A Message from the Principal

Lachlan Foott

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you are staying well at this time.

Yesterday evening when I arrived home from school, my 3.5 year old daughter and I went for a walk. We walked down to the local park with a ball, mainly as a means to burn some energy and ensure my wife had a break from having two little kids in the house, even if it was only for an hour. When we arrived at the park, I was hoping for a bit of kick-to-kick, but she showed no interest in the ball. All she wanted to do was climb trees, something she hasn’t done much before, but she loved it. While I was sitting there watching her go up and down the trees with various levels of success, it made me stop and think about this situation we are in. We would all prefer to be living in a COVID-free world, but that is not our reality. However, if we were not living in this way at this time, I would not have been at the park with my daughter yesterday evening and observing her thrive on the challenge of climbing trees. While there are significant challenges and worries at the moment, there are opportunities available to us that perhaps we would not have had available to us before.

Yesterday our school community re-engaged with remote learning. It was different this time around because everyone had a pretty good idea of what it was going to look and feel like. Our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 teachers will have Google Meet sessions with their classes this week, before we look to introduce small group video conferences, facilitated by our Junior school teachers. Our Year 3-6 students are engaging in more virtual face-to-face time with their teachers and they have responded extremely well. One of our senior students even contacted me via email last night to provide some feedback:

Hi,

Hope you're well.

I would like to give feedback on the new remote learning style we are doing this term. I really like the new style because when I need to ask questions or if I need help the teachers are there and we are face to face.

It's much better than last time.

Stay well!

I was extremely proud of this student for displaying the initiative and foresight to get in touch with me to provide this feedback. What this shows is a high level of self-awareness of their own needs as a learner. As part of the Victorian Curriculum, all teachers are required to teach, assess and report on the Personal and Social Capabilities Curriculum. This includes Self-Awareness and Management, Recognition and expression of emotions and Development of resilience. Again, as we learn to live with COVID, we learn that there are opportunities for our children to develop and grow in new and interesting ways. Our students have been forced to develop their skills in the areas mentioned above and these skills will hold them in good stead as they progress through their education and even into adulthood. This second period of remote learning will present challenges, just as the last one did, but we will get through it and in many ways, be better for having lived through these challenges.

I believe our revised approach to remote learning is a strong one and while we will make improvements and adjustments as we go, I expect all students, staff and parents to experience high levels of success during this time.

On a micro level, Catholic Schools across Melbourne are currently experiencing difficulties with their internet connection. Our internet ‘funnels’ through data centres controlled by Catholic Education Melbourne and with an increased load this time around, schools are experiencing some lag and connection issues. It was at its worst at 9am yesterday, but it improved as the morning went on. I expect it to continue improving as the days pass.

Intentions for 2021

While we are firmly focused on what is happening in our school at the moment, we also must continue to look to the future. This afternoon you will receive a CareMonkey communication regarding your intentions for your child(ren) in 2021. Please indicate on that form if you intend for your child to return to St Agnes’ in 2021.

As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s classroom teacher.

Kind regards,

Lachie

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