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Remote Learning from home in a school setting

When you start to think about helping your child/ren to learn from home, remember that no one expects you to be a subject matter expert or teacher. The most important thing you can do is to continue to provide comfort, support and encouragement to your child/ren.

You can help your child/ren to learn from home by working with their school and supporting your child/ren as they undertake the activities provided.

How the school will support your child

Communicating with you and your child/ren about teacher responsibilities and what you and your child/ren/ren needs to do.
Communicating with you and provide learning activities for your child/ren to do at home.
Use their normal communication tools such as their website, newsletters, emails and other online tools.
Providing technical support with devices, as needed.

Maintaining Attendance: Compulsory Zoom Sessions

It is important to remind our Parents/Carers & students of the attendance expectations during Remote Learning. Whilst we are in Remote Learning, students are to attend their compulsory scheduled zoom lessons each day.

Teachers in P-6 will be continuing to facilitate 2 daily zoom lessons to support our students and attendance during these lessons is important to maintain engagement. P-6 students - please continue to check your Seesaw account where the zoom links and work will continue to be posted.

Teachers in 7-9 will be facilitating daily zoom lessons to support our students and attendance during these lessons is important to maintain engagement. 7-9 students – zoom links and work will be posted on the student’s Compass account. During these zoom lessons, teachers will provide further explanation and understanding of the tasks required and allow students the opportunity to clarify any questions. These zooms also provide the opportunity for students to connect with their peers as well as their teachers.

Please note attendance will be marked during these lessons. Where a student is absent, Parents/Carers will need to provide an explanation via Compass. Where students have had a COVID-19 test or are required to self-isolate/quarantine, please inform the school via email. We ask that you please send a follow up email once you have received your results. Please ensure any absences for missed zoom lessons are logged on Compass. We understand there are various reasons why some students may experience difficulty when logging into their zoom lessons. If you are experiencing any difficulties or require additional support, please email your child/ren’s relevant teacher/s via Compass. Thank you for your ongoing support. The Executive Team

Getting COVID-19 tested

Find out if you should be tested for COVID-19 and where you can go to have the test done.

Everyone who is tested for COVID-19 helps us understand how the virus is spreading.

Follow the steps on this page to help protect yourself and others from the spread of COVID-19.

Step-by-step advice

If you are feeling unwell do not go to school/onsite.
Check your symptoms – you may have COVID-19 if you have any of the following: fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose and loss or change in sense of smell or taste.
Get tested at a nearby testing location if you have any of the symptoms. Return home immediately.
Wait for your test results. Do not go to school or go out shopping, stay at home. It usually takes 2 days for your results to be returned to you. If you are worried your results are taking too long you can call a service provider for more information. Others in your house do not need to self-isolate unless they are also waiting for a COVID-19 test result or have been told to quarantine.
If your symptoms continue or your condition worsens contact your doctor or a health professional. If you become very unwell and are having trouble breathing contact triple zero (000), you may need to be admitted to hospital.
If you test positive we will contact you. You will need to self-isolate until the Department of Health tells you it is safe to stop – usually 10 to 14 days. Do not go to school or out shopping.
If you test negative, your doctor or the clinic where you were tested will tell you your result.
- If an authorised officer has told you to quarantine (e.g. as a close contact, as part of an outbreak, or because you have visited an interstate high risk location), you will still need to quarantine for at least 14 days and until you have been cleared by the Department of Health.
- If you have not been told to quarantine by an authorised officer, once you feel well, go about your normal activity, following the restrictions for your area.
- If you continue to have symptoms you should ring your general practitioner for advice. If you become very unwell and are having trouble breathing contact triple zero (000).

Students

Advice and resources for students about how to adapt your learning during coronavirus, to look after yourself and where to get help.

There’s been lots of change going on lately, especially to the way you are learning.Restrictions are still needed in some areas to help keep the whole community safe during COVID-19. There are also some changes at school.

Right now, it is hard to know how long these new changes will stay in place, or if more will be needed as the year goes on.

All these changes and uncertainty might make you feel confused, angry or overwhelmed. There are things you can do to look after your health and wellbeing. Remember, the kind of support you need may change as time passes.

It is also important to remember your teachers and your school community are there to support you. Your school should be a safe place to learn and somewhere where you can get extra support if you need to.

Talk to a teacher or school wellbeing member

If things are getting too much, or you’re worried about someone at home, talk to a trusted staff member or another trusted adult.

It’s also good to check in with your friends, to see how they are feeling. If you’re concerned about another student’s wellbeing or safety, it is important that you tell a teacher or another trusted adult. This isn’t betraying a confidence, it’s one of the best ways you can look after a friend.

If the staff member is worried about your safety, or the safety of someone else, they will have to talk to the principal.

Looking after yourself

There are also lots of things you can do to look after yourself. You could:

take a break from the news and social media
spend time with people who make you laugh and feel happy
do some exercise
try to eat healthily and keep the unhealthy snack foods and drinks as treats
get creative with some art, poetry or music
try meditation and mindfulness

There are also a whole bunch of great tips and resources online. You might find some of these links helpful.

For students The Mental Health Toolkit has advice and resources to support student mental health and wellbeing. This includes advice on positive mental health promotion, curriculum support, how to identify and access support as well as parent and student-specific pages. * In addition, the Quick Guide to Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources highlights the most relevant evidence-based resources for teachers, parents and students.

Managing screen time, health and wellbeing

Help your children balance their time spent using digital devices for learning with physical exercise and offline learning tasks.

Managing screen time and online safety

It’s important you keep a balanced approach to home learning. Time spent using digital devices for learning should be broken up with physical exercise and offline learning tasks often.

It’s also important that during this time of remote learning we maintain safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies.

For more information about being safe online, visit Bully Stoppers.

Looking after your child's wellbeing

Wellbeing comes from physical, mental and emotional health.

For children and young people, there are many things that build positive wellbeing. Wellbeing can come from:

understanding and managing emotions
having good relationships
experiencing a sense of accomplishment
taking part in healthy activities, getting lots of sleep and eating well

For more information, including wellbeing activities and conversation starters, visit: Looking after your child's wellbeing.

Looking after your child's mental health

Changes in your child's mood and behaviour are a normal part of growing up.

While you know your child better than anyone, sometimes it can also be hard to know the difference between normal behaviour and potential mental health concerns. No one expects you to be an expert in mental health.

For more information, visit: Looking after your child's mental health.

Physical activity and healthy eating

Keeping active and eating well helps maintain your child's physical and mental health. It also helps with concentration, memory and problem solving.

For more information, visit: Keeping your child active and eating healthy.

Talking to your child about COVID-19

You can follow tips for talking to your child about COVID-19. They include how to have a safe and reassuring conversation and links to resources to help you and your family.

Taking care of yourself

Looking after your own wellbeing and mental and physical health is important.

If looking after yourself is challenging and you have concerns about how you are coping, support is available.

For more information, visit: Taking care of yourself.

Online parenting advice

Triple P – positive parenting is a online tool to help you:

raise happy, confident and resilient children
manage misbehaviour so everyone in the family enjoys life more
encourage positive behaviour
set family routines and rules that everyone can follow
balance work and family life with less stress
take care of yourself

The program is suitable for families with children between the age of 2 and 16 years, and is free for Victorians with a Health Care Card, otherwise there is a once-off fee.

The current pandemic has raised new parenting challenges for everyone. The program, funded by the Victorian Government, helps parents during these challenging times. 

Find out more at the Triple P program website.

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/

Acknowledgement of Country