Principal's Report
The Victorian Government has released its plan for easing coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions
The Victorian Government has released its plan for easing coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions which includes the following decisions related to students returning to face to face learning. All schools will continue to provide remote and flexible learning for the remainder of Term 3.
Term 4 Arrangements
5 – 9 October (first week of Term 4)
Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students
From 12 October
Students in Prep to Grade 2 return to full-time on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will not continue for these year levels.
All students from Grade 3 to Year 10 in metropolitan Melbourne will continue with remote and flexible learning and we hope that they will return to face to face learning in the third step of the roadmap currently proposed to be the 26 October. A confirmed date for the return of these year levels to face-to-face learning will be subject to further health advice.
2021 Planning
We are currently planning for the 2021 School year. If your child will not be returning to Beaumaris North Primary school in 2021 could you please notify us as soon as possible as we are in the process of developing our 2021 Workforce Plan.
2021 Transition Programs
Kindergarten to Prep and Years 6 to 7 Transition Program have been dramatically impacted by COVID 19. All sectors have developed a variety of online platforms to try and support this process.
Kindergarten to Prep
We have been sending varied modes of communication about our school to the families who have enrolled for 2021. The families have already received an introduction to our school, a special greeting from the Prep teachers and a tour of the Prep rooms conducted by Archie and Dr Clifford was sent earlier this week.
I would like to sincerely thank the Year 4 students who are currently preparing their Buddy letters for the 2021 Prep students. Unfortunately due to the impact of COVID 19 our students are unable to meet their buddies in person at this time.
Years 6 to 7 Transition Program
Starting this week and rolling out over the next few weeks we are delighted to be able to offer our Year 6 children an interactive online resilience workshop, aimed at ‘helping your child transition to high school’.
We had secured funding for a limited amount of students to be offered this course but were overwhelmed with demand which suggests that the lack of usual Year 6 activities and transition experiences during this COVID year is a source of concern for many. We appreciate and fully understand that concern and our school and our Year 6 teachers in particular are creatively considering ways in which we can continue to support and celebrate our Year 6 children in this most unusual of years. We were able to once again ask Andrea Golshevsky at School Focused Youth Services if they would be able to financially support all Year 6’s to take part in this opportunity and we are extremely grateful that they have been able to approve this so quickly and so generously.
We really do appreciate their support and it is wonderful to know the community is coming together to offer our children support. The course is run by Resilient Youth Australia and we are also very grateful to Scott and his team for being so flexible and adaptable in their planning and delivery of their course.
The workshop is based on enhancing resilience and assists in creating the three things every parent wants for their child and every teacher wants for students. This is for children and teens to be Connected, Protected & Respected. Or, as Resilient Youth call it, “CPR for a resilient life”.
Remote Control is a 90-minute interactive workshop for primary and secondary students, conducted by passionate and experienced VIT registered teachers via an online platform. It provides the opportunity for students to connect with each other, explore how they are feeling and, most importantly, to have fun! Between presenting information and facilitating discussions, students will be engaged in a range of games and activities to spark a sense of enjoyment in learning and personal growth. Students will be encouraged to share these games and activities with their family at home as well as their friends online.
I would like to sincerely thank Dr Carolann Clifford who made this program possible as she was responsible for securing all of the funding through Family Life and the School Focused Youth Service.
https://www.familylife.com.au/support/school-and-community-programs/school-focused-youth-service/
Thank you also to Claire Badley for all her hard work with organising this. It has been a huge job and she has been magnificent along the way. The Year 6 BeYou representative is a big role so thank you Claire for doing it so well.
Year 3 Unit of Inquiry
Congratulations to the Year 3 students who have just finished their Think Tank inventions.
The students recently had a ‘Mini Boss incursion’ via Mini Boss TV as an introduction to this project. This was three episodes of hands on activities provided by Mini Boss in lieu of the incursion that was planned for this term.
The students are now following a design process to create their own invention. The students will be creating the prototype of their design and a PowerPoint to present to the class. Congratulations on an excellent achievement everyone.
The Year 3 students are now focussing on science activities that include a backyard bio blitz where they will be exploring living and non-living elements in nature. The students will also be visiting the Melbourne Virtual Zoo tour to reinforce the concepts of their Unit of Inquiry.
Sway
The Year 4 students have been learning about Human Body Systems in their Unit of Inquiry. Prior to lock-down the culmination of this unit was an exhibition for parents and all students to enjoy. The lock-down is not going to prevent this special event, we are going to conduct it from our virtual classroom.
As part of this project the students were introduced to an application called ‘Sway’. Sway is part of the Office 365 suite, which all students have access to, through their school accounts. It allows users to create a website and share that website with others by creating a link.
We decided to use Sway, as the Year 4 Students are all very knowledgeable and capable when it comes to creating and using PowerPoint. We would like to expand their IT knowledge.
The students will be expected to complete both their individual and group presentations using Sway. Unlike PowerPoint, Sway allows true collaboration to occur by allowing groups to work on the same document simultaneously. This will also allow teachers to better monitor group work during the second component of the project.
The Year 4 virtual exhibition will be shared within the Beaumaris North Primary School community as a link, sent out via Compass. This link may only be accessed by a person connected to the Department of Education. For parents to access the link, they will have to log onto Office 365, using their child’s credentials. You will be notified with more information regarding this closer to the exhibition date.
Student Connectedness and Wellbeing?
We are all extremely aware of the importance of student wellbeing and their connectedness to school. The staff are attending Wellbeing webinars in an ongoing manner and our Be You team meet weekly to discuss -
- Yoga and meditation lessons using cosmic Yoga
- Mindfulness activities
- Resilience Project Activities
- Small groups to promote student connectedness
- Podcasts
- Social chat rooms on Teams
- Learning channels where children can work together.
Family Movie Night 12 September
If you are looking for a special event this Saturday, 12 September 2020, consider participating in a special Family Movie Night. Details about this evening have been communicated on compass recently.
Sherril Duffy
Principal