Principals Message

Dear Families

It was announced this morning that lockdown has been extended until midnight Friday, 10 September 2021. This means all schools in Regional NSW will remain at Level 4 restrictions for another two weeks.

BLENDED LEARNING PARENT FEEDBACK

A big thank you to the parents who have provided feedback in relation to Blended Learning. I sent the google form out to all parents and will leave that form open on Compass for as long as it is needed. The feedback provides us with an understanding of how blended learning is working for both the students and parents. We will take on and address any issues that are raised.  Our aim is to make the Blended Learning experience work. We want it to be a positive experience for our students and families and we need your help to ensure that is the case. 

A few of areas that have been addressed in response to the feedback include:

• An Early Stage 1 Zoom as a form of social contact will start next week. Parents will be notified through SeeSaw.
• Stage 2 Parents are invited to stay on after the student Zoom on Wednesdays and discuss any issues or concerns. 
• Learning packs are being printed for those parents requiring them to assist with the student use of technology. It is important that they have a go of doing tasks online.
• The acknowledgements to teachers in relation to the work that they are doing have been passed on.
• A guideline of learning time during blended Learning provided by Catholic Schools Office is listed again for your information. The recommended time for learning at home per day (these times are a guide and may be flexible over the spread of a week.) The evidence base for the recommended times is the Department of Education NSW guide.

• Wellbeing is paramount. If learning doesn't happen every now and then. So be it. I spoke with a parent who was concerned that their child or they have a down day sometimes and find it difficult to learn or encourage. That is the day to look after each other and do other things. Read, go for walks, play in the backyard, play board games, cook etc. 
• We are doing wellbeing check-ins every day with our students to keep a gauge on how they are feeling and coping with the current situation. 

As requested by the Catholic Schools Office, the staff working at the school have now been split into two teams. These teams are at school on different days to mitigate risk if Covid were to impact the school. This obviously means some challenges to ensure we have sufficient staff at school each day to supervise the students on site and to be in phone and email contact with families where required. Staff on the “away from school” team will continue to be working and available throughout school hours, being a part of the Zooms and planning and preparing blended learning. Team A is at school Monday until Wednesday. Team B will work at school  Thursday and Friday. All teachers will be available to respond to questions and/or concerns through emails. Follow up phone calls will happen where necessary.   

This coming week, Book Week will be celebrated as a whole school in different ways throughout the Stages. (We postponed celebrating it this week, having the hope that we would be back at school). All of the Learning packs, Google Classroom and SeeSaw will have the information in relation to this week's activities and book readings for each Stage. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher. 

We still hope to have a Book Week Character Parade later in the year. We have rebooked the Scholastic Book Fair for Week 3 of Term 4. 

A great conversation with your child/ren this week might be around the activities that they are doing for Book Week. The theme for Book Week this year is 'Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds'.

IN WEEK 7 OF TERM 3 WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR:

• Our students
• Our Parent Community
• Our Staff
• Our Health Care Workers. 

Have a wonderful weekend! Stay safe and well.   

Regards