RETURNING TO SCHOOL
We would like to take a moment to acknowledge the parents, students and staff for all their efforts as the return to school for our Foundation-2 students could not have been smoother.
We are now looking forward to welcoming back our Years 3-6 students on Tuesday 9th June.
If you are an F-2 parent, please continue to follow the procedures you have done in the past two weeks as nothing for you will have changed. If you are now also dropping off and picking up a Year 3-6 child as well, please follow the same procedures you have done by using your youngest child’s gate as the whole family drop off and pick up point. Your older children can then make their own way to their classes from this point and plenty of staff will be around to assist them with this.
If you are a Year 3-6 parent, we hope that you have by now all read the communication sent out on Tuesday of this week outlining important procedures for the Years 3-6 students return. Yesterday, we also sent out a simplified poster to highlight to you the most important points to remember for this student return on Tuesday 9th June. Please ensure you read both modes of communication (more detailed and the poster) as your understanding and ability to follow these new procedures really does make a huge difference for the whole community at this time.
Aside from reading this important communication, one of the most important ways you can help our community is just by applying common sense when approaching all situations.
We thank you for your cooperation and support with these important procedures and we will continue to review and adjust as necessary to keep everyone safe.
SAFETY REMINDERS – RETURNING TO SCHOOL
Please be patient and work together to ensure our children arrive safely at school.
If you must travel by car:
- Park your car a short distance from the school and walk.
If you must bring your car up to the school:
- Stay with your car and treat all areas like a Kiss and Go Drop off. This helps all traffic keep moving for drop off and pick up and keeps us all safe.
Under no circumstances are:
- Parents to use the school driveways in Collins Street to conduct a U-turn. This can be dangerous with so many young children around, no matter how carefully we do this.
- Any children to exit their car from the middle of the road whilst stopped in traffic. This is not a safe practice and the Glen Eira council will be called to fine people if this occurs.
RECONCILIATION WEEK – IN THIS TOGETHER
The theme for NRW for 2020 is – In This Together – which given the current world circumstances has shown to be resonating in ways no one could have foreseen when the theme was originally chosen last year. But what a good reminder that whether in a crisis or in reconciliation we are all in this together.
Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) runs annually from 27 May – 3 June. These dates mark two milestones in Australia’s reconciliation journey: The 1967 referendum and the historic Mabo decision, respectively. Each year National Reconciliation Week (NRW) celebrates and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. The dates that bookend the week are significant milestones in the reconciliation journey.
May 27—marks the anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation’s history. The 1967 referendum saw over ninety percent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census.
June 3—commemorates the High Court of Australia’s landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—a relationship that existed prior to colonisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights or Native Title.
Over the last two weeks students on-site and those engaging with remote learning have recognised this significant time in our history. Students have been reading picture books around the theme of reconciliation, responding to videos and writing about their wishes for the future. Please read a few student reflections below.
“National Sorry Day is important because it is a significant day for all Australian people, especially indigenous communities. It was very hard for the parents to live through moments, when their children were taken away and told to reject their indigenous heritage. This should never happen to any people in the world of any cultures.”
“Now I understand more about our Australian indigenous history. I have heard that the indigenous Australians were treated badly and that has affected the culture of the indigenous people’s lives today and their population has been reducing and struggling since. My question is what do we actually have to do to reconcile?”
“Now I understand that Australian land was stolen from Indigenous Australians by British colonists and the two cultures clashed. The colonists tried to change the Aboriginal way of life – where they lived, what they ate and what they wore.”
“Now I understand that the aboriginal people have had immense pain from the white settlers. What made racism OK? National Sorry Day is important because we need to identify racism or we will repeat our horrid past actions which would be treacherous.”
WELLBEING – RETURNING TO SCHOOL
Raising Children’s Network – https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/sleep/better-sleep/sleep-better-tips
Tackling Back to School Anxiety
For parents of older children…
Parent Session Wellbeing focus: Heather Yelland from ‘Mindfull Aus’
Kingston Youth Services are hosting an online parent session on Thursday 11th June from 7:00pm-8.30pm on Zoom.
Topics covered will include:
- recovering from schooling from home and reintegration back to school and what this means for parents
- how to put parent self-care first sometimes – without the guilt
- reaching young people who are experiencing challenges, without scaring them with our own fear
- ways to communicate so young people will listen and listen so young people will communicate for effective wellbeing
For bookings and more information please click here. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/free-online-parent-information-night-heather-yelland-mindfullaus-tickets-106167479790
JUNE PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS – BOOKINGS OPEN!
On Wednesday of this week you will have been sent instructions of how to book in a time to speak with your child’s classroom teacher using the Compass parent teacher interview booking system. Please ensure you log in to Compass soon to book a time for these interviews which will be taking place in the final two weeks of this term on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.
These interviews will be held online and the teacher will call you using your child’s Teams account. Please assist us by being ready to accept this call at your allocated time. If you have not heard from your child’s classroom teacher at your set time, please be patient as they will call as close to this time as possible.
Please be respectful of the teacher and other parents by keeping to the allocated 10-minute time. If you know that you will need longer than this, please contact the teacher prior to arrange a meeting at an alternative mutually convenient time.
A reminder that this year these interviews are parent teacher rather than 3-way conferences. This decision has been based on your feedback gathered from surveys conducted last year and we have acted on this by creating a balance of different opportunities across the year for you to learn more about your child’s learning. Some of the planned opportunities are: student led conferences, portfolio sharing, parent teacher Interviews and student reports. The parent teacher Interviews this term will be a time for you to discuss the Term Two learning tasks and important next steps for your child as we move back to on-site learning.
STUDENT REPORTS
Student reports for Semester 1 will be available on Compass at the end of Week 9 on Friday 12th June.
As outlined in previous communication, reports will look a little different this year and will follow the continuous reporting model. Reports will outline three learning tasks your child has completed (Reading, Writing and Mathematics) and provide your child with feedback to help recognise achievement and provide next steps for learning. Teacher feedback will be directed to the student and included to form part of the Semester 1 Report. In addition to this you will receive a description of what has been taught this semester along with a brief general comment on how your child has adapted to remote learning.
Please contact the office if you require a hard copy of the report.
REMINDER PUBLIC HOLIDAY MONDAY 8th JUNE
Please remember that Monday the 8th June is a public holiday in Victoria and the school will be closed. We look forward to seeing all Foundation -Year Six students on Tuesday 9th June.