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Dear Parents,
Welcome to a very different Term 2.
I hope you have all had a relaxing holiday with time to adjust to the new norms of staying at home, exercising with your family, not visiting friends and family, no play dates with friends at the park or attending church, and the Easter ceremonies.
This Easter I watched Pope Francis’ Mass from my living room. Standing in a nearly deserted St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, the pontiff called for solidarity around the world to confront the pandemic. Noting how the coronavirus has changed the lives of millions in a few weeks time, sparking fear among many about unemployment and the ability to provide for their families, the pope urged political leaders to “work actively for the common good, to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life and, when circumstances allow, to assist them in resuming their normal daily activities.”
Tomorrow is a big day for us all as many students, teachers and parents will log onto either Seesaw or Google classrooms and begin Remote Learning.
As you will be aware, the Victorian State Government has announced that all Victorian Schools will be implementing the Remote Schooling Program effective 15 April 2020. This means that from the start of Term 2, most students will be learning from home.
This decision has been made to increase physical distancing across the population and prevent the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). Therefore, all students who can learn from home must learn from home.
Information for students attending school
Thank you to the parents who will be sending their children to school for responding so promptly, which has allowed us to be ready to begin Term 2 tomorrow for all students. Please note that if you have chosen to send your child to school, your child will be supervised by specialist teachers, members of the leadership team and LSO staff. As such, your child will be undertaking the same program as those children learning at home. Children are to wear school uniform and they can choose between sport and school uniform each day.
The playground will be supervised from 8.45am. Please bring your child to the front gate where a staff member will greet you and take your child onto the playground. All students and staff will be temperature checked on arrival to ensure the safety of all.
School will begin at 8.55am. The Prep-1 students will be working from the Library and the Yr 2-3 students will be working in the e-Learning Centre. Strict hygiene protocols will be observed during teaching time with students encouraged to socially distance when working and playing. As you can imagine, this is a difficult concept for the younger students.
Please collect your child from the front gate at 3.30pm which will only be unlocked at the beginning and ending of the day. Please contact the Office if you need to come into the school at any other time.
I wish to reassure you that the safety and wellbeing of our school community will remain our highest priority with physical distancing provision promoted for the safety of students and staff working onsite.
All parents of children working onsite and remotely will receive an email from the classroom teacher outlining the daily and weekly schedule.
Information for Children Working remotely
On Wednesday morning at 9am each parent will receive an email from your child’s classroom teacher. In the email, instructions will be provided on how remote learning will be accessed and include a daily and weekly timetable. All learning will be accessed via Seesaw P-6, and Google classrooms Yr 3-6. Every morning there after, each parent will receive an announcement on one of the same platforms as a check-in and an overview for the day. All learning is pre-recorded so that students can access their learning online at any time of the day in consideration of those families where there is more than one child. Teachers will be available during school hours 9am-3.30pm each day. Teachers will provide feedback during the day, and a combination of both online and offline activities.
We also want to keep track of good news stories or problems that students encounter. All students are asked to complete a feedback check-in at the end of each day which will be provided by the classroom teacher.
Please refer to the attached protocols for remote learning for families.
In addition to remote learning, all families will be provided with access to online links for additional learning( Parents & Students) including wellbeing activities. The learning can be accessed by clicking below.
The tabs at the top menu (see 1st image) are active. There is also a drop down menu as well with lots of fabulous learning opportunities or advice for both parents & students.
Other Information
Specialists
PE - Mr Maher will be providing students with a weekly schedule which includes a 30 minute activity for each day which will be posted on Seesaw.
Art- Mrs Fitz will provide students with a creative task to be completed each week.
Japanese - Mrs Henderson will provide students with one task either on Seesaw or google classrooms
Performing Arts - Mrs Zachest will provide students with a creative drama task each week.
Specialist programs will be scheduled into the weekly timetable. Students are free to choose which day they do their specialist lesson, except Phys Ed which is every day.
Will there be homework?
As all work is homework, there will be no extra homework set apart from ongoing reading.
Do we have to stick to the timetable?
Classroom teachers will be available between 9:00am and 3.30each day. Specialist teachers will be available via email. If parents choose not to follow the timetable then any questions you may have will be answered during the times above.
What about group chats, zoom, facetime, phone calls etc?
These media are being considered as we explore the platforms of Seesaw and Google classrooms and their capabilities.
What happens if my child is sick?
If your child is unwell and under normal circumstances would not have been at school and will not be schooling at home on a day, then please send an email to your child’s teacher and cc the office or call the school on 95577130.
What happens if a teacher is sick?
If a teacher is unwell or not available then another teacher will take over the class for the day. Parents will receive an email in the morning advising who the teacher will be for that day and the relevant staff member’s email address.
These are very challenging times for all in our community and your cooperation with our Remote Schooling program is very much appreciated.
School staff will be available throughout the Remote Schooling program and parents are asked to make contact directly with their child’s teacher if there are any concerns via email. If parents do need help or additional support, please contact Anna or myself.
ctammesild@spbentleigh.catholic.edu.au.
office@spbentleigh.catholic.edu.au
During this difficult time, we must all take care to support one another. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who may be unwell, and those who are working to keep our community safe.
Good luck to everyone as school starts tomorrow!
Best Wishes,
Catherine