IMPORTANT DATES!
TERM 2 2020
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Only 4 more sleeps until school return. I am officially in count down mode. I sat in on a Prep virtual classroom today and spoke to them about how we would all have to look after each other next week because we would all be a little nervous going back to school. We are all a little nervous but also extremely excited by the prospect of a return.
Return to onsite learning
All Victorian schools including RGLPS, will commence a staged return from remote and flexible learning from Tuesday 26 May 2020.
To support all school staff to prepare for the transition, Monday 25 May will be a pupil-free day. This is important to enable the planning necessary to ensure the successful transition back to school can be completed. If you have been accessing onsite learning do remember that there will be no option for onsite learning on Monday the 25th of May. TheirCare will be running a program on the day and if you need to access this please book into the session.
A reminder that it is a staged return to school with the students in Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 to return to school from Tuesday 26 May.
Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students in grades 3 to 6 until Tuesday 9 June when they will return to onsite learning.
During Stage 1, the existing model of on-site schooling for students who cannot be supervised at home and vulnerable children will remain in place.
Drop off and pick up
I would like to remind you of our new drop off and pick up routines. I have received some feedback during the week with various suggestions and have taken onboard some advice and altered these a little. Do remember we are trialing these changes during the first stage of the return. If they are unsuccessful we may have to introduce a staggered approach before the entire school returns to onsite learning. At this stage we ask that all children with a surname commencing with the letters A – L use the front gate on Interlaken Parade and all children with a surname commencing with the letters M – Z use the back gates on Finlayson Street. Students who are independently travelling to and from school may enter the school through any gate. If a group of students walk to school together without adult supervision then they can also enter from any gate.
Additional supervision has been factored into drop off and pick up and we ask for you to consider parking on side streets and watching your child walk in or alternatively using the kiss and drop area during this time. Our advice has been to ensure that adults who are not staff do not enter the school unless in exceptional circumstances. Thank you for your support with these challenges if you do require any additional information please contact me.
Increased safety measures
Following advice from DET we had closed our playgrounds and turned off our drink taps. These measures will stop when students return however there will be extra precautions for the near future. These include students asked to practise hand hygiene before and after use of playgrounds. Playgrounds wiped down as part of the enhanced cleaning program. Students should bring their own water bottle for use at school as students should not drink directly from drinking fountains at this time. Taps may be used to refill water bottles only.
Return of loaned equipment
We do ask that our Prep – Year 2 students return borrowed devices as soon as possible so that we can reconfigure them and ensure they are in the classroom and ready for students to access onsite.
I am aware that there has been a significant amount of information and that with the return there are still many concerns. I am available to discuss any concerns you may have. A positive from the pandemic has been the support that communities have been able to give each other over a period of time and we will again rely on the community to ensure a safe return to school. We are all united in the knowledge that now more than ever It is important to support students to return to normal routine, acknowledging the situation, providing developmentally suitable information about what is occurring, as well as providing a safe space for students to raise their concerns and feelings. Thank you for your support.
Instrumental Music Program
Thank you to all of the parents who have taken the time to complete the Instrumental Music Program survey. We have provided some correspondence this week over reduced fees for term 2 and virtual lessons from next week. I did want to share with you the reasons that we have undertaken the survey and the results and actions as promised.
COVID-19 has taken us all by surprise and it has meant that teachers like many other professions have been on an extremely steep learning curve when it comes to delivery of content. We are also in the unique position of having an instrumental music program that is unlike any program that I have seen in a government primary school. As a school we place a high value on our instrumental music program. We are passionate about all of the benefits that this instruction affords our students and we want it to continue at the quality that we are used to.
While we have offered the 20% discount to term 2 fees because we understand that through a remote platform the program has been delivered very differently than the traditional face to face learning, we do so knowing that this negatively impacts the finances. We are confident that we can recover but mindful that it does impact and we thank you for your support to navigate through this challenging time.
As you know we do want to utilise parent feedback to support student learning at RGLPS. We also believe strongly in the value of responsiveness and feel that it is important to share the results and our actions so that we can be solutions based together. The following is a summary of the results and our supporting actions.
We had 110 responses to the survey which is enough of a sample size to make it meaningful data. 84.5% of respondents from the instrumental music group had a preference for face to face teaching rather than the Seesaw method. These figures were similar from the respondents completing the piano lessons survey with 69% preferring a face to face method. Our action from this is to commence face to face learning immediately.
