Dear parents and carers,
As I indicated on Monday, I am writing today to provide more information concerning remote learning in Term 3.
Last term, School Council President Marcus Walsh surveyed parents for feedback regarding experiences of remote learning in Term 2. At school, we also sought feedback from staff and students. I did indicate there was a range of opinions, often opposing ones, so moving forward there are three key messages we want to give to our community. Firstly, the need for consistency with what we are sending out, secondly, the need to keep it as simple as possible for all families and finally, the need for connection with our students and the school. On this basis, we have made some adjustments to what we did in Term 2.
Weekly and daily planners
All levels from Prep to Year 6 will send out a weekly overview highlighting the work set for all subject areas for the week. It will indicate the priority tasks needing to be done for the day and those needing to be uploaded to Seesaw for feedback and other tasks that can be done if there is time and motivation. Years Prep to Year 2 will have one daily priority task and Years 3-6 will have two to three daily priority tasks. Our intention here is to cater for everyone; those that said there was too much work and those that said there was too little.
The weekly overview will also indicate WebEx meetings or times when the teacher will be meeting with individual or small groups of students. The overview will be uploaded by class teachers to Seesaw by Sunday evenings.
Each teacher will also upload a daily planner for each class the night before the learning day, again indicating priority tasks, additional tasks, other subjects and WebEx catch up and feedback meeting sessions.
There will be two daily planners. One for Prep to Year 2 and another for Year 3 to Year 6. Gone are the seven different types of planners and I have attached examples of what the new planners will look like.
The Prep students will continue to have time allocated daily to complete specialist tasks whilst the Years 1 to 6 students will have a specialist day
Connection with school
To assist students and families stay connected with school, Prep to Year 2 students will receive a daily welcome video and Years 3 to Year 6 students will be required (when possible) at a daily WebEx roll call.
The main form of communication (teacher-parent, parent-teacher, teacher-student, and student-teacher) will be via Seesaw. (Year 6 students/teachers may also use Microsoft Teams).
The family, individual and group meetings/sessions will occur via WebEx and students will connect with their teachers, individually or in groups via WebEx a minimum of once per week for a social/emotional/feedback/instructional session.
Of course, each family will connect (phone or WebEx) with the classroom teacher in our upcoming conferences (29 July) and another time as negotiated between the classroom teacher and family.
Feedback
Students will be given weekly feedback/recognition of tasks completed in varying ways; verbal/written feedback or ‘likes’ on tasks via Seesaw as well as during individual or group WebEx sessions.
If it is expected an item is uploaded to Seesaw, the Seesaw icon ( ) will be displayed on the schedule/overview
Onsite
We also need to support families where parents and carers cannot work from home, and others who need the support that on-site provision enables. I attached a form on Monday and a few parents have already filled this out and returned it to school. Any more inquiries about onsite learning, please contact Kirstie Lay in the office.
For those students attending, they will be required to enter via the front entrance, where we will meet students and conduct temperature checks at the start of the day. The students will then be guided to the classrooms. If your child does have a temperature, you will be asked to collect them from school.
The following students are able to attend school for on-site supervision, but will also undertake the remote learning program:
As I indicated on Monday, I am writing today to provide more information concerning remote learning in Term 3.
Last term, School Council President Marcus Walsh surveyed parents for feedback regarding experiences of remote learning in Term 2. At school, we also sought feedback from staff and students. I did indicate there was a range of opinions, often opposing ones, so moving forward there are three key messages we want to give to our community. Firstly, the need for consistency with what we are sending out, secondly, the need to keep it as simple as possible for all families and finally, the need for connection with our students and the school. On this basis, we have made some adjustments to what we did in Term 2.
Weekly and daily planners
All levels from Prep to Year 6 will send out a weekly overview highlighting the work set for all subject areas for the week. It will indicate the priority tasks needing to be done for the day and those needing to be uploaded to Seesaw for feedback and other tasks that can be done if there is time and motivation. Years Prep to Year 2 will have one daily priority task and Years 3-6 will have two to three daily priority tasks. Our intention here is to cater for everyone; those that said there was too much work and those that said there was too little.
The weekly overview will also indicate WebEx meetings or times when the teacher will be meeting with individual or small groups of students. The overview will be uploaded by class teachers to Seesaw by Sunday evenings.
Each teacher will also upload a daily planner for each class the night before the learning day, again indicating priority tasks, additional tasks, other subjects and WebEx catch up and feedback meeting sessions.
There will be two daily planners. One for Prep to Year 2 and another for Year 3 to Year 6. Gone are the seven different types of planners and I have attached examples of what the new planners will look like.
The Prep students will continue to have time allocated daily to complete specialist tasks whilst the Years 1 to 6 students will have a specialist day
Connection with school
To assist students and families stay connected with school, Prep to Year 2 students will receive a daily welcome video and Years 3 to Year 6 students will be required (when possible) at a daily WebEx roll call.
The main form of communication (teacher-parent, parent-teacher, teacher-student, and student-teacher) will be via Seesaw. (Year 6 students/teachers may also use Microsoft Teams).
The family, individual and group meetings/sessions will occur via WebEx and students will connect with their teachers, individually or in groups via WebEx a minimum of once per week for a social/emotional/feedback/instructional session.
Of course, each family will connect (phone or WebEx) with the classroom teacher in our upcoming conferences (29 July) and another time as negotiated between the classroom teacher and family.
Feedback
Students will be given weekly feedback/recognition of tasks completed in varying ways; verbal/written feedback or ‘likes’ on tasks via Seesaw as well as during individual or group WebEx sessions.
If it is expected an item is uploaded to Seesaw, the Seesaw icon ( ) will be displayed on the schedule/overview
Onsite
We also need to support families where parents and carers cannot work from home, and others who need the support that on-site provision enables. I attached a form on Monday and a few parents have already filled this out and returned it to school. Any more inquiries about onsite learning, please contact Kirstie Lay in the office.
For those students attending, they will be required to enter via the front entrance, where we will meet students and conduct temperature checks at the start of the day. The students will then be guided to the classrooms. If your child does have a temperature, you will be asked to collect them from school.
The following students are able to attend school for on-site supervision, but will also undertake the remote learning program:
- children of parents/carers who cannot make suitable arrangements to supervise children at home, including children of teachers in government schools who are required to return to work on-site
- vulnerable students
- students with disabilities who choose to attend on site.
Books
A Compass note will also be sent out detailing how and when students can attend school to collect the books and materials they need from their classrooms.
Again, I remind you that the Department has a range of options for you to continue to support your students in their learning, available at the Learning from Home website education.vic.gov.au/homelearning.
The latest information about coronavirus (COVID-19) and schools is on the Department of Education and Training website: education.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
And, finally, a reminder that if you, your child, or a family member develops symptoms of a fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell or taste, you should get tested at a coronavirus (COVID-19) testing facility and stay home.
This is vitally important to keeping our school community safe.
If you would like health information from the Department of Health and Human Services, you can visit dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
Kind regards
Leanne Sheean