The West Weekly  

Principal's Report

Appreciations

This week I would like to acknowledge the support we have received from our OSHC provider, TheirCare and specifically for our much appreciated coordinators, Nelly and Luke.  We were pleased that TheirCare management was keen to maintain staff work hours wherever practical.  With reduced work requirements in managing TheirCare at FWPS through these unique circumstances, Luke and Nelly have been supporting our staff volunteers in supervising students at school over the last few weeks.  We  need to supervise a relatively small number of students each day, who through circumstances are unable to learn every day from home. Consequently we require the support of classroom and specialist teachers, classroom based education support staff and some familiar relief teachers to provide support and supervision for socially distanced student groupings.  The efforts of these professionals has been highly collaborative and very much appreciated.

I would also like to acknowledge the initiative and support shown by our Junior School Council conveners, Joanna and Medha.  They have encouraged all representatives to work collaboratively on a project documenting the children’s experiences of this amazing period of history we have all unwillingly become part of.  By providing the children some control and agency, I am sure the positive memories of resilience, community support and affirmative action will remain an abiding element of their collective memory.  Considering that both our conveners have been managing the dual requirements of teaching their grades remotely, as well as raising their own children, their preparedness through the Term 1 holidays to also initiate a remote JSC project, along with a series of online video meetings, was an extraordinary effort – Well done Medha and Johanna!

 

News – Return to school plans

I am sure for many the end of this period of remote and flexible learning at home cannot end quickly enough, so hearing the Premier Mr Andrews and Minister of Education Mr Merlino outline a timeline for re-introduction to face to face teaching and learning was comforting.  Nevertheless, particularly in the middle and senior school, that means there is still more than 3 weeks of learning at home ahead. 

I have reiterated the message I sent to families via Flexibuzz and Facebook on Tuesday afternoon today in the newsletter with the addition of some other elements …

  • A state wide curriculum day has been called for Monday 25th May to provide teaching staff an opportunity to prepare to return to face to face teaching.  No (new) remote learning at home program will be provided on this day.  Their Care will provide a program for our students on that day only for students in grades Prep, 1 and 2.  Parents will be able to book online through the usual manner, subject to availability of places.

Grade prep - 2 students

  • Students in grades prep, 1 and 2 will be able to return to school on Tuesday 26th May.
  • Students in grades prep, 1 and 2 will return to their classrooms and specialist programs.
  • Students will not be required to follow ‘social distancing’ in the class and specialist programs on the basis of the advice of the Chief Health Officer.
  • Adults will be required to maintain ‘social distancing’.  This includes school staff, parents and contractors.  Adults, other than school staff, will need to attend the office if visiting school (practising ‘social distancing’) if they have any business to attend to in person.  We will encourage telephone, or email contact for other interactions.
  • As stated by the Minister of Education, it will be impractical and unreasonable for teaching staff to maintain remote and flexible learning for students in grades prep, 1 and 2 after this time.  The final day of the learning at home program for students in our junior school will be Friday 22nd May.
  • We are required to manage staged student ‘drop off’ and ‘pick up’ daily after our students return to face to face teaching and learning.  More details will follow next week. 

Grade 3 – 6 students

  • Students in grades 3 – 6 will return to school on Tuesday 9th June (the day following the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday).
  • Comprehensive remote and flexible learning at home support will continue to be provided by each child’s classroom teachers until Friday 5th June.
  • The return of the students in the junior school on 26th May is not a signal for families to send other children in grades 3-6 back to school earlier than indicated.  Only if parents are no longer able to support their child (grades 3-6) learning at home should they make a request for special consideration.  Any such request should be sent to me and will be managed on an individual basis.

School leadership has been working on the details and restrictions that we need to put in place to ensure we are a compliant and safe school to return to.  I will have further details to share with you next week.

 

Assessment and Reporting

The usual comprehensive manner of assessing student learning has of course been unable to be followed during term 2.  In order to prepare brief written reports, our teachers will therefore need to rely on regular assessment of learning experiences managed at school during term 1, along with the unique learning environment afforded by remote and flexible learning at home.  This has of course included many examples of timely and relevant feedback to students and their parents.  We have been very clear in our communication with the Department of Education that the current learning conditions do not allow teachers to make effective judgements on student progress in key learning areas of English and mathematics. As a consequence, parents can anticipate the semester one report will reference term 1 achievements (personal, social) and how the children have adjusted to remote learning.

Usage of YouTube – Access to YouTube has been an important media outlet for a range of suitable education videos.  While it is a moderated site, there is of course a profusion of advertising and in some case parents have found their children have continued to watch areas of interest after the prescribed video has ended.  It has been a simple work around for teachers to download the video and share the link.  While there were initially some concerns regarding copyright stipulations, the guidelines for use are sufficiently broad for relevant use in an education context.

School camps and excursions – School Council representatives will meet via video link tomorrow to make a decision on school camps for this year.  The decision will be communicated to our community as soon as is practicable.

 

We are pleased that works have begun on a new accessibility pathway, made possible from a grant from the DET.  These works will improve access for students with movement disabilities.  

 

Best regards

Brendan