Welcome to Term 3 - Be Kind to Yourselves

Normally I would start with Welcome Back but it doesn’t really seem appropriate at the moment. Remote Learning poses many challenges to staff, students and families however, I feel we are better prepared this time. A review of Remote Learning from last year revealed that we, as teachers, were generally overplanning and presenting too much for students to complete at home. For parents, there was often a sense that they were failing if they couldn’t get their children to complete all the work.

In an average school day, students are not engaged in focus learning activities for 5 hours. There are many sharing times, discussions, brain breaks, movement between rooms, storytelling, etc, - so to expect students at home to focus for a full day is unrealistic.

As stated previously, teachers are planning activities for about 2-3 hours per day. This can be spread over many hours or completed in one go, depending on individual circumstances. Physical activity and other time away from any screen is very important. As parents, you have the right to say that your child has done enough - conflict or tension generated by trying to get children to complete activities is not conducive to good learning anyway. If you need support from the class teacher to keep your child on track, please send them an email and they may be able to make a phone call, zoom or message to encourage your child to do more. Myself and Mrs Vezinias are also available if you would like to speak to us.

Welcome to our New Families

This week we have had 5 new students join our wonderful St Therese School community:

Isla MacBain - 4 Gold 

Sylas Arthur - 4 Blue 

Phoebe Arthur - 3 Gold

Harriet Arthur - K Gold

Zane Betguen - 1 Blue

We also welcome back Finn Stackhouse 5 Blue  amd Jonah Stackhouse 3 Blue, who both left our school to live in Japan for the past 3 years.

One of the lovely aspects of my role is seeing the expressions on children’s faces when I go into classes to say that a new student will be coming. Faces light up at the excitement of having a new person to play with. I’m sure these families will be welcomed into our community with open arms as their children commence their learning journey with us.

Children Who Are Showing Flu-Like Symptoms

Children who present at school with flu-like symptoms will be sent home. Our guidelines are very definite in that there is potential to put many students and staff art risk in these situations. 

Parents Not Allowed Onsite

Under current restrictions, parents / carers are not permitted on the school site. These rules are stricter this time than last year so we are asking parents to Kiss & Drop in either the designated zones on Powell St or on the basketball court. Staff will be at the gates to welcome students in and to hand sanitise. In the afternoon, the Kiss & Collect zone is the preferred method for pick-up but parents can still wait in the office carpark and students will be brought around - please maintain social distancing in this area.

Postponements

Due to restrictions, there will be a number of events that will be either cancelled or postponed. At this stage, the Soccer Gala Day for Years 4 & 6 has been postponed. Government announcements in the next day or two may well require the Bunnings BBQ and Grandparents Mass to also be rescheduled. Messages will be sent via Compass as soon as we get further details.

Support

Unfortunately this is not the way we wanted to start Term 3 but now we need to remain as positive as we can be. As stated earlier, if we can support you in any way, please contact your child’s class teacher or myself. As a staff, we are looking forward to having all students back onsite as soon as possible. Take care and stay safe.