Appreciations

Updat-ed – Thanks for the terrific response with 272 parents and carers registering for our replacement communications app, Updat-ed since first invited only last Thursday. We will continue to post on FlexiSchools for a few more weeks, but please make sure you log on and register, as we do not want anyone to miss important communication when we switch to only using Updat-ed.

We are nearly half way through term. It is flying by!

We have had a very positive start to the first (near) half of Term 4 and we continue to be delighted that we have achieved a school environment as close to normal as we can make it.

Following a period of settling in, class teachers have been very busy assessing student achievement in literacy and numeracy and specialist teachers within their areas of focus.

On our return to onsite learning, our goals for the children have been to:

provide for student health and wellbeing
re-establish relationships
reintroduce students to the necessary structure and routine of school life
assess student achievement in literacy and numeracy and specialist areas
continue to differentiate the curriculum to support learning of all students

We can see that every day our classes are calm and purposeful. Most children have returned joyfully to their classrooms and they have been supported by their teachers, delighted to be again teaching the children in person and in real time. This is not to say that there have not been challenges. The soft start (8.50 – 9.10 am) has required teachers to plan the start of the day differently. The early finish means less learning can be achieved after lunch. Students (and teachers) have been absent for the most minor of cold like symptoms as required for a COVID safe school and this has affected student numbers and some program consistency. In today’s newsletter, we have included a letter from the Chief Health Officer, Dr Brett Sutton. He makes the point; The most important thing I ask of every family this term is to keep your child home from school if they have even the mildest coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms and to get tested as soon as possible. Staying home when unwell is one of our strongest measures to limit the spread of the virus.

However, as I visit classrooms and specialist programs and observe the children at play and in the yard, there is no doubt that as a school community we have done an excellent job of returning to onsite learning. We will continue to logically and reasonably manage the challenges to ensure this final term of this strange and dislocated year is the very best we can make of it.

Next week …

School Council will meet for the second last meeting for the year on Monday. This of course continues to be in an online format. We will review effectiveness of our return to school, discuss plans for practical requirements for the rest of the school year and discuss planning considerations for the 2021 school year.

… and in future weeks

Prep 2021 Transition – As all parents are aware, currently only staff and contractors who complete COVID safe plans and meet entry parameters are permitted onsite. This stipulation has of course created a dilemma for orientation for all preschool students whose parents have not been able to visit school at any time this year for the usual preparation. As a school we have certainly not been idle in finding ways to communicate with families in this situation. Our dynamic Prep and K-P Transition coordinator, Karri Sinclair has worked diligently and innovatively with the staff team to create a targeted communication strategy. New (and returning families) have had access to a series of specific videos explaining everything that a family could possibly need to know. She and members of the Prep team have endeavoured to call the parents of every child enrolled and she has communicated specifically by phone or email to dozens of enquiries. However, as restrictions have been eased, the DET has recently informed schools that we will be able to welcome students with one parent onsite for a limited time and under strict parameters. For instance, a maximum of 5 children and 5 parents will be allowed onsite at a time. Consequently, we are planning to run many short visits over a period of days within a two week period (weeks 8 and 9). All families enrolled with a 2021 beginner will receive the invitation shortly.

Cheers,

Brendan

The West Weekly

Issue 33 · 05 Nov 2020

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