Dear Parents/Carers,

I trust this newsletter finds you and your family well. It is looking increasingly unlikely that we will see a return to onsite learning this week, with Covid-19 case numbers still relatively high for this outbreak. Our students and staff continue to give their best effort to learning remotely, with their commitment and focus on learning still a strength of our school. This week, our staff have been asked to look for ways to engage the students in as much peer-to-peer conversation as possible and is appropriate for the various year levels, through the use of Google Meet’s Breakout Rooms. In the next day or two we have a Junior School ‘Lunch Club’ happening, where the kids from our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 classes will eat lunch ‘together’ and have some time for a social chat. Our Senior teachers will also be exploring opportunities for discussion, sharing and connection across year levels to encourage interaction with a wider range of students. We are doing this because we recognise that one of the challenges with working online is the limited social interaction possible when a full class of students is operating online together.

If we are still learning remotely on Friday, we will hold a whole school online assembly at 1pm. The link will be sent out via Operoo later this week and the theme is Fun Hat Friday! Ask your child to find their favourite hat or a hat that is fun for them to wear! At the assembly, we will have a presentation from the Year Six students, as well as the normal awards and birthdays. We did this many times in 2020 and it was a great way for the kids to continue experiencing the sense of belonging that whole school assemblies provide.

Again, we have refrained from looking too far ahead in terms of future school events, but if lockdown is extended, it is possible that the School Walkathon and the P&F Bunnings Barbeque may be affected. Thank you to all parents who have volunteered for the sausage sizzle in the hope that it goes ahead. It is too early to know how or if the Sacrament of First Eucharist and Sacrament of Confirmation will be affected. Once we have a clearer understanding, we will communicate with all families.

Homework Practices and Policy Review

So this entire newsletter is not COVID-related, I thought I would include an update about the review of ‘regular homework’ that has been recently undertaken by the school. Homework is one of, if not the most polarising issue in primary schools. Everyone has an opinion on what should be done, when it should start and who is responsible. Interestingly, educational research indicates that the benefits of homework at a primary school level are mostly non-academic. The benefits are more significant in terms of developing independence, organisation and self management skills. At the beginning of this term, we commenced a consultation process with our staff, students and parents to review the school’s practices with homework. Our staff responded to a set of questions regarding homework generally and also in response to our school’s approach during Semester One of this year. A couple of weeks ago, at the School Advisory Council meeting, the same survey was presented to a representative group of 15 parents from across the school. Last week, we also surveyed the Year 5/6 students about their experiences with homework. The questions from the staff and parent survey are listed below:

In terms of homework generally...
Do you believe in homework? Why/why not? What do you see are the advantages of homework? Disadvantages of homework? Does the development of a child's organisational/time management skills outweigh the limited academic gains? What year level do you believe children should start formal homework? How long do you think children should spend on homework each night/week? Whose responsibility is homework? What are the roles of Teacher? Student? Parent? What should the consequences be at school if students don’t complete homework? What activities should be included within homework tasks? Should homework be differentiated?
In terms of our current homework practices...
What would you add? What would you change? What would you delete? What would you celebrate?

With input from all stakeholders, the school’s Leadership Team is currently drafting a policy for the approach to homework at St Agnes’ moving forward. This will then be presented to the Staff and School Advisory Council for feedback before being finalised. One of the pleasing things is that students, staff and parents all place a high value on homework and while our approach will almost certainly not please everyone, we are grateful for the support of our parent community as we look to establish consistency of practice in this area for our students.

Year Six Graduation Meeting

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday 11th August) at 8am, there is an online meeting to discuss Year Six Graduation. All parents are invited to attend this meeting and a link has been sent via the Year Six Class Rep, Sally Forbes.

School Advisory Council Meeting

The School Advisory Council will meet again on Tuesday 17th August at 7.30pm. This meeting will be held online and the meeting link will be circulated with the members of this group.

Father’s Day Stall

The 2021 Father’s Day Stall will once again be held online to avoid a cancellation or postponement. This stall provides the opportunity for students to buy Dad a small gift ahead of Father’s Day. More information and booking link is available on the P&F Page of this newsletter. Thank you to Fleur and the P&F for making this available once again for all St Agnes’ families.

Hopefully we will see everyone back at school soon.

Kind regards,

Lachie Foott

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