No 15. Term 3 Week 1, 22nd July 2020
Principal's News
It seems so long ago that I wrote to you for the first time during a remote learning period. Yet here were are for a second time, doing our best to keep our kids learning and families connected during a time, where our health is at the forefront of our minds.
We have learnt a lot since our first go at Remote Learning and have tried to adopt some new approaches to assigning, monitoring and evaluating learning tasks. We have also looked at trying to use video conferencing in a more effective way. We really hope you have found these changes to be an improvement. Our initial feedback from teachers is suggesting it is.
Perhaps the biggest impact of the return to lockdown is the realisation that this may not be the last time this happens. In all likelihood, it is safe to say that the virus will be a part of our daily lives until a vaccine is found and until we do, restrictions will be tightened and eased as the numbers rise and fall. So, we have decided to settle in for the journey and adopt a more measured approach to ensure each student's continuity of learning. An approach that is more systematic and purposeful in its delivery, ideally maintaining a sense of playfulness, but at the same time, incorporating a greater sense of rigour and depth. In this way, we can maintain a high level of quality education throughout this pandemic and set the conditions for children to flourish regardless of where they are undertaking their learning tasks.
I would like to acknowledge that this return to stage three restrictions has impacted on all our families. For many it includes a loss of work and loss or reduction of income. For some, it will mean digging deep into the well of parenting patience. Please remember that we are here to support you in any way we can. Reach out and we will be there for you.
I remind you that we will get through this because we are resilient, we are caring, we are patient and all of us are focused on doing the best we can for our children. Stay safe and stay sane!
God bless you all.
Jason Micallef
Principal
PRAYER IN TIMES OF EPIDEMIC
(Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana Apostolic Nuncio from the Vatican in Australia.)
Jesus, our Good Shepherd and Divine Physician, hear our pleas. We implore your mercy in the wake of an outbreak of serious illness and disease. Guide our efforts to prevent contagion and make preparations to care for those most vulnerable.
Assist all professionals and volunteers who work to eradicate the epidemic now spreading. May our actions be marked by your steadfast love and selfless service and never by panic or fear.
Bestow your comfort and healing to the sick, sustain and strengthen them by your grace. May they know your closeness as they carry the cross of illness. And may all you have called from this life come to worship you eternally with all the saints as you grant consolation and peace to their mourners. Amen.
Holy Mary, Health of the Sick, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick, pray for us.
St. Rocco, protector against epidemics, pray for us.
Amen
NBN COVID-19 Relief Package
During this second round of Remote Learning we know that for some of our famlies, accessing the Internet will be a challenge. Particularly those families who rely on a mobile phone as their family's source of connection. We are grateful to be able to share with families though, that an NBN Covid-19 Relief Package has been designed to help eligible families to access (in some cases) free NBN until September.
To be eligible you need to:
- Not have an active NBN connection
- Receive Family Tax Benefit A or B
- Have school aged children living at your address
If families meet this criteria, we suggest contacting your Internet Service Provider as soon as possible to find out what benefits are available to your family.
2020 Year 5/6 Camp Cancelled
Families of our senior students, please note that sadly we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel this year's camp which was scheduled to take place in September. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing concerns with the coronavirus outbreak, there is an unacceptable risk to the health of students and staff that cannot be mitigated. Camp levies already paid by families will either be refunded or rebated against existing outstanding school fees.
Parent - Teacher - Student Chats
Thank you to all our families who have attended these video conference meetings. They have so far, been incredibly valuable opportunities for parents, teachers and students to come together and discuss the growth and progress that students have made so far this year. These interviews are also a great opportunity to set appropriate learning goals for the second semester and provide a voice for parents to share with us their thoughts about how their child is progressing and how we as a school can better support you as partners in your child's education.
Video conference meetings are continuing this afternoon. If you were unable to book a meeting or had difficulties connecting, your child's teacher will be in touch with you to arrange a suitable time to hold the interview.
Notification of School Absences
Even though we are currently in the midst of a Remote Learning Period, we need to keep accurate records of student engagement in learning. If children are sick and need to step away from their learning tasks that is totally reasonable and recommended. Likewise, if children are booked into the supervised learning program at school, they should not attend if they are ill in any way.
If your child is ill and cannot participate in learning tasks on any given day, we ask parents to please notify us via the SZapp so that we can record their absence correctly.
Should you decide to keep your child home for reasons other than illness...
