Dear parents, carers and school community,

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for our return to school. It’s not what we might have expected but with ‘the new’ comes great things we can celebrate and capture for the future.

One of those has been the decrease in anxiety around unfamiliar routines and things that are different.

The wearing of face mask and the taking of temperatures were both introduced over the last two weeks. Haven’t our students been amazing! They are all going about this process as good as gold. We are so proud of their responses and tolerance in what will no doubt become a regular part of coming to school and living through this crisis (at least over the next few weeks).

Welcome Amelia, Poppy, Lilah, Daniel, Liam, Emily, Gabriel, Oliver, Alina, Lola, Ivy, Levi, Georgia and William.

We have had a number of new students start with us this term. We welcome each of the students to our school and their families. It’s a strange time to begin in a new school, however we will keep in touch with you and make you feel at home.

Celebrate

There are lots of things to celebrate across the school. One of these is the social safety and life skills routines that students are developing so much independence in. The other is the manner in which children are arriving at school with particular attention in the secondary school. So many students are now independently getting to and from class. This is a huge achievement for so many, and it’s a real confidence boost for them now and into their future.

Our primary aged students are also coming to class and leaving each day so well. The routines are working and the management of these routines from staff has been very supportive.

Within the sections themselves some engaging projects and themes are being undertaken within history, science and geography. You will see these in the images upcoming in this issue. We are not able to leave the school for excursions and community access, so we are making this time up with exciting projects and student activities in the school. Please watch your Seesaw accounts to follow what is happening across the section.

New Staff

We welcome Ramon and Gemma to our staff team. Ramon joins us in the seniors and Gemma will start in the upper junior section this week. Welcome to you both.

School Values

There is no better time to remember TRICS, our school values. We embody the school values of Respect for others, Tolerance in challenging situations, Integrity in fulfilling the expectations of the DET guidelines and supporting our children, Care and Support for one another. Our values are as important now as they have ever been.

Communication

Communication between home and school is such an important part of maintaining the support team. Please stay tuned to Seesaw. Staff are posting items regularly during the week. It’s a great platform to ask your teacher a question or communicate things that we might not otherwise have time to do now days. If you do not have access to Seesaw, talk to your teacher.

Compass is our new whole of school communication tool. Compass is replacing Flexibuzz. If you have been unable to get onto Compass, contact the school ASAP to get your code. We will be using this more in the near future to send whole school notifications, SSG invitations, Reports etc.

We have an active social media presence, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Quite often breaking news will come out here first. Our webpage hosts news and relevant information about the school and is often referenced from media channels.

Our classroom staff will make formal contact with you regularly. Communication is so important so if you feel that it’s not happening enough, then let us know.

Assessment

This term, our assessment schedule focusses on ABLES assessments. Each classroom teacher will be reviewing student progress in English over the next few weeks. These assessments are not formal assessments that require students to participate. Instead each teacher will be reviewing the student’s achievement and progress over recent weeks and then using the ABLES tool to find an approximate developmental level that correlates with the Victorian Curriculum. If your child is still at home, then our staff can continue to undertake the assessment, based on their understanding of the child this year and last. If you require more information about the assessment, please contact me directly or visit

this website to read more:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/learningneeds/Pages/ablesintegrating.aspx

School Absence Plan Trial

The school is going to trial Absence Plans for some students and families over coming weeks. I am looking to work closely with each section to trial some in select cases. These plans are quite different to providing a remote program for students that are away.

DET’s policy is that schools do not need to provide families who choose to keep children at home a remote learning program.

a. Schools are not expected to provide remote learning where parents elect to keep these students at home, except where this is based on medical advice. For further advice see the Advice for schools and families on medical vulnerability during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic factsheet.

We are conscious though of extended periods of absence. The Absence plan will provide a:

Description of the educational program being undertaken at school
Some activities for the student to undertake while away from school in areas related to their IEP

Staff working from home will support the classroom teacher and student in the absence plan within their given role description.

If you are interested in getting an absence plan started, please contact me directly, otherwise we will be in touch over the next week or so, to discuss these plans with you in person.

WhatWeNeedToDO

We have been very pleased to see everyone keeping safe and doing the right thing. There is currently a public campaign using the following song to remind us of what we need to do. I thank each of you for keeping your children at home if they are unwell, getting them checked and notifying the school. We are all in this together.

https://www.3aw.com.au/cmon-victoria-neil-mitchell-launches-whatweneedtodo-campaign2/

https://www.3aw.com.au/neil-mitchells-whatweneedtodo-campaign-gains-momentum/

https://www.3aw.com.au/melbourne-pre-schoolers-join-the-whatweneedtodo-campaign/

Term 3 Message to Community

This message outlines some of the new things we are getting used to for our return to Term 3.

Warm Regards,

Matthew Harris

Principal

Yarrabah School

Ability

Our students in Weeks 1-2