Principal's Desk 

Corinne Pupillo 

Principal 

2020 THEME - EMPOWERING LEARNING & TEACHING (REMOTELY) 

Dear parents, carers and friends of the school community, 

Term 2 has certainly commenced like no other term in our history.  The current COVID-19 has come with much uncertainty and anxiety for most of our community.   Staying home and enjoying some of the simpler things in life, encourages us all the be more connected with our local neighborhood  in creative and resourceful ways.  Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is challenging us as we continually navigating new territories each day.   I’ve been so humbled by the way the community has responded and I’ve certainly been impressed with the way staff have embraced the new technologies recommended by the department.  The department's preferred online platform is WebEX and staff have been engaging with each other using this platform over the school holiday period and during the first week of term 2.   Staff are becoming more proficient as we move to this new way of meeting and collaborating remotely instead of meeting face to face.  

Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews and Minister for Education, James Merlino announcing the arrangements for the start of Term 2, Wednesday 15th April.    The message was very clear to all Victorians - All children that can learn from home must learn from home, with exception only to limited circumstances. 

On Wednesday 15 April, all students  returned  to remote learning.   I can imagine that families were very concerned about how this would impact their chid/ren and how long this would be in place. 

Advice from the Deputy Secretary, David Howe has remained consisted since the school holiday announcement.  That is,  all students will be learning from home, except for students in the following categories;

Children on days when they are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made. This will be available for children of parents who cannot work from home, and vulnerable children, including:

• children in out-of-home care
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm
• children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service and children with a disability).

Learning support and supervision will be provided onsite for this cohort of students and I can report that a large percentage of our families are heeding the Deputy Secretary’s advice and students are learning from home.    There are approximately 26 students across the week, accessing onsite learning support and supervision.  The school has a small cohort of staff that have capacity to work onsite and providing learning support to students and supporting the operations of the school.    

Depending on your child's age, stage and individual needs, we suggest parents and carers: 

• establish some routines and setting expectations
• monitoring communications from teachers
• support their child to their best to support their child/ren
• communicate openly with their teachers and tell them if they have any concerns or issue
• continue to abide by their school’s behaviour guidelines
• making sure your child has a space to work

I would like to sincerely that all staff that have designed new ways to teach their students despite the many challenges remote learning brings.   A special thank you to our ICT staff, Quang Nguyen, Luat Nguyen and Denise Clarke for arranging the devices for families to assist with learning from home.

Pupil Free Day:  Tuesday 14th April 

Staff busily prepared to move to flexible and remote learning on this day.   A whole school WebEX meeting was held to explain the procedures for staff and families.   117 staff attending from their various home locations which provided the Principal Class Team to deliver the JSA guidelines and expectations moving forward.  Following the whole school staff meeting, the three sub schools then meet to establish the finer details of home the curriculum could be delivered through the various platforms.   Whilst we are all very new to this style of delivering the curriculum, I am very appreciative of the way the community has embraced the change and the patience we are demonstrating towards each other under difficult conditions.  It's now more than ever, I see our school values of RESPECT, EMPATHY and INCLUSION demonstrated in our behaviours.   Together we will get through this. 

School Council:  Thursday 7th May 

As a result of COVID-19 Pandemic our next school council meeting will be held via WebEx.   Instructions will be sent to councillors ahead of time so that we can meet from the comfort of our own homes. 

Our 2020 Office Bearers are:

• President:  Lisa Sette
• Vice President:  Michelle Owen
• Treasurer:  Sharon Borg

Thank you to the following reps for your support and representation on the following sub committees

• Building and Grounds Sub Committee Rep: Alisha Minns
• Fundraising Sub Committee Rep:  Lisa Sette
• Finance Sub Committee Rep:  Sharon Borg

Community Member

• Virginia Smedley.

I would like to acknowledge Denise Clarke for her contribution and commitment to the governance of Jacana School for Autism.  Denise has served on School Council from 2013 and prior to this served on Northern School for Autism school council.  Denise's term of office finished in March and I would like to thank her for such a significant and notable commitment.  Denise now works 3 days a week as our Facilities Manager but will also be welcome as a visitor to any of our meetings. 

There is one parent representative vacancy that exists and if you would like to learn more about the school and be part of our team that shares the governance role, please get in contact with Corinne either by email Pupillo.corinne.c@edumail.vic.gov.au or calling the office.