“I have come that they may life and have it to the full”

John 10: 10

(from the Gospel for fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A)

Dear parents and carers

Welcome back to Term 2! This is the most unusual return to school I think I have experienced in thirty six years in education. I hope you have managed during the holiday break. Life is certainly not “normal” at this time. Everybody is grappling with the requirements of the COVID-19 restrictions and government directed management strategies. Whilst it certainly has been challenging, the slower pace of life and lack of general busy-ness has got me reflecting on perhaps how we might learn from this present experience once we get to the other side of the pandemic. There is a lot to be said for a slower, more measured, attentive and intentional approach to life that this crisis has imposed on us. In Christian terms, we have been living through a Good Friday time, a time of loss and letting go. As people of faith, we believe that every Good Friday is followed by an Easter Sunday. Easter is a time of new life, renewal and doing things differently. As we begin the slow return to “normal”, let’s all think about what we have learned during this pandemic, what is truly important and how we can return to a new and better way of living together.

Term 2 arrangements

I wrote to you last week regarding the Premier’s directive that children will return to school one day per week commencing on Monday 11 May (Week 3). We have been working hard developing a plan for the staged, progressive return of children to school. I have committed to writing to you tomorrow (Friday) with the details of this plan once they are finalised with our Catholic Education Office colleagues. For now, I can confirm with you the following.

For Week 1 and Week 2: we will be continuing to deliver remote learning as our single mode of learning and teaching. For this first week of term, the children have continued to use the materials we sent home last term. From next week, the children will begin using the new learning packs we have prepared. Thank you for coming to school and collecting your child’s learning materials this week. It was lovely seeing you and some of the children! These materials will be used both at home and at school. If your child needs to come to school, we ask that your child brings these paper materials (and any loaned iPads) to school for the day.

From Week 2 onwards: we are planning to move our Kinder to Year 2 children into Google Classrooms to better manage the digital resources the children are already accessing as part of their learning. The digital work compliments the paper based learning that will also continue to be offered daily. Our Kinder to Year 2 parents also received directions for setting up Google Classroom on your child’s iPad. We have re-configured and loaned over twenty iPads to families who need a device for their Kinder to Year 2 child.

From Week 3 onwards: we will be inviting children to school for one day per week. We will of course ensure that families attend school on the same day and that siblings will be together. We will let you know your child’s “school day” next week once our plan has been signed off by CEDoW. The children will have the opportunity to check in with their class teacher, spend some time with classmates and review how their learning remotely has progressed. The children at school will continue to use the remote learning materials in the same way that children learning remotely are working. This will remain the case until we return to full time school at some point in the future. I will provide further detail tomorrow (Friday) about this plan via COMPASS.

The school remains open for supervision for children of essential workers and those who need this service. If your child is attending school for the day, she or he will need the learning materials and ideally an iPad.

Student Attendance during Remote Learning

We are required to continue to keep an attendance roll. Starting Monday, all classes will find a question “Are you learning with us today?” in the ‘Classwork’ tab under ‘Roll’ within Google Classroom. Your child simply needs to click “yes” to indicate attendance. We would like this to be done by 9:30am daily. If we do not hear from your child before 11am your child will be marked as absent. If your child is late, we will treat this like a late pass at school. Could you send an email to info@spmvdow.catholic.edu.au to let us know your child is now learning. We will adjust the roll accordingly. Please be aware that we are required to report attendance daily to CEDoW who in turn report the NSW government as part of the COVID-19 monitoring.

Wellbeing and self care

The free apps we have selected are Smiling Minds, Dreamy Kids Meditation and Stop,Think, Breath. We strongly encourage you to download these free apps if your child does not have a school managed device.

You will notice that the teachers have incorporated mindfulness time into your child’s daily schedule. Consider using them yourself- they are kind of wonderful for everyone!

Along with exercise, a healthy diet and good sleep, looking after your spiritual and emotional health is important. Children can’t learn if they are stressed or worried or sleep deprived. We hope these tools and suggestions will help.

Staying informed about COVID-19

Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong have developed a website for parents and community regarding current advice for the management of COVID-19. This website will be updated regularly with the latest advice from the government and our system of school. This website is our “source of truth”.

All information and updates regarding our school and system’s response to COVID-19 will be published on this website. A link to this resource has been placed on our school website home page as well as on the CEDoW website. You can access the site from this link.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/covid-19-information-centre

Building Project- school office moved to the Hall and access is through the church gate

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the remote learning response, the long awaited and much anticipated building project has commenced!

For Term 2, the school office will be in the Parish Hall. Access to the school from Garrett Street for everyone will be via the church steps and the side gate near the Infants Eating Area. The builders will have fencing up for safety. The building site will be isolated from the rest of the school. Children’s safety is always our highest priority. We hope that by the time the children return to school full time that the project will be close to completion. It is great that our school is having this much needed upgrade to our Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms, access and the administration area.

Resources

LOLS: Lessons and Liturgy and Scripture

I have recently started up a new initiative involving Fr Richard called LOLS - Lessons and Liturgy and Scripture. Each week, I will be working with Fr Richard to create a short spiritual reflection video as a way of connecting with the school community. Each video includes a scripture focus, a short ‘homily’ and a song. The video will be posted on Facebook each week.

Pray As You Go

The Pray As You Go app has been pushed out to student iPads and can also be accessed on the internet. It is a free app and very easy to use. This app provides daily prayers and reflections, accompanied by some lovely music. We encourage students and parents/grandparents to use this app.

St Paul’s Parish YouTube Channel

Here is the link to the St Paul’s Parish YouTube Channel where you can watch live and recorded Masses and prayers:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL9F08CA4ayKjhG-3ke-2rQ

Spiritual Resource Kit

Another resource made available online is the Spiritual Resource Kit filled with music and videos for use with students and adults. There is something for everyone to nourish and sustain us spiritually and to support learning during these challenging times.  

You simply have to click on the link below for access to the kit.

https://www.emmausproductions.com/

Catherine du Bois

Religious Education Coordinator

Please take some time to look at our new Remote Learning Parent Portal. It contains lots of information to support remote learning. There is a Frequently Ask Questions page that might help with any questions or concerns that you may have and there is a feedback form if you would like to provide us with feedback about the portal or remote learning.

Regards,

Katie Browne

Assistant Principal

Year 5 would like to share some of their recent work:

ANZAC Day Reflection from Margot in Year 5:

On ANZAC Day I remember the soldiers that went to war. Nobody in my family has died from a war. I am very grateful for the soldiers who went to war. I am sorry for the families who lost loved ones in the wars. I am grateful to be living in Australia.

Mitchell in Year 5 did a research page on Galahs: