Dear Families,

Thankyou once again for your amazing support to teachers while we go through the transition to an on-line learning program. This is scheduled to begin at the start of term 2 for all students.

For those families where working commitments mean that school is still the best place for them during the day, school will remain open and staffed by our regular teachers. All students, no matter whether at home or school, will receive the online learning program.

In the update on Friday evening, you may have heard that Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, asked that only children of “workers for whom no suitable care arrangements are available at home to support their learning, physically attend school”.  This is the transition phase to the next stage of schooling that begins in Term 2.  We will of course take any child sent to school as that is our role.

Week 10 (this week)

  • Canteen to remain open though some foods etc may not be available. We are not replacing food lines as they run out at this stage.
  • OSHC will continue till the end of the term.
  • Vacation Care at this stage will still be available (Commonwealth funding is being sought to enable this to happen).
  • Two fun days will be scheduled for students R-7 this week.
    1. Tuesday 31st March – bring a Teddy Bear to school, its a Bear Hunt…. (all students will be encouraged to bring along a bear to sit on their desk or in the classroom window, allowing others to enjoy a bear friendly day). This is based on the children’s book, “We’re Going On a Bear Hunt”, by Michael Rosin and Helen Oxenbury.
    2. Friday 3rd April, will be a Casual Clothes day to end the school term. The usual rules apply regarding respectful clothing but we hope children will dress up as colourfully as possible.
  • Dismissal is 3:05pm on Friday (no early dismissal).

Week 11 (next week)

  • All staff will be involved in preparing their on-line programs.
  • There will be further information available during the next two weeks explaining aspects that connect to how we will be actually providing the online program. Information has already been shared by class teachers but there is much more work to do.

Please remember that your children may possibly be hearing more information than they need to and trying to make sense of it. We have never experienced anything like this before and despite our best intentions (yours and ours at school), children are picking up on our tension, anxiety and worry.

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), and while the idea of being off school for weeks sounds wonderful, they are probably picturing a fun time which includes play dates, going to the shops, movies or playground, sleepovers, holidays away and visiting family or friends – not the reality of staying in, learning at home and the social isolation this entails.

When the time comes for your child/ren to begin learning at home, please don’t worry about your child/ren falling behind academically – every single child is in this boat and they will all be okay because they have you and they’ll be supported by us.

When we return to a normal school routine at some time in the future, we will all reset, regroup (rejoice!) and meet the children where they are. Teachers are great at this! In the meantime, we’ll be here to support the learning at home – and as I mentioned earlier, your child’s teachers will be working on this over the upcoming Pupil Free days (6th – 9th April) and will be in touch with you via the classroom & school communication modes.

Kind Regards,

Steve Freeman
Principal