Things are again starting to feel normal! This week we have had above 90% attendance each day. It’s been a real joy to greet children at the front gate and to watch their growing confidence as they return to their classes and reconnect with friends. The children appear happy and settled and teachers are delighted to back doing what they enjoy most. The hand washing and sanitising continues to be an integral part of the day’s routine and the on-site cleaners are doing a wonderful job of maintaining an hygienic environment throughout the day. From next week we will be inviting classes to resume sessions in the library and the school canteen will reopen for 2 days. We are not yet able to invite volunteers or visitors back into the school.
THANK YOU parents and carers for adhering to the (sometimes difficult) direction to remain outside the school gates.
All of these measures have been implemented to keep our students safe and healthy. And it’s working! We have had very few children or staff in the past 4 weeks absent due to illness. Congratulations to us!
The next challenge for teaching staff will be delivering semester one student reports to parents. While a substantial amount of face-to-face explicit teaching time has been lost, we are grateful for the support of parents and carers in delivering stage appropriate content to maintain continuity of learning. In the coming weeks teachers will be assessing student progress in Numeracy and Literacy. These are the only Key Learning Areas that will be reported on this semester. There will be no A to E grading but comments about individual performance, areas of concern and areas for future development will be included in the report.
While we have been given a time frame by the Department of Education to have reports to parents/carers by Week 6, Term 3 we are aiming to have them sent out at the end of Week 2, Term 3.
One of our school ‘targets’ for the year is associated with student attendance. While we have a good overall rate of attendance, we can always do better! Each 5 weeks we are required to submit a report to the Home School Liaison Officer and together we will monitor individual student attendance. It is important that you justify your child’s absences by a phone call to school or a note to the teacher. Late arrivals and early departures will be included in the attendance percentage. The aim is to have every child at school by 9am every day. If this is a problem for your family, we are here to help! Teachers will continue to contact parents/carers where a child had been absent for more than 2 days without an explanation.
I’m excited to be able to preside over the Annual General Meeting of our wonderful P&C Association on Wednesday, 17th June. This meeting was due to be held in March but was delayed due to the COVID-19 situation. We will meet in the library where social distancing is possible.
If you are interested in joining the P&C to have voting rights, please drop into the front office and pay your $2 registration prior to the meeting. I look forward to meeting with new and past members to discuss school priorities and future directions.
Have a great week!
Deborah Scanes