77% of instrumental music respondents believed that the Seesaw method provided less value than regular music lessons. This figure was mirrored by the piano respondents. Our action from this is to reduce the fees for term 2 in recognition that the pandemic has resulted in the delivery of a very different program. Though we are grateful that many respondents acknowledged that this was ‘through no fault of our own’, we do understand that this form of delivery is not the way we have traditionally delivered the program. We also completely understand that motivation is difficult to manufacture when students are not able to engage in face to face learning as is evidenced by the 22% of students that are completing the task that are sent out through Seesaw and 39% stating that their children “sometimes” complete band tasks. Our action here has also been to run a virtual check in for bands so that the teachers can touch base and importantly the students can see their peers and play together.
Once again I would like to thank you for your support, patience and willingness to work with us as we navigate this challenging time together. I am so looking forward to a time when I can proudly watch live band performances and chat with students about my own childhood memories of how music was able to positively form the person that I have become. In the meantime if you have any concerns please feel free to contact me.
Special Concert
One thing I have learnt already during my time at RGLPS is that the community members are always willing to lend a helping hand. This week one of our parents has offered to live stream a concert for families. At 4:00pm on Sunday the 24th of May Richard Thornton will be live streaming and he is inviting the RGLPS community to watch. If you would like to access this free concert it will run through Zoom at the following link https://youtu.be/VW64GJW8nB4
Thanks to Richard for supporting the school community during this challenging time.
AGM
On the 28th of May at 5:30pm the RGLPS school council will host our annual general meeting. This meeting is open to the community if you would like to take a look behind the curtain and understand the operational side of school governance. This year it will run remotely through the Webex platform. If you would like to attend please contact me and I will provide login details for the meeting.
Curriculum Day Postponement
The school council had confirmed a whole school curriculum day for Wednesday the 10th of June. Given that our year 3-6 students will be returning to onsite learning on the 9th of June and that we can no longer run whole school professional learning sessions we all thought it best to postpone the curriculum day. All students will be able to attend school on the 10th of June as per normal practice.
Kirrily Lamers
Principal
2021 – YEAR 7 APPLICATIONS
NEW DATE
Emails were sent out to all grade 6 families on Tuesday 14th April. These emails contained:
- – Year 6 to Year 7 Transition Information pack
- – Application for Year 7 Placement form
Please let the school office know if you did not receive this information.
Application forms are due back before Friday 29th May. Thank you to the families who have already returned their form.
CAMPS, SPORTS, EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF)
If you hold a Health Care Card or a Veterans Affairs Gold Card or are a temporary foster parent and have not previously applied for CSEF funding, please call past the office to collect an application form. The Heath Care Card must be in the name of the parent, not in the name of the student and the eligibility date on the card must be 2020.
If you have a child who has started Prep this year, a new application form must be completed even if you have previously received CSEF funding.
If eligible, you will be entitled to $125 per student to pay for camps, sports and excursions. The grant cannot be used for school fees, however School Council offer a 50% reduction in school fees if you are eligible for the CSEF funding.
Please contact Susan or Kaylene in the office if you have any queries.
SUSTAINABILITY
DEAF FACILITY NEWS
Thank you to our families that have attended our Student Support Group (SSG) meetings this week. You are all doing an amazing job with remote learning! As you know, onsite schooling will return for Prep and Grade 1/2 students on Tuesday, May 26th, with all other students returning on Tuesday June 9th. Cathy from Hearing Australia will be visiting the school on Thursday, June 11th. She will be performing the same duties she usually would such as checking and fixing devices, and taking impressions for new moulds. She will be practicing social distancing and extra hygiene care. Please let your teacher of the deaf know if your child is experiencing any technical issues that need addressing, or if you do not with your child to be seen by Cathy.
As recommendations from the Department of Education and Training (DET), non-essential people should not be going onsite at government schools. We deem Cathy from Hearing Australia as essential, as listening equipment would not have been checked for a couple of months. External therapists, such as speech therapists, psychologists, and occupational therapists are not currently seen as essential. Therefore, at this stage, we are not accommodating external therapists to see students onsite. This is for the safety of staff and students and we appreciate your understanding at this stage. When life slowly goes back to normal, and DET provides further recommendations, we hope to allow therapists back onsite.
Thom Jackson
Deaf Facility Coordinator
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Comment on Remote Learning
I have been fortunate to engage with students in a number of classes by providing feedback on remote learning tasks during the last few weeks. It has been absolutely wonderful to see the majority of students completing and submitting tasks of a high quality back to their teacher/s.
Some of the learning I have seen has been highly impressive and creative, which has been wonderful to see. A huge and sincere thank-you to all students and parents for their effort and persistence during remote learning. I’m sure you will also join me in acknowledging the amazing work of our teaching staff in creating engaging online lessons, instructional videos and resources to ensure the children have continued to learn and feel connected to our school!
