Welcome

Manuela Watson

Week 2, Term 2, 2020

Home learning:

Dear Parents, carers and students,

Happy Easter to our Greek Orthodox families hope you were able to enjoy some of your Easter Traditions with your family yesterday.

It has been nearly a month since we have all seen each other.  I am missing you all. The school is not the same without the interactions of parents, teachers and especially the students. One of the most common emails I have had from parents is that their children are missing their friends. To me this reinforces that teaching is a relational profession, one that remote learning could never really replace.

I also welcome emails from students.   Luca, one of our school captains, gave me his thoughts through  this email.

Hi Mrs Watson,

I think live streaming the school prayer is a great idea, we don't have Facebook but don't let that stop you.  I also believe that the crazy hair or PJ day is an amazing idea because it can keep us entertained and motivated during these times.

I think the way remote learning is set up gives us some freedom to the timetable and I think that's why I am enjoying it. I think the way I have been staying motivated is always having the thought that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think the best part of remote learning is the fact that we are a team, by this I mean we are collaborating together and helping each other. The hardest part of remote learning is that you can't work with others as a group.

From Luca Ciavarella

WHOLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY -ST FIDELIS' FEAST DAY

In order to have some whole school connection we will be having a Whole School Assembly this Friday to celebrate the St Fidelis Feast Day.  We will go Live on St Fidelis Facebook Page at 9:00am. Can all families please connect to St Fidelis Facebook page at this time with your children and join in with our Whole School Prayer.  There will be no contact with teachers until after Prayer. 

Thank you and looking forward to connecting with you in a virtual way!

ANZAC Day

This is a very special day in Australia’s history and normally we would commemorate this with a whole school assembly and our choir would perform at Coburg RSL. Due to COVID-19 this is not possible. Therefore, I am asking all St Fidelis families to join in with the national commemoration ANZAC Day Dawn service by standing in your driveway with a candle. You can commemorate from home by taking part in the #standto movement. From your driveway, or within your home, let us all 'stand to' and remember.

Thank You

Thanks to everyone for adhering to the directive from the Premier Daniel Andrews and Dr Brett Sutton that if you can work from home you must stay at home.  At St Fidelis, we are working on a skeleton staff. 

Principal , Deputy Principal, 

Another member of leadership team

One administration staff 

One registered VIT teacher and one LSO to supervise remote learning for the children of essential workers who attending school 

All other teachers are working from home unless they are required to come to school for a reason directed by the Principal.  A reminder that the children who do attend school are being guided through the remote learning like their peers at home there is no one on one direct teaching.

Remote Learning:

Thank you for all the support from the parents in engaging with our St Fidelis remote learning. Overall, the remote learning has been going well.  We met as a whole staff last week to discuss parent, teachers and student feedback after Day 3. 

All staff acknowledged that catering for individual differences is a challenge but will continue to look at ways this can be addressed.  You will notice a more structured timetable beginning Week 2 & 3.

Foundation To Year 2 

We recognise that in our F-2 area we do not have a digital platform for teacher student interaction however, we are investigating an online platform to enable teachers and student’s to connect face to face. Initially this will be a platform for some social communication, reassurance for the students and a check in with the teacher. In time, we are looking at teachers uploading videos of themselves teaching a concept or skill. We hope to get this in motion in the coming weeks.

However, the teachers in the F-2 area are working extremely hard to prepare the HOME LEARNING PACKS for your children. These will be made available for pick up on FRIDAY 24TH NOT Thursday.This will give teachers a little more time to prepare the learning for your children.  More details later this week.

Year 3 to 6 

The Year 3-6 are using the google classroom platform and it seems to be working well. However, some of the Year 3 students have only been introduced to this platform and are requiring more assistance and this is being addressed by the teachers. A more structured timetable is being developed and will be uploaded in Week 2 & 3.

Learning Spaces refurbishment Update:

As you may recall we were successful with a $1,935,000.00 grant for the upgrade and refurbishment of the F-4 learning spaces as per the current school master plan.  St Fidelis has been assigned a Project Manager from Catholic Education Melbourne to oversee the project and have engaged CENTRUM architects. 

Multiple project meetings have begun with many stakeholders being part of these talks. Representatives from the School Leadership Team, Father Cartwright, Anthony Brazel (parent rep) and the architectural team from CENTRUM in these project meetings to ensure that we can achieve the best possible outcomes for St Fidelis schools vision for the future. 

The architects will have some drawings ready to share to the community in the coming weeks. The project commencement at this stage is for Oct 2020 with a completion date of end of May 2021. At this stage things are moving along as normal but I will update you of any changes. 

ENROLMENTS 2021

If you have a child commencing next year please email or drop off your enrolment form ASAP. You can download an enrolment from our website or collect one from the office. If you have any friends that are still wondering where they are sending their child in 2021 can you please direct them to our website for further school information. My tours are now cancelled but very happy to talk to prospective parents over the phone.

Enjoy your week

Manuela

Skoolbag App

We use SkoolBag to keep everyone informed with what's happening at school - it's our window to school life! SkoolBag is used to send app notifications and emails regarding important events and school announcements. As well as a reference point for key documentation. You are also able to sign absentee notifications and other submit details via the app. Please make sure you download the app today so you don't miss any of our communications.

https://www.moqproducts.com.au/skoolbag/installation-instructions/