From the Principal
Scott McCumber
Grove Gazette
Dear Families,
As announced by Premier Andrews today, the lockdown will continue for another 3 weeks. 23rd September appears to be the next date for major announcements.
What does this mean for our School? Remote Learning will continue for the remainder of this term. I personally found some of the information at the press conference confusing but this has been subsequently clarified in a Principal Briefing this afternoon. Regional schools remain in remote learning. When further advice arrives, I will communicate that too.
Emotions: Each of us will act and react with varying emotions to this announcement and that is ok. Please remember you have little ears nearby and they do model themselves on you and your behaviours. Our staff will continue to do their best with the teaching and learning and I sincerely thank families who have supported their children as best they can. This is not easy on anyone!
Onsite Supervision: Thanks to the families using this service for booking and following the protocols we outlined last week. Next week’s requests open today and close Thursday @1pm, like last week. Anna will confirm your place via email but PLEASE ensure your documentation is up to date with signatures and dates, etc.
Again, we plan staffing rosters based on the numbers booked in and while I don’t want to turn families away who are eligible, if we don’t have the correct ratios due to late bookings, I may need to politely decline your request. Please understand that when a teacher is onsite supervising, they are unable to teach their class too. Let’s try to be planned and organised as soon as possible.
Reminder – BOTH parents MUST be working outside of the home to be eligible for onsite supervision. Please respect this and avoid an awkward conversation with us.
Please see the link below to request on-site supervision for Monday 6th-Friday 10th September: Survey Closes Thursday 2nd September @1pm
Family Coping Tips: Psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg offered these tips on Sunrise over the weekend… I wonder if they resonate with you?
- Parents set the emotional tone – Alert, but not alarmed
- Send an optimistic message – things will get better
- Meet our own needs for connection – exercise, sleep and healthy diet
- Schedule Kids’ days – they love certainty and schedules
Playground works: Kristy and I have been meeting with the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) to remediate and improve our playground in the North-West Corner near the Field St North gate. I hope to be able to share the design soon and can I thank the Year 4 Middle School Leaders who have been surveying students just before we went into lockdown about the possible piece of equipment we may include.
Inclusive Playground: We have also met with the architects responsible for the design of the new inclusive playground touted for the old garden area up near the bike shed. We await to see their proposal and when available, we will share the designs too.
Inside out: I recently had a visit from a student onsite who was telling me about the Zones of Regulations and how they use them to help identify emotions and feelings. They then went on to tell me all about a great movie I had forgotten about called “Inside Out”. If you haven’t already seen it as a parent, I HIGHLY recommend you watch it – with or without your kids! It will give you a real insight into thoughts, emotions and the power of our brain – especially in these tougher times we are in! I know it helped me improve as a parent too.
Attendance: Each term I receive an update from DET about students with high rates of absenteeism, and then we focus, mainly on the unexplained absences. We have been following up with some families and we know and appreciate the current COVID situation is a tricky one to navigate at times. Can I please ask that you communicate with your child’s teacher, reach out and let us know if you aren’t online for a day etc so we can keep connected as best we can. Obviously if your child is unwell, let us know too. Thanks in advance.
2022 Preps: Please remind neighbours, friends and family to enrol their child for next year if they are of school age! It’s not too late. The more we know sooner, the better we can plan for next year.
Thanks to Andy McNeilly for running an online presentation to support our families and have a great conversation around how we can help our own children. I am sure Andy will run more of these so keep your eyes open for the opportunity.
Hope you all find the positives of a great life on the coast and can enjoy some of this great sunshine.
Scott McCumber
Principal