Dear Parents,

I invite you to share this beautiful song of praise and gratitude with your family.

BEST - for the Beauty of the Earth

Following advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the CECV (Catholic Education Commission Victoria) have announced that students, teachers and support staff can return to face-to-face teaching.

Schools will commence a staged return from remote and flexible learning from Tuesday 26 May 2020.

From 26 May, staff teaching Prep- Yr 2 as well as specialist staff, will be teaching face-to-face.  Staff teaching all other year levels will continue to provide remote and flexible learning, from school rather than from home.

To support all school staff to prepare for the transition, Monday 25 May will be a student-free day. This is important to enable the planning necessary to ensure the successful transition back to school can be completed. Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students in Grades 3 to 6 until Tuesday 9 June. Students who have parents working from home are advised to continue with remote learning until this date. If your circumstances have changed and you are returning to work,  please let me know via email as soon as possible.

ctammesild@spbentleigh.catholic.edu.au

During the two staged return to school,  the Chief Health Officer and the Victorian Government will have time to monitor and evaluate the effects that the staged return to school has on the increased movement of people and transmission within the community. 

While the Chief Health Officer has advised that students will not be required to maintain physical distancing at school, there are a number of important changes to our school operations, consistent with health advice to all schools. These will apply until further notice. The core elements of these changes include:

• Staged return to school
• Physical distancing for adults - staff room and Office spaces
• Reducing the number of adults gathering outside the school at any one time
• Greater number of staff on duty before and after school to support safety at all exit and entry points
• Parents and non essential workers are asked to avoid coming onto the school grounds where possible and contact the school by phone or email
• Alternate arrangements for drop off and pick up (see table below)
• Students practise hand hygiene throughout the day including on arrival, before and after eating, after blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using the toilet.
• Hand sanitizer will be available in all learning areas
• Hand hygiene will be practiced after the use of shared resources
• No drinking fountains will be in use, taps will be available to refill drink bottles
• Extended and increased cleaning arrangements have been made to reduce the risk of transmission from high touch point areas including door handles, desks, benchtops
• Students will eat in open/ well ventilated  areas where possible
• Open windows to facilitate ventilation and maximise airflow
• Any staff member or student who are unwell must not attend school
• Students who are continuing their remote learning based on medical advice will be supported with learning materials
• Alternative arrangements will be made for Parent /Teacher Interviews in Term 3
• All students in the year levels returning to onsite learning are expected to attend school. Schools are not expected to provide a home-based learning program for students where parents elect to keep their children at home, except where this is based on medical advice. 

Drop off and Pick Up Arrangements for Stage 1:

School Hours : 8.55am - 3.25pm

• Parents are asked to stay in their cars ( or close to) when dropping off or picking up children. Staff will be on duty in these areas to help children enter/exit the school.

• Pupil Free Days for Term 2 will include 25 May as per the Victorian guidelines, and 5 June which is our scheduled Curriculum Day. OSH Club will be operating on both days.

As we plan for a return to learning on site, It is important to support students to return to normal routines, acknowledging the situation, providing developmentally suitable information about what is occurring, as well as providing a safe space for students to raise their concerns and feelings.

We are returning to a new normal. Please contact your child’s teacher if your child is experiencing heightened levels of anxiety.

SPECIAL REPORT: Coronavirus – Dr Michael Carr-Gregg developed this video for parents and school staff. Catholic Education Melbourne acknowledges the generosity of SchoolTV in making the report accessible to parents and staff in Catholic school communities.

It is important that any staff member or student who becomes unwell at school returns home.  Could all parents check that their contact person, as recorded on Caremonkey, is still available to collect their sick child if a parent is unavailable.

The Specialist staff have shown enormous creativity in preparing online learning. Here is a message from each of them:

Hi from Mrs Zachest

This term in Performing Arts we are exploring puppets and puppetry skills.  Just a reminder to all families that the Performing Arts program is available to view every Tuesday afternoon to be completed by students on Wednesdays. There is a task assigned on Seesaw for every year level, and most tasks require students to submit a photo or video of their work each week. It has been wonderful seeing the amazing work that many students are sharing. Looking forward to seeing some more!

Hi from Mrs Knights

Over the past two weeks for ICT/Digital Technologies I have posted a couple of coding/programming activities on Seesaw. Prep - 2 students are using Scratch Jnr (on an iPad) and Years 3 - 6 are using Scratch (on a desktop/PC or laptop). 

