IMPORTANT DATES!
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
It is hard to believe that we already find ourselves half way through the third term of 2021. Whilst it has not been the most ideal term, I can inform you that we have a staff very keen to have students back on site and we all hope that next week I am writing of our successful return.
Remote and Flexible Learning
As you know throughout the 6 lockdowns thus far we have attempted to continue to improve the remote and flexible learning that we are providing. We always take into account the social, emotional, wellbeing and academic needs of our students and we also look at high and realistic expectations for our staff. Finally, we continue to consider how best to support our parents who are struggling with the combined efforts of working full time and also supporting their kids to access learning from home.
We have had fantastic feedback from parents throughout the journey about our current program and as a result I made the call to increase the number of live learning days to four in an effort to boost our students up that little bit further during these challenging times. We have noticed quite a bit more screen resistance this time round and in keeping with our school philosophies we will always be responsive to these needs. Many teachers have contacted me with concerns that students are attending sessions without turning on their screens and some have contacted with concerns that students are attending sessions less frequently.
While we are currently devising methods to reengage some students, we are also cognisant with the emotional impact of the continuous uncertainty and we want to make some changes to our program to counter this. From Monday we will be returning to the flexible learning that was offered prior to lockdown 5.0. This means that ‘Live Learning’ sessions will run on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with Tuesday a Seesaw day that will have activities in core areas for students to complete and teachers will provide feedback for students throughout the day. Whilst under regular circumstances we would be providing critical feedback to students, at this time we are keen to ensure students complete tasks and our feedback will take this into account. Each teacher will also set a Webex session for Tuesday and students will find this in their Seesaw accounts. This session will be purely based on wellbeing with having fun the main objective.
Please remember if your child is on site to send them with a drink bottle, pencil case and their login codes if possible. For hygiene purposes it is better to ensure students use their own belongings. We are continuing to encourage all hygiene options at school.
Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey
WE WANT OUR PARENTS/CAREGIVERS/GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents/caregivers/guardians (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey). It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
In the past approximately 30 per cent of parents were invited to participate. As our response rate has traditionally been quite low we have opted to send the survey to all parents this time around. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is open until Friday 3rd September.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.
Results of the survey are reported to the community through annual reporting and also through our School Council. Last year we used the survey results to plan new reporting and communication mechanisms and to adjust our practices to an even more student-centered approach.
Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.
Community Reporting Forum
Last night we did hold our community reporting forum. Whilst the less than ideal turnout was expected due to our current circumstances, we were able to have a great conversation with those in attendance and take some feedback for what we would like to do next. I will attach the PowerPoint slide to a Compass feed to give people an opportunity to find out about our journey and our future plans and the following Padlet https://padlet.com/kirrilylamers/dy1rt1wtavdies8l will be open until next Friday and we would encourage you to comment if you have the time.
Until next week take care, have some fun and enjoy the small things.
Kirrily Lamers
Principal
ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
Borrowed School Computers
We have currently lent many computers to families during this current lock down. If you have borrowed a computer I am asking you to please keep it at home on return to school. We will communicate with you further about the return of these devices
Tips and Strategies for Victorian Parents and Carers During Lockdown
Headspace have created a short 2:42 video with some tips and strategies for Victorian parents and carers during lockdown.
Headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds.
Headspace 3-step process to help parents support their child: NIP
Notice
Inquire
Provide
Watch the video for more details. https://youtu.be/Fw3LzWe-93U
Keeping Students Active While They Learn from Home
When children participate in regular physical activity, it boosts their physical and mental health and improves academic performance.
Physical activity throughout the day also improves concentration, and the ability to retain information and solve problems.
There are many benefits to being active and getting your move on, but a lot of children aren’t moving enough, particularly while learning from home.
15 minutes 4 times a day is all it takes.
To help support your children to stay active while learning from home, families can access a range of free COVIDSafe ideas to stay active and games through Get Active Victoria.
Families should remember that whatever gets children moving, gets them active.
