Message from the Principal

Dear Families,

This week we begin to slow down the pace of the last few weeks in remote and online learning environments, we celebrate the successes we have had, and the triumphs and we acknowledge the challenges, the hardships and the ups and downs that another term in isolation has presented. This Wednesday we give thanks for being able to learn together remotely with a Share a Smile Day. The staff really wanted to make the end of term something different and special because they felt that their students have earned it and that you, our families have earned it. 

At St Anthony's we have already well and truly begun preparing for a newly designed Term 4 where we can capture the most of our time with our learners in person and refocus the attention on learning with rigor whilst approaching all student needs from a trauma informed practice approach.  Our key ideas are simple;

• Term 4 is all hands on deck! We do whatever it takes.
• We always ask how do we re-engage our students?
• We reflect on how we can reintroduce our students into the learning spaces happily.
• We  use our data to design our academic and wellbeing programs for the first weeks.
• We use flexibility of roles in Term 4 as we are responding to the now not the usual.
• We focus our resources into P-2 until October 23 and designing a dynamic and robust learning term onsite.
• We rearrange our resources to support another 4 weeks of remote learning for our 3-6's and re-engage our parents with an information session.
• Well Being is always our priority - We use our teachers and support staff creatively and effectively.
• We use the introduction of new chickens into our community garden and hatching chickens incubators to allow our students to divert their attention to caring for something during their transition back.

Our Term 4 plan indeed echoes the ideals of Jim Miles, the executive Director of Catholic Education Melbourne who has explained the goals for Term 4 very simply as follows;

"Term 4 will be a critical time for the re-engagement of students, the re-establishment of school routines and undertaking the steps necessary to prepare for and complete successful transitions into 2021.

During the period of remote and flexible learning, some students have faced barriers to their learning. Many others have found new pathways to learning. What will matter most in Term 4 is providing continuity in learning and support for every student to the fullest extent possible, whether via face-to-face schooling or through remote teaching.

This means refocusing our efforts on a set of common and core priorities: the most important things our school system must deliver over the remainder of this year and into 2021. This will make sure that every student in our care is supported in their wellbeing, learning and transition needs."

We feel very confident that we have designed a term that will be nurturing, educational and involves community building effort between families and school. I thank the students who answered three key questions around returning in Term 4. This data has helped us design our careful and student focused approach. I thank the St Anthony's Advisory Group who I met with last week for their feedback and encouragement and praise. We feel very honoured to be able to work alongside these parents to hear parent voices and concerns. One of the items in my Leadership report was to reflect on the list of our achievements in remote 2.0 this term (detailed but certainly not exhaustive of all the things we have done). They include:

Share a smile campaign, Virtual Father’s Day Art Show, online learners awards, remote designed assessments, remote designed intervention programs including oral language, Speech therapy, Leveled Literacy Intervention and Reading Recovery, Share a smile last day celebrations, Incredible child-like and engaging Virtual Assemblies, Virtual Adult Education through the Community Hub, Virtual Playgroup sessions and delivery of craft packs, Virtual discos, Virtual excursions, virtual science shows, virtual dress up days, virtual cooking classes, Parent/Teacher Zooms, Virtual eSafety webinars in child protection week, Virtual cooking, workshops, lunches, clubs, Parent Support Group  Zooms, Wellbeing check ins throughout Term 3 and monitoring all students attendance and submissions, Children’s Forum with two of our students coming 2nd and 3rd, Virtual Prep Interview Zooms and more Prep 2021 enrolments than we have had in 3 years, lots of improvements and updates around the school while it has been empty including brand new audio visual equipment, sound system and screens in our Padua assembly space, playground fixes and brightening, new garden beds, New long jump pit, cover on retractable roller, repainting of the children's toilets, touch up painting to some common areas, New furniture in Prep Space, new ceiling tiles in all learning spaces replacing old stained tiles, New undercover eaves to Soli Deo. New library displays and motivational quotes around the school, New children's sink and running water in the community garden, New server room now housed in Soli Deo, New upgraded bandwidth, many new Chromebooks to replace broken ones, A new Discovery chapel within the Discovery Room where we can schedule class Masses and para-liturgy and quiet prayer times. 

This week we celebrate two of our significant achievements this year featuring in the Catholic Education Good News stories.  Look out for our Share a smile story in the local paper this week!

1. Father's Day Virtual Art Show
2. Our Junior Mayor appointment 2020

For now, I send my most heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you and I trust that the thanks of the entire staff were echoed in our Friday Virtual Assembly. Just in case your missed it, here is the thank you we put together for you.

Final Term 3 Thank-you from staff to families

Congratulations to all of the share a smile winners, the Dirkze family, the Mesa family and the Binu family. The staff will be taking a well earned break from technology over the holidays and switching off. This means that if you need to make contact with the school please contact me on my email prowley@sanoblepark.catholic.edu.au. You can keep updated through Dojo where I will post any essential updates and also through our Facebook page.

Take time for yourselves and your families during these holidays and switch off yourselves if you can and as always is you need any support with anything at all you know that all you need to do is contact me via email to discuss any of your needs at this challenging time.

God Bless,

Patrika Rowley

PRINCIPAL