Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to thank you all for your support during our second week of Remote Learning. I sincerely acknowledge just how demanding it is for many of you, juggling work commitments and family responsibilities as well as taking on a more direct role in your child's learning. 

Staff have received many messages of thanks and gratitude for their work and we appreciate your kind and encouraging words. We too would like to acknowledge and thank you, the parents and carers, for your tremendous effort in working with the school to ensure learning continuity for our students. The planned learning experiences are adjusted to better suit the online format of learning and are not intended to replicate the face-to-face teaching that would normally occur in our St Paul's classrooms.

I understand that at times you may be limited in the support you can provide for your child with their remote learning and therefore some of their work may not get done. I ask that you focus on the core subjects of Religious Education, English and Mathematics and as a minimum children complete the teacher identified tasks for feedback. Please contact your child's teacher if you need support to keep your child on track. Our teachers are ready to answer any questions during the daily Grade Zoom sessions or by email or phone call. Remember, no question is a question not worth asking! We are here to help and support where we can, as together we embrace this time of change and challenge with optimism and hope.

As you would appreciate, physical activity and time away from the screen is very important during these times, it is fine for you to factor physical activities and fun games into your child's school day.  Perhaps a walk around the backyard or playing some games (card, dice, jigsaws and/or board games), drawing, cooking, gardening, as well as opportunities for your child to create can support your 

Following the Premier's announcement of the extension of the stay at home orders until Friday 30 July and the continuation of Remote Learning, our online platforms will continue to include learning experiences linked the Daily Remote Learning Plans, daily Grade Zoom sessions, the inclusion of teacher identified feedback learning experiences and can do tasks to support learning continuity. There are two additional pages in this Week 3 Remote Learning Newsletter which includes:

• Pastoral Calls
• Wellbeing Information from our CatholicCare School Counsellor

Further information regarding the above new inclusions can be found in this newsletter.

School remains open for students who have no other option. Supervision will be provided for students to access the remote learning materials, students will not participate in traditional classroom learning. The teaching staff will continue to work on a rotating roster with reduced supervision until otherwise advised. Therefore, students may not be supervised by their classroom teacher.

Once again, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) will be offering support to families, conscious of the significant financial impact that many may be experiencing as a result of the continuing COVID-19 restrictions. I encourage all parents and carers to read carefully the measures available to families in the following letter.

You may also be interested in reading the latest information on CEDoW’s systemic response to COVID-19.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to parents and carers, the St Paul's students and staff for your continued support as together we journey through our third week of remote learning. I hope you and your family had a chance to view the St Paul's Virtual Assembly and to all the St Paul's Grandparents we wish you a Happy Grandparent's Day.

Yours in Faith and Learning,

Michelle Rodwell
Principal

We acknowledge that juggling work commitments, supporting your child with their online learning and maintaining family commitments can be stressful on our parents and carers.

At St Paul's our Pastoral Care is concerned with maximising learning and growth whilst developing our students’ values attitudes, knowledge, skills and practices. This also relates to the support we provide to our parents and carers and wider community. 

Over the past two weeks teachers, members of the St Paul's School Leadership Team and the CatholicCare school counsellor and chaplain have been checking in with parents and carers who are finding circumstances difficult. 

If any parents and carers are finding circumstances difficult, if providing support to your child to access remote learning is overwhelming, please contact the school and one of our Pastoral Care team members will organise support for you and your family. 

"I'm bored."

I bet you've heard that a few times lately.  Lock down

 is hard for all of us, and children may be particularly frustrated when they are stuck inside and not able to socialise and see their friends.

The good news is that studies show that the more bored a child is, the more they daydream, allowing their brain to switch off and top up their ‘creativity tank’.  Other studies have found that having unscheduled time results in greater resourcefulness, which can help build independence and resilience.

Nevertheless, it may be hard to see the benefits of boredom in the short-term while children are at you to help them find something to do. My favourite activities for boredom are around the creative arts – encourage your children to write a story and illustrate it, or to create a vision board with pictures, quotes and ideas of things they want to achieve over the next year. There is always painting, clay, drawing, cooking and baking, writing letters to loved ones, and building with Lego.  All of these can be great boredom busters, but thankfully there are lots of websites out there that can help you find home-based activities to keep children entertained. Find the best activities for your child and get them to make a Boredom Jar to pick from when they need something to do. 

Check out some of these websites for inspiration:

https://www.northshoremums.com.au/fun-home-activities-with-kids/

https://campaustralia.com.au/blog/easy-science-experiments-with-household-items

https://www.scitech.org.au/explore/at-home/experiments/

https://www.care.com/c/stories/3780/101-things-to-do-when-kids-say-im-bored/en-au/

 Stay healthy,

Doreen Waddington St Paul's CatholicCare Counsellor

If your child is learning from home it is a requirement that you complete the attached form to indicate this by 10 am daily.

