Term 3 reaches its conclusion, and unfortunately was very different from what we expected in the first week. However, can I congratulate our students who have done so well with their remote learning as did our students who were working onsite each day. Although some days have brought challenges to parents and students, the resilience shown by everyone is commendable and for that I am in awe and very grateful.

I would also like to thank Bron, the teaching, Education Support and Office staff who have done so much this term. They have adapted their programs and spent countless hours creating new and exciting ways to present their teaching programs to try and keep the students engaged, differentiate the learning tasks and ensure students continue to learn. We have also been very aware of the need to provide opportunities for social engagement and connection. This was provided in a variety of ways, and in particular, I give thanks to the Specialist Teachers for the lunchtime chat clubs and brain break sessions.

This term we farewell two of our staff, Damien and Bec who have been working in the Tutor Program. This was funded by the Department in Semester 1, but as a school we chose to continue the program in Term 3. To those of you who were fortunate to have your children attend sessions with them you will know how lucky we have been to have them as part of our staff. I hope that they will continue to be part of our school in Term 4 as Casual Relief Teachers and that the Government will fund this program again in 2022.

Lastly, a reminder for all of you to make time for yourselves, I know that you must exhausted having to juggle work, support your children with remote learning as well as all the other commitments you have.

I hope that our students use the School Holidays to take a break from the demands of remote learning and excess screen time. I always find that these holidays, because of the weather, are an ideal time to enjoy the outdoors and reconnect with nature. I came across this article which was published at the beginning of the year – but can be reconsidered as 21 things to do with kids during the lockdown holidays.

21 things to do with kids during Victoria's seven-day lockdown | RACV

NAPLAN

Recently, we received the results of the Years 3 and 5 NAPLAN testing which took place in May. Our results were once again very pleasing, despite the extended lockdown in 2020. Congratulations to all the students and their teachers. You should be very proud.

Michele Nolan

Principal

michele.nolan@education.vic.gov.au

Oakleigh PS Newsletter

Issue 15 · 14 Sep 2021

In this issue