COVID-19 Update – 31/03/2020

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

First and foremost, thank you to all of you who are supporting our school and our staff by heading the Premier’s request to keep your children home, unless it is absolutely essential that they attend school so you can attend work.

It has been fantastic seeing how resilient our children are, from the littlest in Kindergarten through to our senior students.

Please be assured that staff have been working together to ensure that we have a whole of school approach to our Distance Learning.  Currently we are creating materials to support you at home.  Staff have been extremely proactive in this area.

Our primary focus is to support you.  We do not want you or your children to feel overwhelmed so our first key focus is on keeping it simple.  For you and for your child or children.  Our second key focus is around ensuring what we provide allows for flexibility.  We know that not everyone is going to be ready to start their learning at the same time and that we need for you to be able to deliver distant learning in a manner that works for your family.

We don’t expect you to be your child’s teacher, more their guide or touch point.  What we provide you with will be manageable and not in our teacher speak.

I did share some thinking from a former teacher who home schools her children.  How she closed her post was particularly pertinent.  She said, “At the end of this our kids won’t remember everything we did during this time, but they will remember how they felt.” We hope that they feel connected, safe, healthy and happy.

On being connected, over the next week you will receive a phone call from one of your children’s teachers.  In the case of families who only have one child at school, it will be from your child’s teacher.  We don’t want to inundate you with phone calls, as we do understand many of you are working from home and juggling other things. We just want to maintain the connection between your children, their teachers and their school.  We also want to check in on what we can add in or consider when moving forward with our planning.

Next week, Monday the 6th of April, teachers will cease teaching students at school and will be focusing on deep planning for next term.  Only students who must attend school during the day will be cared for by other staff.

Moving into term two, all students who must attend school will be supervised in their learning by Education Assistants. Teachers will be teaching all children via Distant Learning.

Moving forward from today, I will not be providing daily updates but will provide updates as significant things change.

Once again thank you for being so supportive.  Please continue to make sure that you keep continue to stress to your children the importance of personal distancing.

Kind regards,
Barbara Bromley
March 31 2020

COVID-19 Update – 26/03/2020

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Critical Update

The Premier of Western Australia and the Minister of Education of Western Australia today announced the following:

From Monday 30 March (Week 9), schools will remain open. However, we encourage all families to keep your children at home. The school will remain open for children of parents or guardians who are essential service workers or who do not have alternative care arrangements. Please keep up to date with the programs that have been added to the Mindarie Primary School ‘Learning page on our website.

From Monday 6 April (Week 10), schools will officially close and teachers will cease teaching. The Minster of Education has advised schools to provide childcare, if needed, to children of parents or guardians who are essential service workers or who do not have alternative care arrangements. This will not be teaching time. They will be supervised by Education Assistants, under the direction of Teaching Staff. This care will cease at 2:45pm on Thursday 9 April.

During Week 10, the Minister of Education has advised us that staff are to be preparing a plan for our distance learning model for Term 2 and beyond. What this looks like at this point in time, is still in planning.

Moving forward, I acknowledge that this a scary and difficult time. We are all in this together. Thank you.

Thank you for your dedication to our students. Thank you for the compassion that you have shown to our teachers, our administrators, support staff and office staff.

School Drop Off and Pick Up – Essential Students Only

Thank you for managing this mornings transition to a social distance model of drop off. I will leave this in todays update for reference.

  • All school gates will be now opened at 8:25am and locked at 8:45am.
  • No parents will be permitted to enter school grounds to drop off or pick up students.
  • Children will be met at all school gates by a staff member and asked to go to their classes.
  • Kindy and PP students are to enter and exit via the stairs near the basketball courts where they will be met by teachers who will take children to classes.
  • Parents/ Caregivers of students in other year levels are to arrange with their child the specific gate that they are to enter and exit – reinforce this when you drop off your children.
  • Please allow safe social distancing of 1.5m while you are dropping off and picking up.

iMaths Books & School Photos

  • iMaths books belonging to students who are not returning to school will be left on tables outside the front office in year groups. Please come and collect at any time between 9:00am and 2:00pm daily. Please practice good social distancing during this time. 

Library Books/ Home Readers

  • Please return these to the boxes outside the front office gates.

Other Updates on COVID-19 for Today:

Emergency SMS System 

Yesterday, we sent out an SMS from the school servers. These messages will be sent in critical update situations.

Distance Learning at Mindarie Primary School

We know that families are in the process of setting up learning spaces for children at home – its going to be a journey for you all! 

What we have learned over the last few years is that students love the flexible learning opportunities that we provide at school. This means that it could look very different from family to family, and very different from when we were all at school. Share your learning environments with us at school and we will update our Learning Page with pictures of these spaces.

Kind regards,

Barbara Bromley
Principal
March 26 2020

COVID-19 Update – 25/03/2020

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Critical Update

We are in a difficult position. As a school, we understand our responsibility on society with regard to the continued education of the children. We also have a significant responsibility on the care,  safety, health and well-being of our staff and their families. 

In line with State and Federal Social Distancing Recommendations, we have implemented new procedures:
 
Major Adjustments to School Drop Off and Pick Up

  • All school gates will be now opened at 8:25am and locked at 8:45am.

  • No parents will be permitted to enter school grounds to drop off or pick up students.