If your child needs to be at school then the supervising staff will complete attendance. 

If neither of these roll marking options is chosen then you will receive a notification at 3 pm that day to state your child has an unexplained absence. Please ensure that you inform the school if your child is sick and will not be accessing learning on that day.

All parents and carers of K-4 received an email on the 9th July outlining their child's unique home learning code to use to access the online platform Seesaw. When signing in with their Home Learning Code, students can post to their journal, respond to activities and view class announcements. Students do not see the work of any other student in the class.

If you are unable to locate your child's unique home learning code to access Seesaw please contact the school office. 

Students in Kindergarten to Year 4 will access their remote learning tasks that are outlined on the daily remote learning plans via Seesaw.

All parents and carers of students in Years 5 and 6 received an email on the 9th July outlining their child's access to Google Classroom. Students in Year 5 and 6 will access their remote learning tasks that are outlined on the daily remote learning plans via Google Classroom and Seesaw.

As we navigate the current COVID19 situation, we will be using Seesaw to allow your child to continue to be engaged with learning throughout remote learning. Year K-4 will use Seesaw exclusively. Year 5 and 6 will use a combination of Google Classroom and Seesaw.

Each student has a unique Home Learning Code to access Seesaw, that has been sent to parents along with the login instructions via email on Friday 9 July. When signing in with their Home Learning Code, students can post to their journal, respond to activities and view class announcements. Students do not see the work of any other student in the class.

Assign classwork

Teachers will create classwork and add in all the necessary documents/links for students to work on via Seesaw. An overview of activities will be posted daily before 9:00am.

Share all relevant classroom materials

Teachers will share learning resources, reading materials, videos, links, and handouts via Seesaw. This allows students to refer to them at any time.

Make announcements and set activities

Teachers can send announcements via Seesaw to the whole class, which students receive as a notification when they are logged in to Seesaw. Each morning, teachers will start the day with an announcement, going over set expectations for the day. Activities relating to each task are found in the activities tab.

Each grade will hold a daily grade zoom meeting. The purpose of these daily zoom meetings is for one of the grade teachers to explain the daily remote learning tasks, clarify any questions or misconceptions and connect with students. The grade zoom meetings will run for no longer than 15 minutes and are structured in the morning to allow families to use one device to log in to the zoom meetings. The timetable for grade zoom meetings is as follows:

• • Kinder: 9:00 am
  • Year One: 9:15 am
  • Year Two: 9:30 am
  • Year Three: 9:45 am
  • Year Four: 10:00 am
  • Year Five: 10:15 am
  • Year Six: 10:30 am

The St Paul’s Zoom protocols for students are linked to our 3 school rules to be Respectful, Responsible and Safe and that our school rules and expectations apply when Remote Learning and using Zoom. The protocols are as follows

• • Always listen and be respectful when others are speaking.
  • Have your microphone on mute until you are asked to speak.
  • Wait your turn — teachers will give you a signal to use, like raising your hand, if you have something to say.
  • Keep the camera on so that the teacher and other students can see you.
  • Be presentable, dressed in appropriate clothes.
  • Find a quiet spot without distraction (not within your bedroom).
  • Don’t let your background become a distraction.
  • Be on time.

A link to the grade Zoom meetings will be shared with parents and carers when the daily remote learning plans are communicated each afternoon.

Teachers will:

• upload one day of learning at a time to SeeSaw or Google Classroom
• provide digital and non-digital learning experiences
• view and moderate student work before giving permission on Seesaw to upload to student learning journals
• ‘troubleshoot’ to assist parents with the establishment of the routines via the troubleshooting section listed on this site
• ensure all interactions via communication tools are in line with the CEDoW social media policy

Parents & carers will:

• establish routines and expectations
• define a space for your child to work in
• monitor communications from teachers
• begin and end each day with a check-in
• take an active role in helping your children process their learning
• encourage physical activity and/or exercise
• check-in with your child regularly to help them manage stress
• monitor how much time your child is spending online for non-learning based activities
• phone the school for troubleshooting with technology
• keep your children social, but set rules around their social media interactions
• maintain a supportive approach to the work being delivered by the teacher
• ensure all interactions via communication tools are in line with the CEDoW social media policy and the SPAP Seesaw Parent Code of Conduct

Students will:

• follow a daily routine for learning: Be ready to Learn 
• identify a safe, comfortable, quiet space in their home where they can work effectively and successfully
• regularly monitor digital platforms and communication (Seesaw, Google classroom) to check for announcements and feedback from teachers
• complete tasks with integrity and academic honesty, doing your best work
• do their best to meet timelines, commitments, and due dates
• communicate proactively with their teachers if they cannot meet deadlines or require additional support (Years 5-6 Google Classroom)
• collaborating and supporting their classmates in their learning (Years 5-6 Google Classroom)
• ensure all interactions via communication tools are in line with the CEDoW social media policy

At the beginning of the day, children are required to do a simple check-in task. Please complete this task first so that teachers can see all children are able to log in successfully for the day. This task also provides a connection for the children with their learning and signals the start of the school day. 

