive education experience as we all adapt to the change in our day-to-day lives.
Our teachers and our staff are only ever a phone call away and we encourage you to let us know if you feel we can improve the way we’ve adapted your studies.
We look forward to welcoming you back. Stay well and happy Easter!
Kind regards,
Mark Fidge
CEO - South West TAFE