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Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome to Term 3!
Despite the fact that we have experienced a very different holiday period and once again returned to a different platform of learning, our current circumstances remind us that during these days we are called to think communally, not just personally.
In particular, I want to pay tribute to our amazing staff who continue to be at the front-line of our new normal. Each of our staff continue to juggle the competing demands of their own family commitments, supporting the home learning of their own children, battling concerns for their own health and the implications that the work they do may have on their family members, all the while keeping at the forefront the continuing learning needs of our students. We continue to be grateful for the support of our parent and parish community.
We acknowledge the challenges faced by students, teachers and parents as all New South Wales families are once again back in the thick of at-home learning this week. I am sharing the following linked article that has been written by experts in distance learning as it provides some very valuable tips on surviving – and thriving – while learning from home.
https://www.racv.com.au/royalauto/living/at-home/home-school-remote-learning-tips.html
The article makes some very useful and important points including;
'Children are not being home schooled,' points out Deakin University education senior lecturer Elizabeth Rouse, who has a special focus on partnerships between parents and teachers. 'They’re actually being schooled by teachers who are working really hard to make the learning as enjoyable and engaging as they can and to support those kids at home to maintain their continuity with school.
'They are the children’s teachers and parents need to a take a bit of the pressure off themselves, thinking they need to take on yet another role of schooling children while also trying to be a parent and work from home.'
'Teachers want to know the parents have their back,' says Elizabeth. 'They need the parent at home to support their child to be focused and also to recognise if their child’s just not coping today and to have that dialogue with the teacher.'
During these challenging circumstances I cannot stress enough the importance of adhering to the information provided by our health authorities. We continue to require all students who are able to access remote learning from home to do so. All students should have received the remote learning information from their class teacher on Tuesday and please know that support is just a phone call or email away. As always, the school remains open for students who have no other option and need to attend.
We are very grateful to the parents who have made arrangements to keep their children at home during this extended lockdown period and to those who supported our school planning by responding to the attendance survey this week. Many parents have also supplied employer provided documentation to support their status as essential workers. Parents sending their children to school are requested to send this documentation via email to the Office. Thank you to the parents who have sent messages of thanks and positive feedback to staff. These small acts are appreciated beyond measure.
We continue to keep everyone within our community in our prayers.
Bless us, Lord, and bless this uncertain term.
Bless who we are and the life we bring to everything we do.
Bless our community and keep us true to one another.
Bless our struggles and our joys.
Bless our disappointments and our triumphs.
Bless our hopes and bless our fears.
And bless the new paths we are forced to walk.
We offer all this to you.
Let Christ continue to be Our Way and Life.
Tina Murray
Principal
COVID PARENT RESOURCES FROM LIVE LIFE WELL
Click here for brain breaks and ideas to keep students active while learning from home.
Going to get a COVID-19 Test, is a booklet designed to help explain the COVID-19 testing procedure children may experience. The testing process may differ depending on symptoms experienced and individual testing clinic procedures.
You will also find linked COVID-19 information including step-by-step process of the COVID-19 test and what happens after the COVID-19 test.
Having trouble explaining the COVID-19 pandemic to children at your school? Birdie and the Virus is a storybook that has been specifically designed to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young children, their parents and families.
Happy Birthday to the following children who were lucky enough to celebrate a birthday in the School Holidays:Supporting Your Child with Remote Learning –
Tips for Parents
How you can support your child:
- Have a routine and setting expectations.
- Make sure your child has a space to work in.
- Provide a level of supervision suitable to your child’s stage of development and individual needs.
- Monitor communications from teachers.
- Check in with your child often to help them manage and pace their work.
- Monitor how much time your child is spending online.
Setting up a learning environment:
Every home is different but it’s important to provide a quiet and comfortable space in which to learn.
Where possible, extended learning should take place in a space your family shares. For example, a lounge room or dining room. These spaces are preferable over a bedroom, where your child can feel isolated and supervision can be more challenging.
It should be a place:
- that can be quiet at times
- that has a strong internet signal, if possible
- where you or another adult is present as you would normally when your child is online, dependent on age
Establishing routines and expectations.
Start and end each day with a check-in to help your child.
Clarify and understand the instructions they get from their teachers.
Help them organise themselves and set priorities for their learning at home.
A healthy daily routine is great for mental and physical health, as well as concentration and learning.
Encourage regular exercise breaks. This might mean going for a walk, using exercise DVDs and apps, dancing, floor exercises or using home exercise equipment.
Encourage healthy eating habits and make sure they drink enough water.
Communicating with your child
We encourage you to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. These check-ins can be a regular part of each day.
These questions allow your child to process the instructions they get from their teachers and help them organise themselves and set priorities.
You could also check-in with your child throughout the day. This depends on your child’s needs.
Morning check-ins:
- What are you learning today?
- What are your learning targets or goals?
- How will you be spending your time?
- What resources do you need?
- What support do you need?
Afternoon check-ins:
- What did you learn today?
- What was challenging? You could come up with a way to deal with the same problem if it comes up again.
- Consider three things that went well today. Why were they good?
- Are you ok? Do you need to ask your teacher for something? Do you need help with something to make tomorrow more successful?
Remember to contact the class teacher or school if you or your child are having any difficulties.
LILLIAN DEL GIUDICE
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Welcome back to Term 3, certainly not how we thought it would look! We are getting in to the routine of online learning and we can do that for our reading too. If we have books at home we can maybe read some that we haven’t yet had time to, but we can also use Sora for digital and audio books. If you have not used this format yet the instructions are on our Oliver Library home page, the link for which is on the school website. There is also a link on our Library home page for the International Children’s Digital Library, where you will find books from around the world, and in many different languages http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Our Oliver Library Home page also has links to many interesting sites and activities, so take a look and explore some of these experiences. When a book is finished, maybe retell and respond to your reading by creating some of these fun craft activities. Perhaps print out the following sheet and colour in a box when the activity is done. Younger students may like to draw their favourite character from the story, showing something the character has done in the story, or where the events took place.
Premiers' Reading Challenge. Remember to look at the PRC website to see if the books chosen by the students are on the correct list – if you have too many not on the list they may not be accepted. We have until the end of August to complete the challenge, and if the students remember their login details they can login and register the books they have read. Years 3 - 6 must read 20 books; Kinder and Year 1 must read 30. Year 2 students have completed the PRC in class.
https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html
Daily Reading: Remember how important it is to read every day, while we are all at home we must make time to sit and read. Reading along with our children is even more invaluable! The genius Albert Einstein placed enormous value on the reading of fairy tales. He once said:
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
Happy reading!
Mrs Susan Bryan
Teacher Librarian