Dear Parents/Carers,

This will be the final newsletter for the term and what a term it has been. I don’t imagine it will be one we will forget in a hurry. As we approach the holidays though, I have some optimism as we continue to see COVID-19 case numbers stabilise and decline. We know we will be welcoming our Prep to Year 2 students back for onsite learning from October 12th and hopefully our Year 3 to 6 students will be onsite from the beginning of Week Four Term Four (October 26th). So all going well, our Senior students will only be required to work remotely for three more weeks after the holidays. In Week One of next term, the school and the teachers will communicate with you about the arrangements for the return to onsite learning for our Prep to Year 2 students and the resumption of remote learning for the Seniors. By this time, we will have more clarity on the Term Four events which we will be able to proceed with and those which we must adapt. As we have endeavoured to do throughout, we will communicate any changes as required.

At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all members of our school community, starting with our students. Throughout this term, the Teachers, Learning Support Officers and parents of St Agnes’ have consistently commented to me about how resilient the children have been throughout this pandemic. Of course there have been moments and meltdowns, but through it all, the children have continued to pick themselves up and give their best effort at every turn. We know there have been opportunities missed, such as camps and the school production, but there have been many important gains and we must stop to celebrate these. We’ve had regular Reading and Mathematics groups with our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students, focused on getting the basics right and driving learning forward in these key learning areas. The older and more independent Year 3 to 6 students have had extensive face-to-face online lesson time each day in Literacy and Mathematics. Throughout remote learning, all students at St Agnes’ have been grouped according to their learning needs and provided with experiences to suit. Each fortnight, we’ve had Year 6 students leading school wide actions related to their leadership roles. The presentations at our weekly, themed, whole-school-assemblies have highlighted the terrific work being done by our students and teachers, acknowledged the special efforts of our students through weekly class awards and provided us the chance to see each other’s smiling faces every Friday. One of the great events for the term and a personal highlight of mine was the Prep 100 Days celebration where we had kids and parents getting in the spirit and dressing up. I know I speak for all of the staff when I say, students of St Agnes’, we are very proud of you.

I would also like to thank the parents for your efforts throughout this term. The way you have set your children up for success in the home has been terrific; having the materials they require, in an area suitable for learning has enabled the teachers to do what they do best. Your willingness to assist, support and encourage your child and our staff has been greatly appreciated. I know that many of you have been juggling work, family and remote learning responsibilities which at times has been difficult. A special acknowledgement must go to the parents of our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 children for the high level of support you have provided your young children.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge our staff. Remote learning 2.0 has looked very different at St Agnes’ and I would like to thank the staff for their energy, commitment, flexibility and professionalism. It has been a team effort; our Admin team have kept the school ticking along, the Learning Support Officers have provided a high level of additional support, our Specialist Teachers have run the onsite supervision program and our classroom teachers have been the constant for our students learning remotely. As parents you have been able to witness firsthand the care and support that the staff have towards our students. I know the staff have valued working in partnership with you as parents and we believe this will be a big positive to come out of what has been a challenging period. One measure of the success for our school during remote learning has been the high level of student engagement and attendance. We have experienced little difficulty in these areas and this is a testament to staff. As the Principal, I am very proud of our staff and their work this term, and I know they are all looking forward to a screen free holiday.

I wish everyone in our school community a safe, happy and restful school holiday break. Keep doing the right thing and hopefully we’ll be out of these restrictions sooner rather than later.

Kind regards,

Lachie Foott

St Agnes' Primary School Newsletter

Issue 14 · 15 Sep 2020

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