Many aspects of school have been affected by safety restrictions for COVID-19 over the course of Terms One and Two 2020, including many excursions and incursions. 

Emmanuel Catholic College, not being able to take their Year 10 Maritime students on a planned excursion, brought the excursion to them using the same digital tools employed for other remote classes. 

Course teacher and Head of Technologies at the College, Brad Nicholas, conducted a practical lesson via Microsoft Teams from Cockburn Power Boat Club for the students, who are studying to gain a Recreational Skipper’s Ticket as part of the course.

Mr Nicholas, who is also a senior rescue skipper with Marine Rescue Cockburn, used the online lesson to show the safety equipment required on a rescue vessel, and to explain how advanced equipment is used by Search and Rescue crews saving lives at sea. 

Jared, one the students in the course, said that the lesson was a new experience for the class. 

“Most in the class have never been inside a boatshed before… it was a great visual representation of what we would be learning in class and an experience we could still be a part of whilst remote learning,” he said. 

Maritime is a popular course that has been running at the College since 2006. 

Mr Nicholas said that the aim of the lesson was not just showing what safety equipment was required, but where it should be stored and how it should be used in practice. 

“Having access to state-of-the-art vessels and equipment allows students a greater appreciation for how emergency services respond to incidents on the water,” Mr Nicholas said. 

“Students were also shown equipment not typically found on recreational vessels but critical to search and rescue, such as RADAR, FLIR night vision cameras and radio direction finding equipment, 

“The interactive nature of the lesson allowed students to ask questions on the go, and was recorded to be used later as a revision tool for their exam,” he said. 

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