Throughout the past year, Academy of Mary Immaculate students humanised technology to engage each other from a distance and, as a learning community, we have evolved new techniques and methods to augment our 2021 curriculum. We met the unexpected challenges of COVID-19 with personal fortitude and integrity. This was clear in our students’ mastery of digital communications. Our girls drew on their inherent expertise to reach out to each other with authenticity, critical information and support. Learning at Academy became a reciprocal relationship, not only between students but also between students and staff.

During Melbourne’s strict stage four lockdown, our senior school students created, recorded and aired a podcast series about how to navigate VCE without the rituals that usually mark the last year of secondary education. Two students hosted discussions with new families, parents and peers, answering Q&A style questions using a new format. They created and directed videos of support for our city, in which they took ownership of our responsibilities as a community sharing the lockdown experience. By using technology to shape good – and sometimes disappointing – information with humour, our students approached each day of this year with profound maturity and empathy. In a world of digital disruption, our ability to humanise the experience of remote communication is futuristic and at the forefront of modern education.