Term 3 Remote Learning

I would like to thank everyone in our school community for their support as we have moved into remote learning 2.0. It was lovely having that short amount of time back together at the end of last term and we were all looking forward to having on-site schooling back but unfortunately, this was unable to continue. We are really appreciative of the kind words and gifts that many families have given to our staff during this week. We are all working incredibly hard to make this time as successful as possible.

You may have noticed some changes to remote learning operations this term. Our teachers and ES staff spent the first week of term planning and preparing for remote learning and making adjustments based on what we had learned during remote learning in Term 2. Teachers have been including more small group and one-on-one Webex sessions to their daily schedules and have also been introducing more live teaching throughout the day. As per last time, we will be constantly reflecting on how things are going and will continue to make adjustments based on feedback from parents and students. If you have any feedback please complete the form here

Just a reminder that your child has a different specialist subject per day (P.E. Italian, STEM or ART). Please note that specialist subjects are not optional extras. They are an important part of our learning program and the Victorian Curriculum. Our specialist teachers are working hard to develop lessons that are able to be completed at home with minimal resources. We would appreciate it if you could encourage your children to complete the specialist subject lessons each week.

Grounds work

There has been quite a bit of work going on around the school grounds over the past few weeks.

We finally have our new shade sail over the new playground. The poles were installed a few weeks ago and this week the shade cloth was fitted. This will make the playground safe and accessible all year round. The shade sail was the fundraising target last year so it is nice to see some reward for all the fundraising efforts. Thank you to everyone that has generously contributed to any fundraising over the past couple of years and a special thank you to the Parents and Friends Committee for their outstanding efforts in organising the fundraising events.

Trish has also been really busy in the garden. On top of her already monumental task of keeping our expansive grounds under control, she has also been busily working on our new indigenous and bush tucker gardens. Trish was successful in obtaining a grant to fund this project and we cannot wait to be able to incorporate these new and interesting plants into our Kitchen Garden program.

When our kids come back they will be delighted to find some bright new games to play throughout the school grounds. I worked with the student leaders last term to select some games that we could add to our yard to make things more exciting. The new games include a chess/checkerboard, giant snakes and ladders, some very vibrant 4-square courts, hopscotch (including a KEFAR themed one) and an activity trail. We have also had the basketball lines repainted and have turned the asphalt paths into a car track! The whole yard looks great with these new additions and we cannot wait for the kids to be able to actually use them!

And we were also successful in receiving a grant for extra bike racks. These have been installed under the shelter near the playgrounds and are a much better place to safely store the student bikes out of the weather.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Our usual Term 2 Parent-Teacher conferences will be held next Wednesday and Thursday (see Jenny's Compass note for further info and to book). Unfortunately, these will not be face-to-face as we would like due to current restrictions. Teachers will contact families via phone at booked times so please make sure your phone details are up to date. The conferences will be an opportunity to discuss your child's progress this year and areas for further development.

Please note that teachers will need to keep to the strict times to ensure each family is able to have their conference. If you need additional time, please discuss this with your child's teacher.

Free Expert Parenting Advice - Triple P

Families can now access free expert parenting advice through the online Triple P – Positive Parenting Program. The program is relevant to families with children between 2 and 16 years and provides strategies to deal with specific challenges, such as building children’s resilience and dealing with conflict. There are courses specifically for parents of toddlers to tweens, and for parents of pre-teens to teens. It gives parents strategies to:

raise happy, confident kids
manage misbehaviour so everyone in the family enjoys life more
set rules and routines that everyone respects and follows
encourage positive behaviour
take care of themselves as a parent
feel confident they’re doing the right thing.

Sign up to the Triple P program via their website.

From our School Captains