Dear Parents,

In the last week of Term 1 and through-out the school holidays, staff have been meeting remotely to plan a solid foundation for Remote Learning at St James. Professionally we are continuing with all our planning meetings using Google Hangouts Meet as our chosen communication platform. Next week on the St James Parent Calendar you will notice the addition of staff meetings and planning sessions. During this time, various teams will not be available online as they will be involved in either a planning or staff meeting. You will also be able to refer to the calendar to access the availability of staff for online communication. During the other times from 9.00am - 3.30pm, staff will be involved in Remote Learning. It is important to note that part of the daily Remote Learning routine involves teachers viewing, reading and assessing student work and providing feedback where necessary, this needs to be factored into the staff working day.

As the Teaching and Learning Leader, I would like to assure all parents that the staff at St James have been working around the clock planning and preparing work for the students. In addition to this they have been using their own time to carry out independent educational research and reflect on the various ways to enrich the Remote Learning module on a daily basis. I’m very proud of the staff at St James, who everyday demonstrate their ability to be reflective practitioners in the way they approach teaching and learning. The content planned and added to the Remote Learning will continue to evolve based on student needs. This is no different from the way in which planning occurs for a traditional classroom setting, both onsite and offsite planning is always based on student needs.

Currently Students are involved in the Getting Ready to Learn at Home unit. This unit involves students learning and developing many skills to assist them in learning remotely. This will look different for every student in their respective home setting. This is an adjustment period for all. As a school we want to ensure that our students feel confident in embracing this new way of learning, hence the Getting Ready to Learn at Home phase. The second phase will involve the launch of the Remote Learning Unit. Getting Ready to Learn at Homes comes under this umbrella of Remote Learning, it is not separate to, it is the introduction to this unit.

The St James Catholic Primary School - Remote Learning Portal 2020 will be the main go to for updated information. This site will be supported by the use of Google Classroom and Seesaw throughout the school.

Please click here to access the portal https://sites.google.com/stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au/stjamescatholicprimaryschool-r/home

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the students, parents, staff and school community for the many ways that you have assisted and continue to support St James during this COVID-19 Pandemic. We are all very proud of the lovely school and community we have and look forward to the day when we can all see each other onsite.

Social media is currently consumed with all sorts of COVID-19 information. Pope Francis shared a prayer, tweeting that now is the time to pray together. During this time we encourage everyone to pause and pray. Given the current pandemic, let's stop and pray….

Dear God, today we pray for all those who are working to guarantee public services: those working in pharmacies, supermarkets, transportation, police officers, and for all those working to allow social and civil life to go ahead.

We also offer our prayers for all the people in the world who sadly have succumbed to this pandemic, may they rest in peace.

Amen

School Assemblies

In accordance with Government Guidelines our School Assemblies for Term 1 and 2 are temporarily postponed until further notice.

(Please refer to the St James parent Google Calendar for additional Information)

Social Distancing COVID-19 at School

To reduce the spread of germs at school we are reminding students to wash their hands and maintain the required personal space.

If your child is sick, please do not send them to school (or childcare).

At school we will:

Sanitise hands when entering school and at regular intervals

Defer activities that lead to mixing between classes and years

Avoid queuing and cancel school assemblies

Promote regular handwashing

Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly

Conduct lessons outdoors where possible

Open windows and adjusting conditioning for more ventilation

Please click to access information from the Australian Government on Social Distancing.

School Tours / Open Days

We are now taking bookings for our Virtual School Tours in preparation for 2021 School Enrolments. Please see the attached flyer for further information.

All Students now have access to their 2020 Mathletics class groups. If there are any concerns with logging in please email either your child’s classroom teacher or myself.

ccorio@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

School Promo video

Just in case you missed it… here is the link to our new school promotional video

We are very excited to be sharing for the first time our new School Promotional video. We thank Karen O’Sullivan and her team for working with staff, students, parents and grandparents late last year in putting together this clip, which celebrates who we are at St James. We encourage all families to like and share the video on the School’s social media platforms.

Please click here to watch the video.

Facebook

We are pleased to share with you our newly created Facebook business page. The purpose of this page is to:

Advertise and publicise important events including open day tours and enrolment information

Share general information about our school with the local community

We will also share useful resources, videos and websites that engage and empower parents to participate in their child's education

We invite you to both like and follow our page via the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/stjamesbrighton3186

We also encourage you to share our page with prospective family and friends in our local area.

Please note that we have a code of conduct for the use of the page. This is pinned to the top at all times. We ask that everyone read this before using the page. We expect all followers of our page to abide by the code of conduct at all times.

Please note that this page is not a forum or a discussion board. All comments will be monitored and approved before they appear on the page.

Please note that this page has been restricted to followers who are 21 years and over. Children under the age of 13 years should not have Facebook accounts.

Social Media - Please follow, like and share our school Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Feeds.

School Website: ww.stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

Twitter: St James Catholic Primary School, 3186

Instagram:

St James News

BULLETIN

Week 1 Term 2 · 16 Apr 2020

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