LATEST PRINCIPAL's UPDATE - 9th July

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As you would know – Sydney will be continuing in Lockdown and school will resume online learning as of Tuesday 13/7/21.

At this time, we are unsure how long Lockdown and Remote Learning will continue, but BSPS is preparing for all eventualities. I would suggest that we all prepare for longer than 4 days.

School is Open – But parents are encouraged to keep their children at home

- As expressed by the Premier, BSPS will be open and provide supervision for those children of essential workers who are unable to stay at home.

- Learning at school will follow the same online learning as students who are engaging from home.

- Parents and caregivers, if at all possible, families are strongly encouraged to keep their child/children at home and engage in online learning. With rising rates of infection, including among children, reducing contact for both adults and children is very important.

Important Information: All Adults who enter the school grounds – need to QR Code in and wear a mask at all times.

Online 2021 Learning at Blacktown South Public School

1. The online platforms that will be used–

- Kindergarten to Year 2 will be using the SeeSaw

- Years 3-6 will be using Google classroom

2. Daily Routine

- Class teachers will load the day’s online learning activities onto SeeSaw for K-2 students or Google Classroom for Years 3-6 from 9am each morning.

- Students can engage in these activities at their own pace and at a time that is convenient to families. We understand that for some families with limited access to a device, children will have to share. Some children may not be able to start the day’s work until much later in the day.

3. Teacher Online Engagement

- Teachers will not be online 24/7.

- Teacher’s will have an online presence to engage with students, answer questions in the chat, provide feedback and connect when appropriate via Zoom during these dedicated times:

• Morning Session: 9.30 to 11.00am

• Middle Session: 12 noon to 1.00pm

• Afternoon Session: 2.00pm to 2.30pm –

each school day.

- Please note- work submitted will not have immediate feedback.

- If a teacher is sick or unable to connect, another teacher will take their place for the day or session.

4. Student Online Engagement

- It doesn’t matter if a student can’t engage during these times, the teacher will see the student’s work when they next access the online learning platform. At that time the teacher will be able to provide feedback.

5. Parent Help

- Parents are a vital part of children’s learning online. For our senior grades, most students should be able to engage online with minimal parental support. For our students in Kindergarten and younger grades, parents may need to provide greater support.

6. Zoom Video Conferences

Zoom Conferences is a great way to allow students some time to connect with their teacher and each other and were highly valued last year.

- As of next Tuesday/Wednesday, we anticipate that

- Years 3 to 6 classes will be holding a daily Zoom.

- Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2 will hold at least one Zoom next week.

- A timetable of Zooms and simple protocols and instructions for students and families about Video Conferencing will be posted on Facebook and on SewSaw and Google Classrooms early next week.

7. School Loan Devices

- We understand that for some families it is difficult to get online when many children and even a parent are sharing one or two devices.

- As we did last year we will loan devices to families in need, who have adequate internet connections.

- A team of staff will start contacting families who borrowed a device in 2020, from Monday morning.

- If your family is struggling with limited devices and we do not contact you on Monday before 12 noon, please contact the school office.

8. Students who cannot participate in Online Learning

- For these families that do not have internet connections at home, we have take-home paper packs of learning activities.

- Mrs Zouriakas and her team will start contacting the families who required paper packs in 2020 on Monday.

- If you believe you need a paper pack and have not been contacted on Monday, please contact the school office on Tuesday.

- Important Information: Paper packs are only for families that cannot engage online.

Please note it is far more beneficial for student learning if they are able to engage with their teacher online and connect via zoom, especially if remote learning continues for longer than a week.

9. Pausing of other school activities

Please note the following activities will not operate until further notice-

- The School Canteen

- The Uniform Shop

- Any external groups – such as Tuesday night’s Dance Group, the Music Bus, the STEM group and Keyboard group.

Blacktown South Children’s Activity Centre- will operate for families.

For parents who have questions or issues -

Please use our traditional method of communication - Phone calls or emails to the school account.

Thanks for your support during this difficult time

Andrew Bowmer

Principal