Newsletter Article 10.9.21

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Do you remember the long trips in the car to and from holiday destinations and, after you’ve stopped 3 times for toilet breaks, thrown some snacks to the back seat, the questions that come repeatedly: Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And you answer: Just around the next corner, not far now, just one more episode of Bluey!

Well, that’s how you probably feel right now. We are so close to the end of this term of remote learning. One more week to go!

I was also reminded of a classic TV ad from years ago for Meadow Lea in 1984, “You ought to be congratulated!” For those too young to know, here’s a link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP-06DT2VQ0.

Congratulations, Parents! You have endured. You have helped your child learn at home, amidst work commitments, ongoing challenges, juggling home life, cooking, washing, working, online shopping, etc etc etc. You ought to be congratulated! So, CONGRATULATIONS! I am sure you will join the teachers and students next Friday when we celebrate what we have learnt and achieved this term. We hope and pray that you and your family enjoy the coming two week holiday and can enjoy any easing of restrictions that the government provides.

The school internet filtering will still operate for school hours only on Year 3-6 Chromebooks. We encourage all parents to monitor the use of these devices. We do encourage you to sign up for Family Zone as outlined in the last newsletter. However, I encourage you to put the children’s Chromebooks, iPads and phones away and enjoy other activities during the holidays, take a break from using technology.

I shared this Bible verse with the staff this morning as a word of encouragement to them from 1 Thessalonians.

"We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our teachers have worked and laboured tirelessly this term because of their faith, commitment, dedication and love for the children. Teachers and all of us have persevered and endured because of the hope we have in Jesus. We miss seeing the children face-to-face at school, in the playground, in the classroom and we look forward to the day when we can return.

We will continue remote learning next term for each grade but will make some improvements based on feedback that we have received from parents, teachers and students. Regarding the return to school, we will follow the health advice and plan to welcome Prep, Kindergarten and Year 1 on Monday 25 October, Year 2 and 6 on Monday 1 November and all other grades on Monday 8 November. We will communicate more specific information about the return to school next term.

We will also be providing the opportunity to collect remote learning resources and Home Readers for Term 4 on Tuesday 5 October from 1pm - 3pm. I’ll send out an email and SMS about this closer to the date to remind parents.

Congratulations and God bless!

Term 3 Remote Learning - Message to Parents

Email Sent to Parents 20.7.21 Re:Remote Learning

Dear Junior School Parents,

We hope that your child has been able to access Remote Learning and is able to navigate through the various online learning platforms that we are using, such as Seesaw, Google Sites and Google Classroom. We had a few teething issues on the first day but thanks to our outstanding IT Department many of these have been resolved. If you do have any access issues or difficulty with technology please contact our IT Department at helpdesk@shirechristian.nsw.edu.au or call reception. Please email your classroom teacher if you have curriculum or learning questions.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Teachers will be marking the roll

We are required to mark the class roll each day. If your child is learning at home please ensure that you or your child responds using the mechanism set up by the classroom teacher. Eg. Reply to Seesaw or Google Classroom question. Children at school will be marked present. Parents will receive an SMS if your child is marked absent for not showing at either place of learning. Reply to the SMS if your child is learning at home so that we can amend our records.

YouTube, Clickview and Zoom

Teachers will post documentaries or other teaching videos that may be found on Youtube or Clickview in Google Classroom. Please be aware that students will be able to access other content on these websites using their Chromebooks, therefore you may need to monitor their computer use of these sites. Teachers may not be able to monitor this usage as well as they can when at school. The purpose of Zoom is for teachers to communicate with their class each morning. It should not be used as a chat tool by students.

Children at school

Children who need to attend school during this time will be supervised to complete their remote learning activities. It is unlikely that they will have their usual classroom teacher, but rather a Learning Support teacher or teacher from another grade. They will usually complete their learning activities before lunch then another activity in the afternoon. If you are needing to send your child/children to school please enter this on the Google Form to help us in our planning. Children who attend school will need to bring a water bottle each day as bubblers are turned off. They will also need to bring their learning resources and Chromebooks (Years 3-6) each day. Please be aware that the health advice is that students should not attend school if unwell, even with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Any person with any COVID-19 symptoms will be sent home and should not return to school until they have received a negative test result and are symptom-free.

Parent Tips

When learning at school, teachers organise the lesson time with class discussions, use concrete materials, partner or group activities etc. This is not possible in learning remotely. Therefore, this means that your child may complete their work earlier than the end of a school day. That’s OK! There are other activities that children can access if you need them to. We encourage you to check their work when completed, then it is absolutely fine for them to play, do some exercise in the afternoon when their work is finished.

We encourage families to set a routine for the day that includes time for work, time to play, time to eat and time away from screens. Try to set a routine that works for your family. You may find it helpful to break the day up into 2 or 3 sessions with food and play breaks in between.

Here is a poster with some suggestions of how to help manage your family during this time.

Thank you for partnering with us,

Paul Carter

Head of Junior School

If you have any questions regarding 2021 Remote Learning please check the information found in...

• the email from Mr Hartley sent 14.7.21

• the email from your child's teacher sent 16.7.21

• the Covid-19 link on our school website.

• email your child's teacher for class related issues.

• email IT for technological issues - see the Chromebook Quickstart Guide.

Week 1 - Teachers have planned a manageable workload for students to complete this week to help everyone adjust to this mode of learning. Therefore your child is likely to complete their work in the morning. If students complete their work, teachers have posted links for them to visit to access other activities to do.

3-6 Chromebook Help Guide Click here... Chromebook Quickstart Guide

The information below was posted for parents during 2020 COVID restrictions.