COVID-19 Update – Supporting you through your learning

This communication is to provide our learners with an update on Selmar Institute of Education’s plan for managing your learning journey now and in the months ahead with relation to any impacts from coronavirus (COVID-19).

We are all certainly in a constantly changing landscape and appreciate this will impact people in varying ways. We believe, now more than ever it is evident that care and compassion are key  essential values we all need to exhibit within our communities, and these values closely align with us.

To this, we continue to monitor Government and health authority updates, and we are determined to continue to positively respond to the situations presented and have flexible strategies based on the latest information available at this time to ensure we can continue to support our learners through their learning journey.

With this in mind, if you are impacted by COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ restrictions during this pandemic, placement observations and trainer visitation will be placed on a temporary hold during that period,  however to ensure you can continue along your learning journey we are encouraging learners to continue through the theory component of their course.

We encourage all learners to continue to liaise with their dedicated trainer via phone, email and video calls, as per usual. Our learner success team are also on call as additional help if you need extra support.

For further information please refer to the following Learner FAQ below, and recommend learners directly contact their trainer for any immediate questions relating to study.

For the most accurate and latest COVID-19 announcements and information refer to your relevant state government website:

• VIC Government Health and Human Services: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
• NSW Government: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19

FAQ – COVID-19 impacts to my study

Can I continue with my studies?

Yes. You’ll be able to continue through the theory components of your course, just not the practical assessments. Your trainer will ensure you have access to everything you need to do your projects and quizzes.

What happens with placement and my practical tasks?

If you are impacted by lockdown restrictions, practical placement tasks will be placed on hold for affect learners. However, you can continue through your course, we will simply move you onto the next theory tasks. If your situation changes, we will keep you informed.

What if I am on placement or about to start soon?

If you are currently on placement and impacted by a lockdown, we will endeavour to assist you to finish off that cluster or unit of work. If this is  not  be  possible, we will make sure you can return to these assessments later. If you are about to start placement soon, please contact your trainer and they will direct you to the next units of your course.

What if I am halfway through a placement block?

The first step is to have a conversation with your trainer. If your observations have already been done, we may be able to finish off the block. Alternatively, we will put that on hold and move onto the next theory component of your course.

How can I contact my trainer?

No change here. Continue to liaise with your trainer via phone, email and skype. Our learner success team will also be on call as additional help if you need extra support.

How will I get my learning materials?

If you are studying via our online portal, you will continue to log into the portal as per usual. You will notice that you can only access the theory component and all placement blocks will be locked down.

If you are a paper-based learner, your trainer will send out the next few theory booklets and the learning content. You will also receive these in PDF format via email so you can type up your answers and email them to your trainer for marking and feedback. If you do not have access to a computer, please let your trainer know and we will make alternative arrangements for you.

How will I submit?

As an online portal learner, you will continue to submit as usual.

As a paper-based learner, we will be asking you to type up your answers and email them to your trainer. Many of the documents we send through via email are templates you can type into and submit. For others, a Word document with heading and tasks numbers will suffice.

How will I receive feedback?

Feedback will be provided in the Go1 portal as usual and/or through the usual mean via email, phone or text message.

Who is the best person to contact if I have questions or am having trouble?

As always, your trainer is your number one stop for help. If they are not available, their email reply will provide instructions for who will be your next point of call. As always please reach out to us with any questions.

We are here to support you and make sure this does not disrupt your goal of completing your qualification.