From the Principal

We are all in this together

We are all into our second week of operating differently at Mullum Primary and starting to get into a pattern of learning that is so very different to any other start of term.  Everyone, staff, parents and students, have worked collaboratively to make working on-line at home happen, while keeping our community safe.

We have been super impressed with the work students are turning in to their teachers and so excited to see how well everyone is able to work in this new way.  As the week has progressed everyone is becoming more familiar with the Google Classroom platform, learning how to set work, check in to mark the roll, send work backwards and forwards to each other for checking, ask questions of their teachers for clarification, read and follow instructions and lots more.  No-one is pretending that this is easy but as each day passes we are able to problem-solve small and large problems and adjust to a new way of working.  We really are all in this together, keeping our community safe and learning some new skills as well.  Keep it up.

Our staff are all working from home and managing their classrooms through Google Classroom.  Each day there are up to five staff at school supervising on-line learning for those children whose families cannot supervise their children at home.  

Telephone calls are being made to all families every week by the classroom teacher, specialist teachers and education support staff.  The purpose of the calls is to trouble shoot any issues, check in and see how everyone is travelling, maintain connection with the school and in some cases making sure that work is being done.  All the feedback so far from staff and some parents is that this communication is so important and will be continued until school resumes. 

No Caller ID

Our staff are telephoning from home, using their own mobile phones and have set "No Caller ID" as a way of ensuring the privacy of their mobile phone numbers.  This can be tricky as some parent's telephones have 'No call ID' calls blocked or they choose not to pick up a 'No caller ID' phone call.  If teachers are leaving messages you are not able to call back on.  All of this is confusing and tricky.  

Many teachers are now emailing you and letting you know they will be calling during that day.  This may make things a little easier for everyone.

Hard copy work 

Hard copy work - A handful of students are working on paper copies of their school work.  These packs were handed out before the end of the school term.  I have planned for the this work to be returned to school once per fortnight on a Friday afternoon from 4:00 - 5:00PM.  A box will be provided outside the main door of the office to drop off a pack of work and a new named pack will be available to collect.   Please let me know if this is not convenient and we will make an alternative arrangement for drop off and collection.

School Devices

Over the last few weeks I have distributed over 40 school devices to families who require them.  I now have a couple of iPads available for families who now find that they require them.  Please call through to the school office to register your interest in one of these.

Communicating with the school

Most methods of communicating with the school remain available to everyone.  The school office phone can be called and a recorded messages are being forwarded on to staff.  Emailing teachers through Compass remains a good option for families.  

News from the Department of Education

Some families may be wondering how long this will continue.  As you are aware Mullum Primary School is a state government primary school and therefore is directed by the Victorian State Government.  It is Daniel Andrews' directions we are following, as he makes decisions for Victoria.  This can get a little confusing when we hear Scott Morrison making statements about schools and students returning to school on the news.

When we are directed by the Department of Education to recommence normal schooling, we will be communicating that to all of our families.  Until that time, it is expected that these on-line learning arrangements will continue for the whole of Term 2.

Here is the link to Department of Education advice around Coronavirus (COVID-19) that provides the latest advice:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/department/Pages/coronavirus.aspx

School Council AGM

On Monday night, we conducted the School Council Annual General Meeting and elected our new office bearers. 

President - Lisa Beasley 

Vice-President - Michele Brooks

Treasurer - Carol Riley

Secretary - Kelli Heriot - Community Representative and Department of Education Representative

Principal - Marie Beale

Councillors:

Mark Penny -  Parent's Association Representative

Marilyn Tsirigotis -  Fundraising Committee

Fouad Lotfi-Jam - Buildings and Grounds Coordinator

Fiona Pumpa - Department of Education Representative 

Narelle Sencek - Department of Education Representative

I would like to congratulate all of our new councillors and office bearers and look forward to working closely together over the coming year for the benefit of the whole school community.

Farewell to School Councillors

At each Annual General Meeting it is also time to acknowledge the work of past councillors and thank them for the work they have undertaken on behalf of the school community.  This year it was time to thank two members of the School Council:

Leanne Christie - Over many years Leanne has worked on School Council and provided guidance and support of many activities including setting direction for our new rebuild, numerous fundraising events, working bees and more.  Thank you Leanne, on behalf of the school community, we wish you all the best.

Glen Dobson - Glen has been a member of School Council for seven years, six of those years as School Council President.  In those six years as President, Glen has worked on a number of complex building projects, employed a couple of principals, worked tirelessly on School Review panels (as recently as October last year) and led the School Council in its decision making processes, through the thick and the thin of it all.  Glen we want to thank you on behalf of the school community for the work you have undertaken over the last seven years, and although you won't be leaving the school just yet we do sincerely thank you and wish you all the best. 

Building Update

Rebuild - Viruses cannot stop the work on our building program.  Over the last few weeks I have met with the project manager of our rebuild program and worked with him to make adjustments to the plans in order to bring the buildings under budget.  This has been challenging, however, because we have been able to compromise, we have now been able to retain some of the more decorative, design features that make our buildings more attractive.  This week it is hoped that the building company can be named and work to prepare the site for demolition can commence.  Any onsite work is still a number of weeks away and we look forward to updating you as soon as possible.

Retaining Walls - Design work on all three retaining walls (rear, middle and lower on the school property) has been completed and been out to tender for the last two weeks.  All quotes are due this week with decisions being made to finalise this work in the very near future.   

So... although nothing is actually happening at this exact moment there is plenty in the pipeline that will commence this term.  

Links you might find interesting

Some of our parents are sending through great ideas and links that may interest other families.

Here's one from Irsia and Malia's family:

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/kids/

Junior Rockers

As with many businesses our Junior Rockers, instrumental program has had to reinvent itself over the last few weeks.  They have commenced an online program for any student, parent or teacher who would like to learn a musical instrument while in isolation.  This is not limited to existing students but open to all.  Check out their website and book in for a wonderful adventure: www.onlinemusiclessons.co