PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A letter from the Principal – Erin Wright

Dear SCSC Community,

We are all living in extraordinary times, dealing with changes in the way we live and learn. Even if your health has not been directly impacted by the pandemic, the in and out of restrictions has likely caused emotional stresses, financial pressure and other tensions that are challenging things to tackle in life at the best of times.  For many people, keeping children home from school is adding to the tension.  I understand this, empathise with everyone’s experiences and also thank you for your continual willingness to work in partnership together to do the very best we can for all of the young people in our community.

I know that the staff at SCSC have been working so hard, and often overtime, to ensure that we can minimise the impact and stay connected to our students to support their learning and also wellbeing as best we can.  But the truth is, this will not be a seamless time for learning. 

Many of you without teaching experience may struggle to fill the gap that is created by our students not having face-to-face contact with their teachers.  Even if you are a teacher yourself, as many of our staff know, trying to help your own children learn at home whilst trying to complete your own professional obligations is a very hard task.

You may struggle with technology.

You may struggle to keep your children focused. 

You may struggle to get your child out of bed in the morning.

We realise that this is a tough time, but I am so proud of the care and effort that SCSC staff are putting into their support of our young people at this time, all while trying often to support their own children to engage in remote learning, or caring for others at home. 

So, thank you to everyone.

I am sure that you are feeling just as worried and conflicted about your responsibilities, your job, your health and your families at the moment as teachers are.  We are not expecting you to ‘teach’ your children while you continue to work, care for them and others, and love them during this unusual time in our lives.  Just help us to guide them through the remote learning process, and communicate with us when it’s not going so well so that we can work on improving things together.

I am sure that our young people are just as confused and concerned as we all are. They are possibly hearing more misinformation than they need to and trying to make sense of it. They are hearing new words and social concepts that many of us have never had to consider before – social distancing, pandemic, quarantine, isolation, hoarding, physical space, COVID-19, lock-down. 

You may be seeing some defiant behaviour in your children as they begin to realise that they can’t do the regular things that they enjoy with their friends.  This is normal and expected under these circumstances and the best we can all do as adults in these moments is to “share our calm, not join their chaos”.  What kids need right now is to feel comforted and loved. 

Don’t worry about them falling behind academically – every single kid is in this boat and they will all be okay because they have you and the school community.

When we get back to school, we will all reset, regroup, refocus and meet the children where they are. As educators we are great at this! In the meantime, we’ll be here to support the learning at home.

At this time, your child’s emotional wellbeing, physical and mental health are of utmost importance.  If this is neglected, it is neurologically impossible for new information and skills to be learnt or remembered.  So, focus on keeping your kids happy, having fun as a family, finding ways to connect and feel loved. 

We are all in this together.  Again, I appreciate all of the support and understanding from our community about the challenges that staff are also facing at this time. 

Take care

Erin Wright

Principal, teacher, mother