Update on Semester One 2020 Reports
The Education Department has now instructed all Victorian Government Schools on what needs to be included in Semester One 2020 reports.
This semester, parents/carers will receive a modified report about their child.
The report will comprise of three sections:
- Overview of Learning – This section will outline concepts taught during Term One and during Term Two Remote Learning by both classroom and specialist teachers.
- General Comment – This comment will focus on your child ‘as a learner.’ It may include information such as your child’s persistence during challenges, ability to seek help, participation, time management, presentation and social skills. The classroom teacher will also provide a comment about your child’s engagement and adjustment during remote learning.
- Semester One Achievement Highlights – Classroom teachers will outline specific learning highlights for your child. Prep – Year 2 teachers will outline an achievement highlight for English and Mathematics and Year 3-6 teachers will outline a highlight for English, Mathematics and Integrated Studies.
Please note that A-E grades or progression points will not be provided this Semester. This is in keeping with advice from DET who recognise the difficulties around accurately reporting in our present circumstances. Due to our extended remote learning period this semester, teachers are unable to make accurate judgments of student achievement and progress for a number of reasons:
- – teachers have not been able to conduct usual assessments and observations to base judgments upon
- – teachers do not know what tasks students are able to complete independently or how much help they received on submitted tasks
- – there were differing levels of student engagement with remote learning
- – teachers had to significantly adjust teaching for remote learning and were unable to provide the level of instruction and ‘in the moment’ feedback they would normally provide
- – full DET reporting advice has just been released to schools, creating a significantly shortened time frame for teachers to create semester reports.
We thank parents and carers for their continued understanding and flexibility during this unprecedented period of change and adjustment.
Semester One reports will be released via Compass on Wednesday 24th June 2020. –
Individual Learning Plans
Three Way Conferences – Coming in Early Term Three
Essential Learning Updates
2021 Year 7 Information
Please find the following information provided by local High Schools regarding year 7 in 2021:
Macleod College
Dear Parents and Guardians
Unfortunately, due to the COVID -19 virus pandemic it is not possible for Macleod College to run school tours and information nights at the moment. We understand that this makes the already difficult decision of choosing a school even more so. We have placed a series of information videos on our website that will hopefully give you some perspective of what Macleod has to offer – the information can be accessed via the link below.
https://www.macleod.vic.edu.au/year-7-2021-transition
In addition, I am conducting online conferences so please feel free to book a time if you would like any additional or specific information.
Click here to book:
https://compasstix.com/e/vvoeuee3g4
Stay safe
Kind regards
Mario Panaccio
Principal, Macleod College
Viewbank College
Grade 6 (2020) into Year 7 (2021) Virtual Tour
Dear Parents/Guardians and Prospective Year 7 Students,
Due to the current COVID-19 situation, our face to face tours and Information Evening were unable to be continued as planned.
We acknowledge this is a very important and challenging time in your decision making for choosing a secondary school for your child. We believe it is important that you look holistically at schools to see which one will meet the needs of your child.
We believe that Viewbank College offers the right blend of academic focus, of wellbeing support and it being a community that welcomes and caters for all.
Please see below our Virtual Tour of Viewbank College, we hope you enjoy and see all the wonderful opportunities that Viewbank College can provide for your child.
Q & A Sessions for Parent/Guardians (Year 7 in 2021)
These sessions are for parents/guardians who have further questions for an Assistant Principal after watching our Virtual Tour.
These sessions (are not essential or required) will run for approximately 30 minutes and are limited to 15 families per session.
Q & A Dates and Times
Thursday 14th May | 6.30pm |
Tuesday 19th May | 7.00pm |
Thursday 21st May | 7.30pm |
Monday 25th May | 7.00pm |
Please reserve your place by booking here.
CANTEEN
Welcome Back to canteen for Term 2.
We will be open for lunch orders and recess snacks from Friday through Flexischools ONLY for the time being.
No bag orders at this time thank you.
Recess snacks and ice-creams will be on Fexischools under recess. Please order separate from the lunch order.
Cut off time will be 9.30am the same as lunch. There will be no over the counter sales until further notice.
Thank you .
Margaret Groves.
ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS
Entertainment Books are available for sale, online only this year at www.entertainment.com.au . Please nominate Rosanna Golf Links Primary School in the Fundraiser section; 20% of each sale goes towards providing improved facilities at RGLPS.
OSHC NEWS
LUNCH TIME CLUBS
Due to the current circumstances, Lunch Time Clubs will be postponed until further notice.
COMMUNITY NEWS
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
