Dear Parents,

This photo reflects the joy of our students being back at school. The sound of children enjoying themselves has been greatly missed and we are excited about the learning that is planned for the remainder of the Term.

Thank you for your cooperation with the new arrangements for drop off and pick up each day. The smiling faces and messages of gratitude from our families reflects a culture of support and care for each other. Students and staff are getting used to new protocols around hand hygiene, staggered snack and lunch breaks and afternoon drive through.

In line with DET and CECV advice, we continue to ask parents not to come onto the school grounds for the remainder of the term. Please call the Office from the front gate if you are picking up your child during school hours or dropping them off late. Service providers, who normally work with students at school, will not be onsite until further notice.

SCHOOL FEES

In line with CECV advice we are not providing blanket school fee relief. Our families are not uniformly impacted financially but we are able to provide fee relief for families in need. If you require assistance please email me so that I can assist you in responding to your needs. All correspondence is confidential.

IF UNWELL STUDENTS MUST STAY AT HOME

The Department of Health has made it very clear that perhaps the most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 is to ensure that any unwell staff, children and young people remain at home. For this reason ALL unwell students must stay home. Thank you for your support and cooperation.

SCHOOL CANTEEN

The tuckshop is now operating for online orders only. Over the counter sales are on hold until further notice.

LAST DAY OF TERM

Next Friday 26th June at 2.30 St Paul’s will be closing for the school holidays. We will be holding a Sorry Day Liturgy via video to all classes as our closing Liturgy for the Term. School resumes on Monday 13 July. 

A word from Danni Molino - Literacy Leader

As all students have now returned to onsite learning, formal standardised testing  in Literacy and Numeracy is being conducted to gain a clear understanding of where students are currently performing, post Remote Learning.

At St Paul’s, assessment on student progress is continuous and ongoing. It is integral to the teaching and learning cycle and consists of teacher observations, self assessments and peer assessments, checklists, standardised formal tests or school based classroom assessments. Assessments tasks need to be:-

• based on curriculum achievement standards

• linked to instruction

• able to measure developmental progress

• differentiated and accessible to all students

 Our Assessment Schedule identifies the requirements for testing in Reading, Spelling, Writing and Numeracy. Assessment tasks are used to inform students and teachers about current student learning;  where the student is now and where they are heading to next. In Numeracy we identify and understand where the children are in relation to the curriculum through a pre test before each topic is taught. This enables us to plan a differentiated curriculum that caters for everyone's needs. Observations during each lesson and from classroom work completed, ongoing insight on how the children are developing provides us with their understanding. At the completion of a Numeracy unit, a post test provides an overall analysis of how well they know that topic in relation to what was taught. 

This information is critical as we plan for the second Semester of 2020.

Teacher Moderation throughout the units of work is a highly valued process at St Paul's. It involves collaborative discussion of student work and occurs throughout the teaching and learning cycle. Teachers agree on the content to be taught, the assessment that will be carried out and information gained for adjustments can also be made.

Welcome Miss Brena Fennelly 

Today we welcomed Brena Fennelly who is replacing Katie Lachal as the Year 5 teacher. Katie will be on maternity leave for the remainder of the year. I look forward to sharing Katie’s exciting news next term. Katie was given a beautiful farewell from the Year 5 parents from outside the gates on Friday morning, Covid style, with social distancing and warm words of thanks. The 5L parents were sent a video of introduction from Brena last week. 

Reflection on Remote Learning

Catholic Education Melbourne, has developed a set of optional surveys for schools to capture the learnings achieved during the remote learning period.  The surveys are designed to be a quick and rapid capture of learnings while the remote learning experience is fresh, instead of capturing every aspect of schooling during the remote learning period.   Data is anonymous and will be shared with each school directly.  This will be a valuable opportunity to seek feedback for improvements in organisational and student learning. Links will be emailed out to parents later in the week.