13 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Families

Last week we were provided with timeframes for returning to school, which I know will be welcomed by families. This newsletter provides further detail and information to support families to prepare for their return to school. Please phone or SMS the school office if you have questions in regard to the information provided. Our primary students and year 11/12 students will be returning to school on Monday 25th May and our 7-10 students will be returning on Tuesday 9th of June and we certainly look forward to having everyone back on campus.

I thank all families for continuing to support the health and wellbeing of everyone in our community by staying at home and keeping your child at home if you can support them to do so. We have a well-structured learning from home program that students can continue to access until their return to school date, and our staff are readily available to support. I also thank families for adhering to the government request of giving us 24 hours notice should your circumstances change.

Public health advice is clear – it is safe for schools to open. This is because we have a low rate of Coronavirus (COVID-19) community spread in Tasmania and there has been increased and expanded testing. To reduce the risk even further, schools have hygiene and physical distancing measures in place.

While it is safe to send your child/ren to school, we still need adults to maintain a distance from other adults, whilst on site. This is to ensure the ongoing health and safety of the school community and staff working with your child/ren.

To help us with adult physical distancing, we are asking all parents/carers to support us with the following changes.

1. Use the designated drop off and pick up zones. The designated drop off zones are:
   a. The turning circle at the top of the driveway (mornings and afternoons – please see further details below).
   b. Outside the Kindergarten (for Kindergarten students only).
   c. The driveway and pool carparks for pick ups only.
   d. The Fingal Campus carpark.
2. When dropping off Prep - 12 students at the St Marys Campus, parents are asked to:
   a. Remain in their cars and drop off at the turning circle.
3. When dropping off Prep – 4 students at the Fingal Campus, parents are asked to:
   a. Remain in their cars and drop off at the car parking area.
4. When dropping off Kinder students, parents are asked to:
   a. Pull into the designated ‘Kinder drop off’ zone.
   b. Get out of the car and assist your child out of the car.
   c. Meet the teacher/teacher assistant and farewell your child in the area outside the Kindergarten gate, remembering to maintain appropriate physical distancing from staff and other parents/carers.
   d. Return to car and use the turning circle to leave the school grounds.
5. To reduce crowding we will be implementing a staggered finish time for students.
   a. Students living in the local area will be required to finishing the school day at 2.45pm.
   b. Parents will be able to pick up for local students at the turning circle, between 2.45pm and 2.55pm.
   c. Parents arriving later than this will need to use the pool car park for pick up to allow school bus movement.
   d. Bus students will finish the school day at 3.00pm.
   e. Fingal campus students will finish the school day at 3.00pm.
6. Pick up and drop off times at the St Marys Campus are:
   a. No morning drop offs before 8.30am and students are not to enter the school grounds before 8.30am.
   b. Morning drop off times are from 8.30am to 9.00am – using the turning circle only.
   c. Local, non-bus student pick up from 2.45pm to 2.55pm, using the turning circle.
   d. Bus students will finish the school day at 3.00pm.
7. Pick up and drop off times at the Fingal Campus are:
   a. No morning drop offs before 8.30am and students are not to enter the school grounds before 8.30am.
   b. Morning drop off times are from 8.30am to 9.00am – using the carpark.
   c. All students will finish the school day at 3.00pm.

The following changes have been implemented to support communication whilst limiting parents/carers and other visitors on the school site. I thank parents/carers for their support with the following changes:

• Parent/carers needing to speak with their child’s teacher or other school staff should contact the school office on (03)63723900 or email the teacher. The school Facebook page is also a great way to send a message to the school.
• Parents/carers are asked not to enter the school grounds, with the exception of staying in the car while dropping off or picking up their child/ren, unless they have pre-arranged to be onsite through the school office. In this case parents/carers should only access the school grounds or buildings through the administration office entry.
• Parents/carers must not enter the site by walking up past the gym and secondary classrooms or past the boom gate and science block.

These restricted entry measures will support the school community to maintain the necessary physical distancing, hygiene and cleaning protocols which are in place to support the health and wellbeing of the staff and students.

We want to make school as safe as possible for everyone. Feel free to ask questions if you require any further information. These things won’t be forever, but we all have a shared responsibility to act in a way that supports everyone being safe. More information is available on the Department of Education website:

Best wishes,
Carolyn Watson

PHYSICAL DISTANCING IN SCHOOLS DURING COVID-19

Supporting your school community – stay COVID-Safe!

Public Health advice is clear – it is safe for schools to be open. This is because we have a low rate of Coronavirus (COVID-19) community spread in Tasmania and there has been increased and expanded testing. To reduce the risk even further, schools have hygiene and physical distancing measures in place.

While it is safe to send your child/ren to school, we still need adults to maintain a distance from other adults, whilst on site. To help us with adult physical distancing, we are asking all parents/carers to: ·

Keep your child at home if they are sick.

Pick up and drop off: Follow our advice about where and when to safely drop off and pick up your child. Use ‘Stop, Drop and Go’ for all drop offs and pickups. This means you don’t get out of your car. Park in Stop, Drop, and Go flagged parking areas.

