Principal Message Week 3 Term 4

School just wasn’t the same without children and this week we have been absolutely delighted to welcome back all our children to onsite learning. We could literally feel the excitement, elation and anticipation as the children entered the school grounds. I don’t think we have ever seen smiles so big!

The return to school has gone extremely well and the children have adapted very quickly to the new ‘normal’ at school. Once again, they have shown themselves to be resilient, flexible and adaptable. Whilst taking in their stride the requirements of mask wearing 3-6 indoors and the zoning that we have in place across the school.

To ensure that we are able to maintain physical distancing and to support the health and wellbeing of students and staff whilst at school we have in place additional procedures which include:

Zoning- we have created classroom and playground bubbles for P-2, ¾ and 5/6
To increase air flow all doors and windows are open as much as practicable
Modelling, discussion and encouragement of mask wearing
Staggered recess and lunchtimes
Pick up has been zoned with 3-6 exiting through the double gates and P-2 through the smaller gate
All other protocols such as hand washing and sanitizing, the sharing of equipment, cleaning have continued

The above will change slightly with the easing of restrictions as of Monday 1 November. I will provide and update prior to our return on Wednesday. (NB: Monday is a school closure day)

Overall, I feel this week has gone extremely well and the children have adjusted to the new routines and to the return to school with minimal effort and ease.

I would like to thank staff for the preparation that has gone into the return to school over the past two weeks. Many things needed to be thoroughly planned to ensure this hybrid transition went smoothly. A great deal of consideration and thought has gone into planning for the children’s wellbeing and learning. It has been wonderful to see the children so excited to be back in the classroom, engaging with their friends, teachers and learning experiences.

The remote learning experience was without doubt challenging but it has also provided us with great insight into your children and the way in which they learn. I would like to walk away from this remote learning experience thinking that we have gained more than we have lost. And rather than starting from a deficit perspective, I would argue that the remote learning experience has provided our school with a rare insight into each child that we can now build upon. We have learnt so much and now we need to ensure that we take all the good parts with us into the remainder of the year and beyond as a community.

This week has also been a very special week for an entirely different reason. Over the course of the week, we have had our two-day IB verification visit and our two-day Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) review. Both visits went extremely well. Not only affirming the considerable work we have undertaken over the past four years to not only become recognized as an IB World School, but also in realizing the goals of our present School Improvement Plan. We look forward to sharing with you in more detail the commendations, recommendations, and new School Improvement Plan later this term. I feel very privileged to have worked alongside this community to achieve our current goals and I am excited to share in the opportunities that lay ahead of us.

Daniella

IB verification week

It has been an exciting time for St. Columba’s. This week we have participated in two reviews and welcomed our students back on site. Apart from seeing our fantastic students again, one highlight of the week has been our IB PYP (International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme) verification visit. The purpose of an IB verification visit is to ensure that a candidate school is meeting IB standards and practices. Ideally, the visit verifies that a candidate school is ready to be recognised as an IB World School.

On Monday and Tuesday we were lucky to welcome, virtually, Helen and Karen to our school. Both are experienced IB leaders and have worked in schools around the world. While we are not yet officially an IB World School we definitely felt affirmed by the visit (it takes some time to process the report and get an official notification). There were so many positive things said about who we are as a school, our commitment to the IB PYP and the learning and teaching that is taking place.

In discussing their findings, the visitors mentioned how the IB learner profile is lived at our school, that they can see that we value honest and open communication, that we promote inclusivity and support our students academically and holistically. They also remarked on our stimulating physical and virtual learning environments, our strong documentation and the reflective capacity of our school community. In regards to teaching and learning, Helen and Karen commented on how we build on and value student’s previous experiences, ensure learning is significant, relevant, engaging and challenging and that we differentiate well. They felt we really knew our students and that our students felt heard. Our assessment practices were another area that was commended and in particular our use of data to track learners as individuals and groups and our use of pre-assessments to inform learning.

As you can see from the paragraph above, there is much to be proud of. Both Helen and Karen have stated that they would absolutely love to come and visit our school when they are in Melbourne simply because they adored the feel of the school and the warmness of everyone they spoke to.

While this two year IB PYP candidacy period has definitely had its challenges given the difficulties that have come with COVID, we have continued to work hard at ensuring we develop as a school. This is something that will not stop in the coming years. We will be informed by the feedback we receive from our reviews in regards to areas we can improve. The recommendations and commendations will be added to our action plan that guides us to be the best school we can possibly be.

We will now await official confirmation of our IB World School status which should arrive by the end of the term.

Brooke Dobric

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