Principal's Report

I would like to begin by acknowledging those who served our nation. Although we were unable to hold our moving ANZAC Day ceremony, we were able to remember and commemorate our veterans and service personnel from our own homes on Saturday 25 April. Lest we forget.

Remote Learning

I am incredibly proud of the way in which our students have adapted to this new way of learning. They have demonstrated immense resilience at such an unsettling time, and we have been delighted to receive photos and stories of various remote learning journeys. As Mrs Morrison (1C Classroom Teacher) said,

"It's wonderful to see the learning actually playing out in real life - it makes all this craziness behind the scenes all the more worthwhile".

I would like to express my sincerest thanks to families for supporting their children and rising to this new and unprecedented challenge. Many parents are working from home and juggling children of varying ages which is no mean feat.

This is also a huge change for our teaching staff who have been working tirelessly preparing daily tasks that are engaging, clear, well-structured, appropriately pitched and most importantly, manageable for both students and parents.

Thank you to the many parents who have provided positive and appreciative feedback to our teachers. We have been pleased to be able to be responsive by providing 'print friendly' material for the many families who are relying on this format for their remote learning journey.

I would also like to thank the many staff who have volunteered to provide 'care and supervision' to those students who are unable to learn from home.  

As advised on Compass, we are still recording student attendance. In the event your child is unwell and will not be completing the daily remote learning tasks, please enter an attendance note on Compass.

School Calendar

We have not included the School Calendar in this edition of the newsletter as we are unclear at this point in time as to which events will be able to be conducted between now and the end of the year. This of course will depend largely on when schools re-open.

Asbestos Remediation Works

As advised on Compass, the soil on the school oval was remediated (as part of the planned asbestos works) during the school holidays. A clearance certificate has been received and the school is now safe for general access, keeping in mind the current COVID-19 restrictions of course.

Term 1 Parent Feedback

Thank you to those who took the time to respond to our Term 1 Feedback & Suggestions survey. Please be assured that ALL responses are considered and assessed according to the school's key priority areas.

In Closing...

Never in my career did I anticipate a term that looks like this. Although it has been extremely challenging, I am grateful for what I have learnt and will continue to learn as we ride this out together. Who would have thought I would be conducting a daily staff briefing via Microsoft Teams? 

I look forward to seeing the use of this platform roll out across the various year levels within the school as we move into the next stage of our Remote Learning Program.

As has been said so many times, we are all in this together. Students will not fall behind because of this. Students will learn skills far beyond the standard curriculum and will catch up, if required, when we return to on-site learning.

Good luck everyone  and remember we are all just trying our best.

Sherril Duffy

Principal