From the Principal 

Dear Parents and Carers

A big thank you and great job to all students, parents and carers in our school community. We know many of you are doing it very tough at the moment. Things will get better and we will get to the other side of this, please remember we are just a phone call away if you need us. We have included a few suggestions in this newsletter that might make life a little easier for you.

Try not to be overly worried about remote learning: We know that some students are flourishing or doing really well with remote learning, whilst for some others it is a struggle. Motivation and engagement during another period of remote learning may be difficult for some students. We know that some parents are extremely stressed, believing their children aren’t learning or completing enough work. We don’t want parents to be overcome with stress and worry because they think their children aren’t learning and are falling further and further behind. Our experience would tell us this is not the case for most children. At a recent online Principals Conference, we had the opportunity to listen to Professor John Hattie, from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne. He has analysed the impact of online learning from the 120 days of COVID lockdown in Melbourne last year and he said we should not presume learning loss in students. Learning did not stop, students were still learning. At secondary level, VCE performance was relatively stable in terms of exam study scores and outcomes compared to previous years. Try not to believe in gloom and doom reports. We heard many last year including being told that ’students have lost 6 months of learning’. We definitely don’t believe this is the case.

Develop a routine: For many people, lockdowns are very challenging and very difficult but developing routines can be very beneficial. We know that routines at school are very important for students, we know routines at home during normal times are important too, we believe they are just as important for home learning. Routines such as sleep time, showering, getting dressed, eating meals together, taking breaks, and family time are important. For home learning, we think, where possible, it would be good for children to be in the routine of being ready for ‘school’ at 8.50 a.m. each morning and trying to work through their tasks according to their teachers plan. However, we don’t want children sitting at computers for 6,7,8 hours per day doing school work. If your child is struggling with tasks and they are too long and drawn out, please speak with the Class Teacher.

Make time for being outdoors: It is really important that children complete their work as soon as they can and get outside for some play and fresh air. Although they cannot go to the local park during the lockdown, they can do many outdoor things such as playing outside games, exploring the garden, going for a walk or ride, having a picnic in the backyard, planting some seedlings, doing some gardening.

Green time, me time, us time and screen time: ‘Green time’ is time in the garden, walking outside, or doing anything in nature. ‘Me time’ is the individual time you require to refresh and rejuvenate. ‘Us time’ is time spent together investing in your family relationships. This could be a games night, listening to music, watching a movie, exercise, meals, or making something together. We’re all familiar with ‘screen time’, but it’s important to think about 

how the screen is featuring in your life right now, especially how much time you’re spending away from the screen. Remember to step away.

Think about ‘what we have’, rather than ‘what we don’t have’: During this COVID rollercoaster and yet another lockdown it is very common for people to have many different feelings including high stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, confusion, a feeling of hopelessness. Sometimes it helps to be aware of how we are feeling and make a conscious decision to change our thinking. It may help to focus on ‘what I can control’ rather than ‘what I can’t control’; ‘what I have’ rather than ‘what I don’t have’ and ‘what I can do’ rather than ‘what I can’t do’. During another lockdown it takes a lot of strength to switch our thinking but by consciously doing this, it may bring peace, calmness, happiness and gratefulness.

Inspiring message for us all

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=32012206

Remember to look after yourselves!

Foundation ENROLMENTS 2022 

If any current families have children who will be starting Foundation next year, can you please ensure you complete the enrolment process at the Office as soon as possible. If you know of families outside the school who have a child likely to commence Foundation at our school in 2022 can you please ask them to contact the Office to complete the enrolment process. These confirmed enrolments are important as we are now planning for 2022.

We have our Student Learning Celebrations held via webex on the 31st of August and 1st of September. We are looking forward to sharing your child’s learning growth and their achievements with you. There will be a letter coming out with all of the details on Monday the 23rd of August. As previously sent out, we have postponed the Curriculum Day that was planned for tomorrow the 20th of August to the 4th of October. School will start in Term 4 on the Tuesday the 5th of October.

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents/caregivers/guardians (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey). It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. 

Approximately 30 per cent of parents have been invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

Have a good weekend, 

David Tapp

Acting Principal