• Parents only use the main administration foyer to access the school site. · Access via the gym steps or any points of access except for the administration foyer are not permitted.
• Keep talking with your child about washing their hands and following any extra rules teachers might put in place to help with hygiene and physical distancing.
• Stay connected with us! If you need to talk to your child’s teacher, please call the school office on (03) 63723900 or email the teacher ·

We want to make school as safe as possible for everyone.

Feel free to ask questions if you require any further information. These things won’t be forever, but we all have a shared responsibility to act in a way that supports everyone being safe. More information is available on the Department of Education website:

LETTER TO PARENTS FROM THE SECRETARY

The letter below contains some important information from Tim Bullard, Secretary of the Department or Education.

SAGE DESIGNING A STAMP

This is an example of how students can remotely design, send their design and then receive it back for trialling.

Sage has done an excellent job using his time at home to hone his skills in Fusion 360. He is now ready to learn more about sculpting in Fusion 360.

ART AT SCHOOL

FUN WITH CHALK ART

ART AT HOME

Portraiture by Lucas 

Tasharna 

PREP/ONE

During our remote learning, one of our many maths activities has been to explore and make patterns.

PREP/0NE LEARNING FROM HOME

GRADE 1-2

Some of the Year 1-2 students who are attending school created a ‘Leaf Man’ during the inquiry learning session.

FINGAL CAMPUS

Fingal Campus Students have shared some of their at home school work. It is a pleasure to see their work and enthusiastic attitude towards learning. Prep students have worked on phonic sounds. Grade 1-2 have written a recount of the Easter holidays and a narrative of Looking out My window. Grade 3-4 have brainstormed how to include exciting and interesting ideas to assist narrative writing.

Looking out my window by Levi 

Levi 

Writing : Book reflections writing and Number of the Day - Indi 

Making predictions before and during reading.

By Indi  11/05/2020

The book is call Berry. I think the book is about Snow Whites shy bunny. There is a picture of a bunny on the cover. The bunny is also very kind and sweet. I think Berry is not going to be shy and she make friends.

Chapter 1 and 2

Berry was a little bunny. She had a white fluffy tail. Berry was a bit shy. Berry love’s blueberries and that is where she got her sweet name from. She went to get some blueberries for breakfast. Snow White was picking blueberries for her pie. She found some big plump berries but they started to disappear. Berry was grabbing them before Snow White got them. Then Snow White saw Berry’s tail. Snow White grabbed a blueberry out of her pile and gave one to Berry. Berry wasn’t shy anymore. She went up to Snow White and ate the berry.

In Maths students have covered a variety of maths tasks including money, paper plane design and number.

Lily 

Asha 

These effective ideas are drawn by Lily  shared her literacy task for Monday 11/5/20.

In English the Learning intention was to brainstorm ideas you can write about in a narrative.

Lilly brainstormed some great ideas for characters and settings you could use.

Mrs Stanford thought they were so good they were describing a book Lily had read!

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Off and away all day

We are looking forward to students returning to school in the near future and before they return we would like to remind them of Tasmanian School Mobile Phone Policy which came into effect from the beginning of Term 2, 2020.

This means all mobile phones must be ‘off and away from bell to bell’ and that students are no longer able to access mobile phones from the beginning to the end of the school day including recess and lunchbreaks. It also means that smart watches must be on aeroplane mode while on the school site.

Students from Grade 7-12 are encouraged to not bring their mobile phones to school, if they do bring mobile phones to school they will be required to switch off their phone and hand it to the teacher before the start of the school day. All phones will be placed in a class container which will be stored securely in the school administration office. Phones will be returned to students as they leave at the end of the day.

Students will not be permitted to access their phones during the day. Some exceptions may be considered; however formal requests need to be submitted to the Principal. Approved reason for exceptions are included in the Mobile Phone Policy included with this letter.

It is important that everyone complies with the Tasmanian government legislation. Refusal to comply with school policies and our school values will result in appropriate consequences.

We are looking forward to your cooperation.

WHAT DOES PRIMARY HPE LOOK LIKE AT SCHOOL?

Our HPE teachers have been busily preparing HPE experiences for on-line learning via Canvas and also for off-line learning via take-home HPE learning packs. In between Virtual Teacher Time and classroom learning, our students learning at school have been engaging in HPE activities. These HPE lessons have echoed the activities that have been sent home in the Kinder – Grade 2 HPE packs, the on-line learning tasks and those activities that would normally be included in a rich HPE curriculum. Not only have these HPE sessions provided fun physical exercise for our students, but they have also provided relief from screen-time. The HPE sessions have allowed our students to engage in active social opportunities (with appropriate social distancing) and to experience the sense of personal well-being one feels after exercise and activity.

Very careful consideration has been given to preparing activities with a focus on social distancing and appropriate use of space. Activities have been outdoors where possible, with some activities in the gym pending the weather. The activities have been designed to use either very little or no equipment. Balls have been created out of “paper snowballs”. Markers and witches hats have been made with their own school chair, personal pencil cases and drink bottles. If equipment has been needed, students have been given their own equipment for these lessons. Each Kinder – Grade 4 child at school has been given their own named tennis ball and their own skipping rope. These stay at school for their daily HPE time. Items that can be cleaned, such as plastic Frisbees, are sanitised before and after use.

