Queen's Birthday Public Holiday

Next Monday, June 8th, is a public holiday. There will be no staff onsite on this day. All students return on Tuesday 9th June.

Welcome Back Prep/1/2's

Welcome Back to Our Prep-2 Students! They have certainly injected some fun and energy back into our buildings and grounds! Special thanks to our parents for clearly doing an excellent job of preparing their children to return to school last week.

We were so impressed by how settled our students were right from the start. Any fears about them being unsettled after such a long period away from school were very quickly dispelled. Thank you once again for all your efforts at home to assist your children with our remote learning program. We continue to appreciate the wonderful efforts of our Grade 3-6 parents as they encourage their children through this last week of being at home and engaging in remote learning tasks. There are a broad group of people to thank for the smooth transition back to school for our P-2 students:

Our staff, who did such a fabulous job of reshaping their entire teaching and learning program to something that could be delivered remotely, at the same time as mastering the tech tools required to make this happen. To then come back to school and reshape their curriculum and their lesson plans yet again for face-to-face teaching.
Our community, who showed flexibility and responsiveness in applying new processes, particularly around drop-off and pick-up routines.
Our students (most importantly!), who returned to school with a positive mindset; excited to see their teachers and friends, as well as settling in to familiar learning routines.
Our education support staff in both the administration and ‘teacher support’ areas, who played a key role in ensuring the ‘physical environment’ across the school was ready for our return to school.

On-Site Learning

We are now into our 8th week of running an on-site learning program for children of essential workers. This has catered for anywhere between 10 and 25 children on any given day and has presented us with a range of challenges and an ever changing landscape. Despite the challenges, the on-site learning program has been very successful. The children who attended have been awesome and handled the situation really well. We're sure the remaining Grade 3-6 students being supervised will be looking forward to things returning to normal, as they have for our Prep-2 students.

Staying Hydrated

A reminder to please ensure that your child brings their own personal water bottle to school. At this stage, all outside water fountains and taps remain turned off. Students can refill bottles using classroom taps.

The Arts

Students have loved the remote learning activities provided through The Arts. Make sure you view the full 'Recycled Robots' clip on the Student Learning page.

Enrolments - 2021

Do you have a sibling starting at LPPS in 2021? Have you completed and returned an enrolment form? Enrolments are being accepted now for next year. Please help us to confirm numbers for 2021 by contacting the office to confirm your intentions to enrol for next year.

National Reconciliation Week 'In This Together'

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We strive towards a more just, equitable nation by championing unity and mutual respect as we come together and connect with one another. The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2020 – In This Together reinforces that we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation and in playing our part as we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures.

Premiers' Reading Challenge

There is still time to sign up for the Premiers' Reading Challenge. All you have to do is let the school know you would like to join in. You will then be sent a username and password so that you can access the PRC site. All participants will get a certificate of participation, signed by the Premier.

The closing date for the PRC is September 4th so there is still plenty of time to register.

Happy reading!

Borrowed Devices During Home Learning

Now that remote learning is drawing to a close, please return your borrowed devices to school with your child asap. Please make sure to include the devices as well as the power cable. If you notice that the device or the power cable has been damaged, please let us know.

If your child is in 3-6, they can continue to use the borrowed device until they return on 9th June.

Breakfast Club

Please note that Breakfast Club will not resume until further notice - watch this space!

Australia Post - Competition

'Dear Australia'

A letter writing activity with a difference!

We know the last few months have had an extraordinary impact on teachers, schools, families and our way of life. At Australia Post, we think it is important that we mark this moment in our nation's history, so we've created a national letterbox where families can write a letter sharing their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. We're working with the National Archives of Australia who will keep these letters for future generations. Getting involved is easy. You'll need:

Pens
Paper
Envelope and stamp
Parent/guardian permission slips
Creativity!

Step 1: Propose to your child the idea of writing a letter to their future selves to describe what life was like during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. You could encourage them to write or draw about one or more of the following:

How things are different at the moment
What home-learning is like
How they are feeling about what is happening
What they are excited about
What they would like people in the future to know about this time
What life is like now

Step 2. Talk with your family about what they've created. We've also created permission slips for you - this must accompany your letter.

Step 3: Send completed letters, artwork and permission slips in a stamped envelope to: Dear Australia Locked Bag Australia, 9999

More details can be found at:

https://auspost.com.au/dear-australia?cid=edm:2483017:con:CONS_GC_OTHER_PRO_20200525_Dear_Australia_Activity:LK20200522003

This is an opportunity to be part of our national history with Australia Post.

A Final Word

It will be exciting to have our 'full crew' onboard next week when school resumes for all students on Tuesday 9th June. Enjoy the long weekend!

Launching Place Primary School Staff

1/2T

1/2T Classroom Report