Each day teachers will provide feedback for a set task on the daily plan. This will be identified in the plan. Teachers will use the two stars and a wish structure to provide feedback. This will give the students two things they did well and one thing they can improve on.

By completing the feedback task first teachers have the chance to check in and provide feedback in a timely manner for children.

• check older children know their daily activities and have all materials needed to learn

• get older children started

• next assist the younger students view their tasks and get the materials they will need

• have regular movement and brain breaks for all children

• schedule regular crunch and sip, recess and lunch breaks

• continue to pack food in the lunch box to avoid snack eating

• consider regular times to engage in mindful tasks

SUGGESTED TIMETABLE

Advise from the NSW Department of Education on setting up a learning space and routines

Advice on Wearing Masks and Face Coverings

CEDoW COVID 19 directives outlines that while at school, masks or face coverings are required in all indoor settings for:

• all students in Year 7 or above
• all staff in school settings.

Some exemptions apply:

• Staff are not required to wear a mask or face covering where it may affect the ability of a student or students to hear or engage with them, such as where clear enunciation and communication is essential.
• Masks or face coverings are not required to be worn by a staff member or student who has a physical or mental health illness or condition, or disability, that makes wearing a mask unsuitable. For example, if they have a skin condition, an intellectual disability, autism or trauma, they are not required to wear a mask. Refer to Face mask rules on the NSW Government website.

Masks are mandatory on public transport. This applies to students aged 13 years and over, and staff when travelling to and from school and during school excursions by public transport or by chartered or private transport services.

For those students who need to be supervised at school please note that students will be supervised by teachers and school support officers in nominated classrooms.

Teachers will be rostered on to supervise and there will be times when your child's classroom teacher will not be supervising your child and another teacher will be providing supervision.

As per CEDoW directives all students will have the same learning opportunity, regardless of whether they are accessing learning material from home or at a school. Students at school will be supervised by school staff to access the remote learning materials, but will not participate in traditional classroom learning.

School drop-off and pick-up procedures will, for the most, remain unchanged. There will be minor adjustments to the afternoon pick, with parents and carers now not permitted to be onsite. Students will be dismissed in the afternoon in Stages beginning at 3:10pm.

Students can access the school at both arrival and dismissal via the student gate on Tongarra Road and the back gate via the St Paul's Parish Car Park.

Please follow the directions of staff and maintain physical distancing at all times.

St Paul Merit Awards will be awarded to students via the online platform Seesaw. Teachers will be presenting the awards during their grade Zoom sessions and then the merit award can be assigned to the student via Seesaw.

Ace Awards and Mary MacKillop Awards will be featured in the fortnightly Virtual Assemblies.

This term we will revert back to Virtual Assemblies. The first Virtual Assembly will be filmed this week and released on the afternoon of Friday 23rd July. 

School buses will run as per normal for those students that have to attend school.

Understandably, many questions may arise and it is hoped that frequent school communication via Compass, assists you in clarifying your concerns. Teachers will respond to communication in a timely manner during school hours (8:00 am – 3:30 pm) only.

Requests for technology support can be made via the form below.

Telephone (02) 42 562 772

Email Office info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au

Please find below information in relation to the current measures that CatholicCare OSCH are taking while remaining operational during the lockdown. Before and After School Care service will continue to operate for any students that require it.

Parents and carers and non-essential visitors are not permitted on the school site

Please do not enter the service, bring your child to the entry of the service and a CatholicCare staff member will assist in signing in your child and settling them into the service. The same procedure will be in place for afternoon pickup.

We have arranged for all CatholicCare Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) services with an individual NSW QR code. These have been placed on display at the entry at the OSHC service and all families will be made aware that they are to check in and out at drop off and collection at the OSHC service. If you have not already done so, we strongly recommend downloading the NSW Service App below:

Masks and Face Coverings

In line with the recommendations from NSW Health and recommendations provided to schools from the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong. Staff members while at OSHC are mandated to wear masks in all indoor settings. We will continue to provide regular updates as new information becomes available.

However, if you have any questions, you can make contact with your service Coordinator via phone or email enquiries enquiries@catholiccare.dow.org.au. We appreciate this is an uncertain time. Thank you for continuing to work together to ensure the safety and well being of all during these uncertain times.

From the CatholicCare OSHC Leadership Team