I am very impressed with the quality of work that some students are submitting back to me on Seesaw, however some students have either missed the activities or haven’t completed them. If you are unable to complete an activity for any reason, please let me know. These activities allow the students to explore and develop computational thinking skills which are in line with the Victorian Curriculum and will assist in enabling students to become better critical thinkers and problem solvers. 

I will post each activity on a Tuesday night and students have the opportunity to complete it across the week.

I look forward to seeing you all back at school very soon.

 

eSafety

During remote learning it is even more important that we are checking in on our kids and their online activities. Please click the link below and watch the video.

A special video message from the eSafety Commisioner

The eSafety Commisioner website is a fantastic source of advice for all Australians at any time.

For advice, tips and tricks, please click on the link below and have a browse. There are tips for parents, kids, seniors , young people etc.

eSafety News

Thank you parents for the support you have provided during this remote learning and challenging time. I can tell you that all staff have worked harder than we ever have. We are all life-long learners, but I know one thing is for sure, it has enabled us all to problem solve and improve and enhance their digital literacy and technology skills which will also assist in the provision of better delivered lessons for your children

Mrs Knights

Hi from Mrs Fitz

Life in lockdown has been interesting! We’ve read, played board games, completed jigsaw puzzles, walked the dog, cooked, learned to do new and different things … We have all spent time learning!

The activities which have been uploaded for your child to complete for Visual Arts are designed to be done easily at home, with limited resources and with minimal parent supervision. Thank you to all those children who uploaded their work - it has been an absolute joy to see your creations. Many thanks also for the positive comments! 

Hi from Mr Maher

Along with all the teachers I am very proud of everyone during this challenging time. You have all been very resilient and these challenges we face will only make us stronger. I hope you are all doing your best with all your subjects and especially your Phys Ed at home. Remember if you can’t follow the activities I have been posting on Seesaw because of space or equipment you can always create your own activities. Just do your best to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. I miss you all and  I can't wait until we are all back together at school. Keep being Champions!

Hi from Mrs Henderson

Japanese has been my passion ever since I was exposed to the language at secondary school. 

Remote learning has presented many challenges for students, families and teachers initially, and it has been a huge learning experience for all. However, significant issues have arisen through the limited understanding and expectation of Languages Other than English, as a subject that needs further clarification:

• Japanese is a language that has four writing scripts (Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji and Roomaji). The first three scripts have specific orders of how each character is formed. Students are expected to read and write the characters in each form.
• Like any other language in the world, Japanese has different levels of formality in its spoken form too.
• Japanese covers Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing, as well as Cultural Understanding.
• Japanese cannot be accomplished in 30 hours (40 minute/ week), which is the amount of time our students at St Paul’s have been exposed to from Levels 1 - 6.

I would like to acknowledge all the students and families who have shared their Japanese work in Seesaw, Google Classroom or via email. It has been heartwarming to see students who persisted with their learning.

Every step is taken to ensure that online lessons are easy to follow, it is a difficult language to learn. However, the feeling of accomplishment no matter how small, is worth every effort.

Special Video Conference for Yr 3-6

This week the teachers from Yr 3-6 will be contacting the students in their class to arrange a whole class catch up through google meet. This will provide a wonderful opportunity for the students to see their teacher and their classmates in a live conference as they prepare to return to school in the next few weeks.

Sacraments

The Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation will be rescheduled for later in the year, depending on Covid19 restrictions for gatherings.

Financial Hardship

Some families may have recently experienced changes in financial circumstances, changed custody arrangements and a new concession card. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may now be eligible for CSEF.

CSEF is a financial provision by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families. It is an allowance paid directly to the school and credited to your school fees to pay for camps, swimming, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

Applications close on June 26 (end of this term)

Check with Anna or Mary if you are unsure. An application form can be sent to you, but it will need your urgent attention so that it can be processed by the end of this term.

Thank you for your continued support and messages of gratitude.  The staff of St Paul's have not wavered in their hope and optimism that together we can continue to support and build a strong and safe learning community. Your child’s safety, wellbeing and learning continues to be our priority. 

The regular communication that I have been having with families over the period of remote and flexible learning will be maintained. 

Stay safe, God bless and we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Catherine