  • Children will be met at all school gates by a staff member and asked to go to their classes.

  • Kindy and PP students are to enter and exit via the stairs near the basketball courts where they will be met by teachers who will take children to classes.

  • Parents/ Caregivers of students in other year levels are to arrange with their child the specific gate that they are to enter and exit – reinforce this when you drop off your children.

  • Please allow safe social distancing of 1.5m while you are dropping off and picking up.

Front Administration/Office Procedures

  • All members of community to utilise all other forms of communication, that is email, phone and school website in order to limit the number of visitors to the front office.

  • The main gate will be shut, but not locked. If it is essential, you may enter to the office. If you must enter the front office, please abide by the social distancing laws.

iMaths Books

  • All iMaths books belonging to students who are remaining at home and have NOT been collected, will be left on a table outside the front office in year groups. This will start tomorrow, Thursday the 26th of March. Please come and collect after school between 3:00 and 3:30pm daily.

  • All iMaths books for students still attending at school will be sent home every day. Please bring it back each day your child returns to school.

Library Books/ Home Readers

  • Please return these to the boxes outside the front office gates.

Other Updates on COVID-19 for Today:

  • Thank you for your efforts with regard to informing the school office that your children are not attending. I need to reiterate that if you are ‘Self-Isolating’ your children, that you abide by the rules of ‘Self-Isolation’ and Social Distancing. Seeing the children out and about, at the shops and in groups outside of school, is disheartening. If you are yet to make the Self-Isolation decision, please advise us of this absence in advance and we can process this until the end of the term. Please do this via the school website: https://mindarieprimary.wa.edu.au/absentee-notification

  • Where possible, students are to walk to school independently or be dropped off by car. As there are 50% less students here right now, the morning commute to school is much easier! We ask that students do not ride bikes or scooters. This is to reduce the number of children who need to enter a shared area, and reduce gathering at the bike racks at the beginning and end of the day.

Distance Learning at Mindarie Primary School
We are working very hard in this arena. Please see the update below for information.

Attendance
It is imperative that parents and guardians inform the school if you are not sending children to school. On top of our already increased workload, our office staff have spent countless hours contacting parents to confirm the whereabouts of your children.

Please keep sick children who are genuinely sick at home.  Children with bad coughs, sore throats, sneezing and so forth.  This will reduce the work load and stress levels of all at school. Please advise the school office via email, Connect or the absentee notification link.

https://mindarieprimary.wa.edu.au/absentee-notification/

Thank you in advance for your support. If you wish to discuss any of the above, please phone the school. Please be assured that we will provide you with updates as we are provided with them.

Kind regards,

Barbara Bromley
Principal
March 25 2020

COVID-19 Update – 24/03/2020

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Our updates on COVID-19 for today:

  • I can not urge you enough – inform the school if your child is going to be absent. The office spent two hours today, chasing up on the whereabouts of your children. We totally support your decision to keep your children at home. Please respect our office staff and school by letting us know your intentions. If you have made the important and difficult decision to keep your children at home, this is reasonable according to the attendance policy. However, there are strict guidelines that surround this. They are not to be coming and going from school. That is to say, at home on a Monday for ‘Self-Isolation’ and then back at school on Tuesday. We support your decision and can extend their absence in advance until further notice or the end of the term. Please do this via the school website: https://mindarieprimary.wa.edu.au/absentee-notification/
  • Please don’t plan to pick children up throughout the school day to ‘Self-Isolate’. This is another cause of contention among students, some of whom have been getting upset when their classmates leave.
  • Teachers at Department of Education schools have been instructed by the Director General of Education to focus on the students who are at school and classroom learning. We as a school went above and beyond this direction to provide a localised work package to support our kids with their immediate learning. We are currently working with the Department of Education as to what remote learning will be supported by the Department. We are very aware that our families across our school have varied access to technology and we need to be mindful of this to ensure equity for all students across our school and Western Australia. As we know more, we will release more on this matter. Please do not ask your child’s classroom teacher for any extra work.
  • When arranging to collect iMaths books for distance learning, please do so before, or after school. Please keep your visit to the classroom to a minimum.
  • Friday the 27th of March will be the last day for Lunch Orders through the P&C.
  • Sports equipment will now be set into Year level groups. The equipment will be washed thoroughly by the school at the end of each lunch session.
  • We have had to make the very difficult decision to stop the dogs coming to school until such time as we can revert to the front door being closed, this is to ensure the safety of the dogs.
  • Senior Choir has been postponed until further notice.

Students Before and After School

Thank you for your support so far regarding this.

Students are not to arrive at school before 8:15am.

Children are to be picked up at 2.45pm unless attending before / after school care. This is a matter of safety and security.

Attendance

It is imperative that parents and guardians inform the school if you are not sending children to school. On top of our already increased workload, our office staff have spent countless hours contacting parents to confirm the whereabouts of your children.

Please keep sick children who are genuinely sick at home.  Children with bad coughs, sore throats, sneezing and so forth.  This will reduce the work load and stress levels of all at school. Please advise the school office via email, Connect or the absentee notification link.

https://mindarieprimary.wa.edu.au/absentee-notification/

Thank you in advance for your support. If you wish to discuss any of the above, please phone the school. Please be assured that we will provide you with updates as we are provided with them.

Kind regards,

Barbara Bromley
Principal
March 24 2020