Thank you again for your ongoing support in these uncertain times, as we know, things change from day to day, in fact hour to hour.
Please be advised that some of the information in this update was provided in the last update. New information is in green.
Please be assured, we want our kids, back in school, and safe. We want our school staff, back in school, and safe. Everything we are putting in place is with safety in mind.
Everything in these updates is informed by information received, daily, from the Premier Mr McGowan, the Minister for Health Mr Cook and the Minister for Education. In addition, via briefings from the Director General of Education.
Schooling
To assist you with your planning we have done the following:
To assist you with your planning we have done the following:
If you are considering Distance Learning
- Our on-line learning ‘Home Education Learning Packages (HELP)’ are live. Please have a look on the Mindarie Primary School ‘Learning’ Hub – password is MPS2020
- These packages will be available in hard copy on Monday March 27 from the front of the school between 10.00 am to 12.00 noon.
- ‘Can do’ packages for each phase level (K-P, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6) will be available at the same time.
- The Distance Learning guide has the suggested timetables for given year levels. Note that these timetables are punctuated with ‘Brain Breaks’ and so forth. As a student’s normal day at school is.
- The resource pack for your family has been provided to support the students learning from home.
- Teachers have set up Seesaw for their classes, this will enable regular communication with students.
- Student will access Matific, Reading Eggs, Reading Express and Literacy Pro.
- When students arrive at school in the morning they will go to their regular classroom.
- The ‘Home Education Learning Packs (HELP)’ content will be the content that teachers will teach for the first two weeks in Mathematics, English and Specialist subjects.
- Dependent on numbers teachers will have their own classes for the majority of the day. Please note this can only be established once we know numbers. To provide clarity for example if we have 80% of students at school this will be our action, if we have 50% then we will need to review this, as we need to also be catering for ‘Distance Learning’.
- These following teachers will not be teaching their classes due to issues – Mrs Kidgill (TA10), and Mrs Gill (TA27). Mrs Kidgill suffered a brain aneurysm in the second week of the holidays and will be absent for the remainder of term two. Our thoughts are with her and her family.
- Mrs Williamson will be teaching TA 10 and Ms Clark will be teaching TA 9 full time. Mrs Atkinson will be teaching full time in TA 3. Mr Steel will be taking on the role of Junior Science.
- Student will access Matific, Reading Eggs, Reading Express and Literacy Pro, as they currently do and in line with what students participating in ‘Distance Education are doing.
- Students will have access to specialist teachers, teaching in the student’s classrooms. These teachers will be delivering face-to-face the same content that is included in the ‘HELP’ packs. The only difference will be that this will be timetables through the teaching day as one specialist cannot teach a whole year level of students at the same time.
- Students will be having ‘Brain Breaks’ and access to manipulable objects in their classrooms. This will be dependent of hygiene regimes.
- Dependent on numbers Education Assistants may be working in classrooms or supporting with the preparation of ‘Distance Learning’ materials.
All students are required to participate in one or the other form of Education and their attendance needs to be accounted for. If you opt to adopt the Distance Learning program, please advise us, in writing, if your child is ill and unable to participate on any given day. Likewise, if your child is participating in the on-site program and is away due to illness please advise us of this in writing through the school website or Connect.
Drop Off and Collection
The Premier, Minister for Education and Minister for Health have been very clear on this. Parents are not to come onto the school grounds. In the last two weeks of term one we implemented this policy and our students are parents managed this exceptionally well. I know that you will continue to do so.
- All gates around the school will open at 8.25am. Staff will open these and will be at these to monitor student’s arrival. Parents therefore have a window of 20 minutes to effect drop. Please make sure you physically distance at this time.
- Pre-Primary and Kindergarten students are to enter and exit from the gate at the base of the stairs leading up to the Early Childhood yard. This is at the western end of the basketball courts. Early childhood teachers will greet the students at the top of the stairs. The exception to this is if you have an older child who can accompany your younger child to their class.
- Parents are best placed to determine which other gates suit their families for entrance to the school. Please ensure that your children know which gates they will be dropped off to and collected from. Please remind older children to collect younger siblings at the end of the day, if this is what is happening.
- No scooters or bikes are to be ridden to school, this is because we cannot supervise access to the bike cage at the start and finish of the school day or be responsible for the cleaning of this equipment.
- All students must have left the school grounds by 2.55pm at the latest.
- No use of the playgrounds before or after school.
Distancing During Break Times
- Following recess and lunch breaks students line up in pairs at 1.5 distance each way. Positions marked on the veranda to support this. The line will start from the wet area doors and progress around the veranda. Our verandas are 1.6 meters wide. We will have in excess of 35 meters on each side of the blocks.
- Students enter classrooms via the wet area doors, this is because these doors are wider and can be held open, allowing for distancing and also reduction of touch points. Doors from the wet area into the classrooms will remain open during the day and will be the classroom entrance and exit doors. (Last term we had the external doors open, however with winter approaching this is not an environmentally friendly solution for the students or teachers).
- At this point in time we are planning to split the students eating time at recess and lunch time to reduce the number of students on playgrounds and also to reduce the likely hood of students not self-distancing. Our breaks will look like this-
- Recess – Siren sounds – Kindy, year one, three and five students eat in classrooms for 10 minutes at their desks.
- Recess – Siren sounds – PP, year two, four and six students play for 10 minutes.
- Then they swap. Each year group gets 10 minutes play time. 10 minutes supervised eating, talking time.
- Lunch – Siren sounds – Kindy, year one, three and five students eat in classrooms for 15 minutes. At desks.
- Lunch – Siren sounds – PP, year two, four and six students play for 15 minutes.
- Then they swap. Each year group gets 15 minutes’ play time. 15 minutes supervised eating, talking time.
Please note that we will make sure that class teachers build in more physically active time, within the parameters we need to follow, so children will not spend all day sitting at a desk. We need to be clever in how we do this so there will be brain breaks, Go Noodle and so forth.
Please note that the above is also being discussed with teachers on Tuesday.
We will only use the following play areas.
- Early Childhood Areas – Not the climbing equipment as cleaners cannot clean at a height above 1 meter off the ground and we have been instructed that this equipment must be wiped down.
- Junior play area and grass area. Not the climbing equipment as cleaners cannot clean at a height above 1 meter off the ground and we have been instructed that this equipment must be wiped down.
- Tiger turf and central quadrangle.
- Senior play area.
- No oval and Basket-Ball courts as these areas are open to the general public for use.
Personal Health
This is a highly important aspect and needs your careful consideration. All staff have been advised that if they are feeling unwell, for any reason, they are not to come to school. This is for the wellbeing of our students and fellow staff members and ultimately your family’s health.
Sick children
- If your child is unwell – keep them at home.
- Notify the school, via email or through the school website, that they are sick and provide the school with information as to what you are doing for the child and the possible duration of the absence.
- Do not return your child to school if they are still unwell.
- Teachers will send home any children who complain of being unwell or present with symptoms of illness, such as a cough or sneezing.
Please note, whatever decision you make, regarding your child/children’s learning over the next eight days, we respect your decision and will support you. If you had previously made the decision to home school and have now changed your mind, that is okay. We just need you to bring the following back to school;
- Their pencil case.
- iMaths book.
- Home resource pack (the one that went home in the blue bags).
- HELP pack – collected on Monday.
- Can Do pack – also collected on Monday.
- It is essential that all students have their own drink bottle and hat. Please check this with students daily.
We look forward to welcoming all of our students back to school at the start of Term 2, whether it be face to face or via Distance Education.
Kind regards
Barbara Bromley
28 April 2020