Thank you to all parents, grandparents and carers for your continued support. We appreciate that you are balancing work commitments, possibly other children, remote learning and all the complexities associated with Pandemic restrictions. We want to reassure you that we don’t expect you to replace teachers but we appreciate the value that you are adding to your child’s education.

Our staff, including Classroom Teachers, Religious Education Coordinator, Instructional Specialist, Diverse Learning Teacher and Learning Support Officer are working hard to:

Create instructional videos which students can watch multiple times
Develop scaffolds and step by step instructions for students to complete work
Create timetables to structure the day which are also flexible and able to be changed depending upon family circumstances
Supervise students at school
Differentiate the learning for specific students by breaking open the tasks into smaller more manageable steps for those who require it
Offer extension or fast finisher work opportunities in various curriculum areas
Provide targeted feedback on student work
Connect with students via ZOOM and provide instruction
Respond to student and parent questions via email
Provide opportunities for students to showcase their work via their year group online learning platform.

As a Parent what can you continue to do?

Make sure you look after yourself and know that we understand each family’s circumstance is different
Encourage your child to take regular breaks and engage in physical activity
Encourage your child to be comfortable taking risks with their learning, encourage them to ‘have a go’, this shows a growth mindset
Provide the right amount of support at the right time, in partnership with the teacher
Ensure your child knows they are responsible for their learning; don’t do the task for them
Use open-ended questions and allow enough thinking and response time
Give the least amount of help first to support students’ ownership of the task.
Have they read what the task is asking, did they watch the instructional video, view the images or read through the scaffolded questions?
We recognise that younger students require more support depending upon the task provided
If you believe your child is receiving too much work, reduce what they have to do.
If you believe your child doesn’t have enough work, take a look and see if there are any extension components of the task, or whether your child could have provided more detailed responses or if there are any fast finisher tasks
Have your child engaged in tasks at home (e.g) cooking, cleaning, playing games as a family.
All of these activities teach children important skills
Encourage your child to read, read and read. Improvement in reading skills enables your child to develop their skills across all curriculum areas
Contact the class teacher by direct email if you need more support or advice.

Week 4 Remote Learning Survey

We would like to get some feedback about how remote learning has been going for you this week. This will help the teachers to plan the learning for the next week.

Please take the time to complete this short Remote Learning Survey Form Feedback Week 3 by Friday 6 August - for each of your children at Galilee.

Your responses will assist staff to improve the way in which Remote Learning can better meet the needs of your family.

Feedback from Remote Learning Survey

Thank you parents for all your feedback about remote learning. Again the teachers will reflect on your suggestions and see how we can keep adapting to the needs of our students and families. We really are appreciative of your hard work, support and encouragement at this very challenging time. Please reach out if you need support or would like to give us feedback.

I just wanted to say a thank you for the support and the work you are all doing. I have been very impressed with the extra support.

All going well. The work being set is varied and of a good level.

Amazing Work Team Galilee!

The communication and guidance the school are giving while home learning is outstanding. I am very thankful for this.

Thank you for the online zoom meetings each day they really help set out what they need to do each day.

It’s all going as we as can be expected. The technology side has its ups and downs, but that’s technology!!

Teachers are doing a great job under the circumstance. Very grateful for all of their work.

Very happy with remote learning. Exceeded expectations.

Happy with all the work and what is being offered. A few more maths questions would be welcomed and times tables work. Teachers are being great. The science has been great and we are really happy with the work.

We are really appreciate that the school has been open for children of essential workers. As both of us have to leave home for our essential work, we are grateful that our children are being cared for and supervised. Please thank all the teachers. Hope you are all coping.

ICAS 2021 POSTPONED

In response to the COVID-19 developments and ongoing lockdowns in NSW, the ICAS tests have been postponed until Term 4. New test dates will be published in the newsletter in the coming weeks.

Regards

Anna Novak

Principal

Wellbeing during Remote Learning

A memo from our School Counsellor Helen Gunter