Principal's News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As you may have heard on the news on Wednesday, the Premier Daniel Andrews and Deputy Premier Jame Merlino informed Victorian families of the return to school plan in the coming weeks and months. After a period of remote learning we will be returning on May 26 for the Prep- 2 children and June 9 for the Year 3-6 children.
The phased return to classroom learning is following advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer and the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, that students, teachers and support staff can return to face-to-face teaching.
Thank you for the extraordinary work and dedication of our teachers and your support at home during this period of remote learning.
While this has been a challenging and difficult time, it has also provided us with the opportunity to learn new ways of working with our students, our families, our colleagues and our communities. As we move forward we will continue to work together to ensure what we have learned is captured, refined and shared.
To support all school staff to prepare for the transition, Monday 25 May will be a student-free day. This is important to enable the planning necessary to ensure the successful transition back to school can be completed.
The return to school will take place in two stages. This will give the Chief Health Officer and the Victorian Government time to monitor and evaluate the effects that the staged return to school has on the increased movement of people and transmission within the community.
Stage 1: 26 May – 5 June
In the first stage, students in Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 will return to St James. Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students in Grades 3 to 6 until Tuesday 9 June.
During Stage 1, the existing model of onsite schooling for students who cannot be supervised at home and vulnerable children will remain in place.
Stage 2: from 9 June
All other year levels will return to school from Tuesday 9 June. All students will be expected to attend school as normal.
From Tuesday 26 May, staff teaching levels Year 3-6 will continue to provide remote and flexible learning, from school rather than from home.
The prayer reflection this week comes from the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins. It is appropriate at this time in our call for unity and the collective spirit of a school community which will guide us through the present period.
Take Care
In the journey to the light,
the dark moments
should not threaten.
Belief
requires
that you hold steady.
Bend, if you will,
with the wind.
The tree is your teacher,
roots at once
more firm
from experience
in the soil
made fragile.
Your gentle dew will come
and a stirring
of power
to go on
towards the space
of sharing.
In the misery of the I,
in rage,
it is easy to cry out
against all others
but to weaken
is to die
in the misery of knowing
the journey abandoned
towards the sharing
of all human hope
and cries
is the loss
of all we know
of the divine
reclaimed
for our shared
humanity.
Hold firm.
Take care.
Come home
Together.
I have included an article from the ABC that provides an informative position of the impact of COVID-19 and remote learning.
‘Does missing a term due to COVID-19 really matter? What happened to student results after the Christchurch quake’
In this time of different learning there is a perception that children's educational progress has been diminished greatly. John Hattie, an international renowned educational expert provides his insights regarding the change in learning delivery. It is an interesting reading.
What is important when we do return to school is that we attempt to rebuild and repair the spirit, mental health and sense of community for our children. Getting back into what we were previously cannot happen immediately. To catch up with relationships rather than focus on ‘lost time’ is more important .
There will need to be a space for the children to make sense of the world and allow that space to be filled with fiction and the arts to support the nervous system of our children. That is the job of teachers to guide our children through what has been a challenge and to make sense of a world which is at times senseless. The Leadership / Teaching and Learning Team and Wellbeing Team are currently working on planning for this.
Report Writing Day
Friday 22nd of May will be a 'Report Writing Day' to enable our classroom teachers to prepare for the 1st Semester reports; therefore there will be no remote learning for children on this day.
Please see OSHClub availability further in this Bulletin.
Brendan Flanagan
Principal