A message from the Principal

Last week's short lockdown provided us with an unwelcome reminder of 2020 and strengthened our desire for a school year in 2021 that looks and feels like normal.

I would like to thank all of our parent & carer community for their support and flexibility for the three days when the school was closed. We know that remote learning is an incredible challenge for all families and especially those parents who are also trying to juggle working from home, managing online meetings whilst also supporting your children's learning. 

Whilst we are aware that different schools approached the three days in different ways, we took the call to not get an online program up and running for such a short period so early in the school year. Last year's experience taught us that the teething problems of getting students login details out, ensuring access to devices and troubleshooting the many and various technical issues would probably have inceased student anxiety and parent workload for the three days.

Rest assured, should we be put in the unfortunate situation of a further lockdown later in the school year when relationships and routines are better established, we will roll out a remote learning program along the lines of 2020 built around the platforms of Seesaw or Google Classroom (depending on year level).

Whilst almost all of the experience of remote learning is something we hope to avoid, a key reflection from many parents I have spoken to was the way they felt so much more connected to their child's learning during 2020 - they were able to understand the work they were doing, observe their work habits and watch their progress in a way that was previously unimaginable (and generally not shared in the traditional 'what did you do at school today?' conversation!).

A key challenge for us as a school is how to build on this. How can we better involve parents in student learning, allowing them to see the work that their child is doing and the goals they are working on now we have returned to on-site schooling?

This work forms a central part of our Annual Implementation Plan for 2021 - approved by our School Council last week and shared later in this newsletter. 

In 2021 we will use Seesaw in a different way to allow students and teachers to create a digital portfolio of student learning, documenting the progress that is being made with reflective comments and goals and then uploaded and shared in real time. Parents will be able to login to Seesaw to view the photos, videos and audio files that show your child's learning and they will be encouraged to feedback and talk about this at home.

We are excited to share more information about this work in the coming weeks - including how to access 'Seesaw Family' and the types of learning and work we will be sharing with you as the year progresses.

In the meantime, we will be holding parent teacher interviews at the school in the week of the 8th - 12th March (bookings will open this Thursday morning with details to follow on Compass) and we encourage you to make a time with your child's teacher to discuss how they have settled into the school year and what their learning goals are to start this process off.

Neil Scott

Principal