Luke Franklin & Denisse Lobos
Assistant Principals
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Lockdown Blues
Just a short item from me this week. I hope everyone is managing to find time to get outside in the fresh air and take regular breaks from screens? As a staff, we are constantly having conversations about how students, families and staff are coping with the lockdown and how we can all support each other. Please be assured that we are making regular adjustments to our learning program and processes in response to feedback to make the best of a bad situation. Teachers are working to make learning as fun as possible to help students engage from home. We are also trying to reduce academic pressures where we can. Hopefully our students and teachers can be back learning together onsite again very soon.
ICAS 2021
Unfortunately, the previously advertised 2021 ICAS testing dates will need to change due to the lockdown extension. Some ICAS have been delayed until the second sitting window in October and other ICAS have been pushed back to the end of this testing window in August. Please see new ICAS dates below.
I will continue to post updates around any changes to ICAS dates on Compass and via the newsletter.
Book Week - Character Dress Up Parade and Assembly
We are still hoping to return to onsite learning in time for our ‘Book Week Parade’ on Thursday 26th August. There will be a character dress up assembly for students on this day. We anticipate that parents will not be permitted onsite so it is likely that we will be unable to host a parent audience. Please encourage your child to dress up as a favourite book character for a bit of fun. Classes will also engage in activities during library and literacy sessions, which will be based on books nominated for 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia awards.
If Melbourne schools are still doing remote learning by this date, we will postpone the event by a week or two until we are back onsite.
Looking forward to seeing everyone onsite again soon. Stay safe.
Kerron Worsdell
Learning Specialist
DO YOU HAVE A CHILD STARTING SCHOOL IN 2022?
Please make sure you have handed your enrolment form and accompanying paperwork into the office.
Enrolment forms can be downloaded from the RGLPS website, or collected from the school foyer.
We look forward to welcoming our 2022 prep siblings!
MATHS QUIZ
Maths Riddle:
A huge congratulations to Eva (5JB) and Christian (3BD) for finding a bonus solution to the match stick problem from a previous newsletter. They discovered that by moving a match stick from the + sign, there were even more solutions than previously found. Eva and Christian managed to change 6+4=4 into 8-4=4. It’s great to see so many students engaging in these maths riddles and sharing their results with me!
Well done to those who solved last week’s triangle riddle. The answer to the problem is…
You may notice that these triangles are all the same, simply rotated.
See if you can solve this week’s riddle below. I’ll share the answer in the newsletter next week.
Sarah McLellan
Learning Specialist
Extra challenge: Can you create your own gummy bear riddle with a different shape? HINT: Think of a shape and see if you can use different amounts of gummy bears to move and create the same shape by moving a few of the gummy bears.
If you’d like to share, please send your own riddles to sarah.mclellan@education.vic.gov.au
NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
14 – 22 August 2021
National Science Week starts this week with the theme of:
FOOD: DIFFERENT BY DESIGN
Here’s a great at-home experiment making marshmallow slime: https://blog.doublehelix.csiro.au/marshmallow-slime/
In the coming week, check out some other science activities that can be done at home or watched at your leisure:
https://www.scienceweek.net.au/diy-science/
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/national-science-week/
https://www.questacon.edu.au/discover/questacon-at-home-activity-sheets
If your child wants to show me a picture of an activity, please upload it to Seesaw and make sure it is tagged to the ‘Science’ folder. We hope to host a live onsite event with scientists for students in Week 9 and information will follow pending restrictions.
Best regards, Ms Wheeler
SPACE WATTLE UPDATE
The Space Wattle seeds are very close now! The seeds are currently in quarantine awaiting clearance in Canberra until Friday/Monday. They will then be sent out around Australia and we get started on germinating some here at RGLPS! Check out the press release to find out a little bit more:
RGLPS ART GALLERY
FUNDRAISING
CANTEEN
THEIRCARE – BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Disclaimer: Rosanna Golf Links Primary School (RGLPS) does not endorse any product or service advertised in this newsletter. RGLPS takes no responsibility for the content of advertisements or the quality and reliability of products or services offered in the advertisements