On a similar note, if you have booked your child into supervised learning at school and decide for whatever reason to keep your child home, you must let us know please. An email or phone call is suitable. How we allocate staffing depends on the numbers of students attending school and we aim to have as few teachers at school as possible so they can focus on their role as remote teachers, rather than supervisors.
Being Covid-19 Safe
St. Kevin's remains committed in every way to protecting the health of every member of our school and local community. As of Thursday this week, all people over the age of twelve (excluding St. Kevin's students), must be wearing a face covering within and around the school grounds. This includes whilst in cars at pick up and drop off time.
No visitors are permitted to enter the school during school hours without having first called the school. This is to ensure that we control the numbers of people in our school foyer who may have very ligitimate reasons for being there.
As per our Premier Mr Andrews insistance this afternoon, we remind families that if students, staff or parents are unwell in any way, they must not come to school. Not even to drop children off for supervision. The only reason for leaving your home when unwell is to get tested. After being tested, you must remain home until you receive the test results.
As you know, St. Kevin's uses CareMonkey to provide our families with digital forms and operations. On August 3rd, CareMonkey will undergo a change of name and be rebranded as ‘Operoo’: School processes, without the paperwork.
How you use the service, as well as the ownership and operation of the company, will remain unchanged.
You can continue using the system, and its mobile application, as usual. Just be aware that, after Monday, 3rd August, emails and notifications sent from the system will start appearing under the new name ‘Operoo’. You will also be automatically diverted to the new Operoo website if you go to the old CareMonkey website.
What Remote Learning Looks Like at School
For some of our families, learning from home at this time is just not possible. Check out some of these pics to see what remote learning looks like for children attending school.
Don't forget, there are great things going on at home to. Please feel free to send your pics to us on our Facebook page so we can share them with our community.
"It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless."
L.R. Knost
An update on Sacraments
Sacramental preparation for students continues despite the health crisis and we remain hopeful that circumstances will improve enough for us to be able to celebrate the Sacraments as planned - albeit a litte later than first scheduled. In Grade 3 and 4 our students prepare and learn about both the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. To support this we will be running Family Workshops for the families of these students via video conference this term.
On these evenings parents will be asked to attend (online) and teachers will be available after the workshop to answer any questions.
The Reconciliation Family Workshops (Grade 3) will be in the evening on: Wednesday July 29th.
The Holy Eucharist Family Workshop (Grade 4) will be in the evening on: Monday August 10th.
Our First Reconciliation Family Workshop is scheduled for next Wednesday evening.
There will be three separate times offered for families to login and particpate in the workshop. This is to keep the group sizes as manageable as possible. Be on the lookout for information on how to sign up and join the Workshop that best suits you. Each workshop will run for 45 minutes. At the end of the workshop teachers will be available to answer any questions and share the most up to date plans the Parish has for this Sacrament.
We are hoping that this will be a wonderful experience and opportunity for our families to continue to discuss and prepare to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation .
Registering for on site supervision
Families who have previously expressed the need for their children to attend school for supervised learning should note the CareMonkey form that has now been emailed to register your children for supervised learning at school for next week. This form needs to be filled out BEFORE Friday so that we have reliable numbers and can allocate staff accordingly.
It is important for families to exercise good judgement in making a decision about whether or not children should be attending school. In most cases, it is not appropriate to book children for on-site supervision if one or more parents are working from home. Keep in mind that many of our teachers who have their own children are still required to teach from home too, so we know how hard it can be.
The reality is that the more children we have at school, the more we defeat the purpose of the lockdown. Also, the more attendees, the more staff we need. Staff are not teaching at school. They are supervising. Our teachers are pretty amazing, but the reality is that they can't supervise a large number of children and run a remote learning program, so if they are at school more, all children suffer as a result. If you need support with managing your children's engagement with remote learning, please let your child's teacher know. In some cases, it may be better for your child to attend school, but there are many things we can suggest to help you re-engage your child.
News from Secondary Schools
Due to the implications of COVID-19, Catholic Education Melbourne has changed key enrolment dates for Year 7 2022. For prospective Year 7 students in 2022, the closing date for enrolments into Catholic Secondary Schools in the Arch-diocese of Melbourne is Friday 9 October 2020.
Due to the current health crisis, all Mazenod College Open Days and Tours have been postponed until further notice. In the meantime families are invited to visit the Mazenod College website mazenod.vic.edu.au to view a snapshot of the school