Before and after each activity session, students are required to follow the hand-washing protocol currently in place. This is followed by a large drink to rehydrate. It has been wonderful to see our students engage in a variety of physical activities and challenges.

TASMANIA’S ROADMAP TO RECOVERY

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE e-SAFETY COMMISSIONER

Online Safety During COVID-19

To support you and your community at this time the Office of the E-safety Commissioner are resources you can share with those working from home and for families who may be supporting their children through remote learning.

We encourage you to visit our COVID-19 page on our website, which was recently awarded a Webby Honoree, for the latest advice for staying safe online. Our most recent release includes guidance on how to manage your wellbeing during COVID-19.

E Safety Parents

• Our COVID-19 bookle t provides online safety advice for parents and carers.
• Our eSafety Guide has the latest information on popular videoconferencing services, games, apps and social media. Get advice on what they are, how they are used and the implications for your privacy and safety.

We’re offering free webinars suitable for parents, carers and kids, exploring the latest research and expert advice for using technology safely.

E- Safety Early Years

• Our Early Years resources help families and early childhood educators encourage children under 5 to have positive relationships with technology and build their understanding of online safety, including our Online safety for under 5s booklet.
• Our Family tech agreement is a fun way to talk about online safety and set some rules on how devices are used in the home.
• We've also teamed up with Big Ted and Humpty for a special online safety-themed Play School - watch the episode with your young kids to help start the chat about being safe and kind online.

If you're an early childhood educator, we encourage you to complete our new professional learning modules.

Stay healthy and safe - online and offline.

RACT RESOURCES

RACT has two resources available for middle and upper primary students and one for high school students.

Grade 3 and 4

RACT RoadSafe is our online learning tool that's been developed locally for students to explore road safety issues. RACT RoadSafe is made up of four core competencies including walk this way, buckle up for the ride, sign up for safety and right riding. Students can take a guided tour of the program before watching videos, completing activities and finishing with quiz questions. To jump into the program, we'll provide students with a unique login as progress can be tracked to determine any learning gaps.

Register for your unique login for RACT RoadSafe.

Grade 5 and 6

We have our locally made RACT Golden Rules of Road Safety resource which teaches students about the 12 key rules they need to follow to be a safe and responsible road user. The program is made up of a work booklet and has 12 practical activities to strengthen understanding for each golden rule, including crafting beer goggles and using a common 20 cent coin to check if tyres are roadworthy.

Grade 7, 8 and 9

Students can explore the future of mobility with our practical exercise of re-designing a typical shopping centre to meet future demands and needs of transport. To complete the activity, students can:

1. Explore varying themes such as congestion problems, accessibility, environment, sustainability and electric vehicles with content included in the NRMA's Future of Transport Challenge.
2. Re-design this shopping centre to show how it could look in 30 years, thinking about how demands and needs of mobility may change in 30 years.

Additional resources

Primary school students

For Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 learners, the RACQ's Streets Ahead program teaches students how to differentiate between safe and unsafe behaviours. Through this unit, students learn there are different ways we need to be safe when using the road as a pedestrian, a passenger and a cyclist. Streets Ahead is investigated through a word find and craft activities including a road safety mobile and a paper chatterbox.

The RAC's Little Legends Club encourages young minds to begin to recognise what road safety behaviours are. In this beginner's course for Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students, they will get to make friends with the five road safety legends: Chip, Mel, Jack, Ash and Flutter. Little Legends introduces students to the safety rules of stop, look, listen and think. Students will explore this through a combination of colouring in activities, worksheets and tracing templates.

Grade 3 and 4 students will explore the concept of road safety with RAC's Little Legends Club by completing activities such as creating their own road safety messages, identifying hazards in a range of scenarios, conducting a science experiment around car safety and more.

For Grade 4, 5 and 6 students, the Bicycle Network offers students the opportunity to become Active Travel Ambassadors to encourage students to understand the economic, environmental, personal and social benefits in active travel. Students are required to think about the different forms of active travel including riding, scooting, skating or walking to get to places in their communities. The course is covered off by students completing short answer questions and conducting various surveys about travel habits.

High school and college students

When it comes to learning to drive, there's a bit to take in. The Tasmanian Government has developed a collection of educational videos to help prepare young drivers on the road. Topics of videos include merging lanes, parking, roadworthiness, towing, overtaking, getting to know your vehicle, blind spots and dividing lines.

The NRMA's Road Safety Total Learning Resource is an extensive study guide sharing in-depth content about the physics of cars travelling on the road and car safety. The workbook is structured into key components for students to engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. Learning is enhanced through widespread reading, videos, short answer questions, multiple choice questions and activities.

SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS

These notices have been sent home to parents in the last fortnight. If you did not receive one and would like to receive a copy of the notice, please contact the school office on 63 723 900.

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

WHOLE SCHOOL

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS