Principal's Message
Welcome to Term 2
To begin, I want to warmly welcome all of our families back for Term 2. I hope that you were able to take time to enjoy some family time but I also know that for many of you it has been a stressful and challenging time. What I would like to assure you all is that we have got this - the school and kindergarten part! I want to put your minds at ease. As we transition to remote learning this is not home schooling and we don't expect you to be the teacher (you are already doing an amazing job of being the parents and carers!)
Class teachers, Specialist Teachers, Education Support Staff, Sue and Ally, Additional Student Support Teachers, our Kindergarten Staff, our Deakin Pre-Service Teachers have worked tirelessly to develop a program of online learning that we can maintain for all of Term 2. It won't be perfect - please be patient with us - but as with everything at MPRPS&K it will evolve and get better and better. We will work with you to make sure that you and your children are supported and we deliver the best program for our students.
I know that I have inundated you with communications and it is a fine line between getting the information out to you and overwhelming everyone.
Yesterday all families should have received information for the transition to remote learning through Sentral emails from their child/rens class teacher.
For Foundation to Year 2 students this included a schedule (timetable) of learning tasks and SeeSaw instructions and for Year 3-6 students this also included a schedule and Zoom and Google Classroom instructions. (These are also replicated in pages of this newsletter.)
Every day teachers will have a check in with their students
- Foundation at 10.00am with a response to a question on SeeSaw or a video by their teacher.
- Year 1/2 check in will be at 9.30am again using SeeSaw.
- Years 3-6 will have a group check in using the video conferencing app Zoom.
These staggered check-ins should allow families to share devices and help with the internet bandwidth issues but most importantly connect students with their teacher and classmates. If teachers do not get a check in response they will follow up with emails and or phone calls.
It would then be time for students to complete their Literacy, Numeracy, Physical Activities and Additional Curriculum areas including Guided Inquiry, STEM and Specialist subject tasks. The learning program will not replicate a typical school day and many of the tasks will be completed at different times of the day depending how you set up at home. We understand this.
We have developed booklets that will be sent out to every Foundation student - these include independent non-screen based tasks. If these work well we will continue to these packs. If you require a print out of the weeks tasks we can arrange that also. Please email your request to the school email.
Teacher's will be giving feedback on learning tasks that are uploaded on SeeSaw and Google Classroom.
This is just a very high level summary and I have included everything that was sent out through emails in this newsletter.
Please if you are concerned or have questions please email your child's class teacher as the first point of contact they will now be the best point of answers. If it is a more general query please don't hesitate to email the school email address.
Welcome Kaine Jenkins
Kaine will join our staff at MPRPS as the Junior School Physical Education teacher and Student Support.
Kaine has worked in the school as a replacement teacher for two years and is well known by the students. He will be organising the Junior School physical education and working with Cassie Brisbane.
Year 6 to Year 7 Transition 2021
This week Year 6 parents/carers will receive a ‘Year 6 to Year 7 Transition Information Pack’ that will be sent digitally via emails from Sentral. It is important for parents/carers to read through the information carefully as it contains information regarding timelines, application process and the ‘Find my school’ website which allows you to easily find your designated neighbour secondary school. Some key information you need to know:
- All applications will be handled digitally and need to be filled in and sent back to the email provided
- Parents/carers will need to return their Application for Year 7 placement form 2021 by Friday 15th May 2020
- If you have a confirmed placement at a non-government secondary school you are still required to fill in the application form excluding section 4 (if your placement is not confirmed we recommend filling in your preference for a government secondary school)
If you do not receive a ‘Year 6 to Year 7 Transition Information Pack’ by Friday 17th April please contact the school. The information pack should answer any questions you have but please don’t hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions.
Amanda Nelson
Assistant Principal