TRANSITIONING BACK TO ONSITE LEARNING

The decision was made last week to have a staged response and return to on-site learning. As a school we are following the Return to School Operations Guide released on Friday 15^th May.

The guide gives schools specific advice about how to manage the following:

• Transition back to on-site schooling
• Staged return for students
• Staff attendance
• Access to devices
• School health and safety measures – coronavirus (COVID-19)
• School health and safety measures – Physical distancing and access
• School health and safety measures – Infection control
• School health and safety measures – Psychological wellbeing

This is building on advice already received in the weeks before and since school commenced for Term 2.

Next Monday 25^th May is a state wide curriculum day (student-free day) for all staff to plan the transition back to on-site learning.

We are preparing to welcome back students in Prep – Year 2 next Tuesday 26^th May. We realise that some students may have questions about how school will be different when they return.

There will be lots of hand washing and use of sanitiser in and out of the classroom and the school cleaning team will be working additional hours to meet the standards required.

Children will not be required to socially distance from each other but staff members will. We will encourage everyone to respect personal space and try be aware of 1.5 metres distancing whenever possible and practical.

Parents are advised that they will not be able to enter the school grounds with their children and we as a school are promoting a quick drop off and pick up with minimal gathering, as endorsed by health authorities. To assist, we will have extra staff meeting and greeting at the school gates. For parents who need to come on site, attendance at the office by prior arrangement is required.

It is very important to note that children and staff who are unwell must not attend school.

We will continue remote and flexible teaching and learning for Year 3- 6 students until Tues 9^th June as well as providing on site supervision for students in Year 3-6 who have a demonstrated need. Teachers are continuing to use Xuno to communicate to families and for video conferencing are using the WebEx platform. The SLC are also working with Google classrooms and this will continue until they return to onsite learning.

This year has seen the cancellation of NAPLAN and many other assessment and data gathering processes.

We are advised that reporting to parents will go ahead and schools are currently developing their reports to reflect the substantial period of Semester 1 that teaching and learning took place at home. End of Semester Reports will not be the same as those issued in previous years. We hope to have post-report interviews in Term 3 if regulations permit.

If you have any questions or concerns then join me for a Q & A on Friday at 1.30pm.

Q & A with the Principal

On Friday at 1:30pm I am hosting a WebEx Q&A session for parents who have questions about their children returning to school. If you wish to participate please email me directly: Suzanne.Kinnersly@education.vic.gov.au

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FAQS- STAGGERED RETURN TO SCHOOL

Please see this link here or join the WebEx for any further questions you may have.

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COVID-19 RESOURCE

Advice on how to practice being a caring family member here. 

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SEEKING ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK

The Department of Education and Training and Winters Flat PS are seeking further feedback about the experience families have had during the period of remote and flexible learning.

Learning from home is a big change for schools, teachers, students and families. We would love to know how this new way of learning has been going for you, so we are inviting you to please take the time to complete the Learning from Home Survey. The information you provide will help us to find and fix any problems so that learning from home works well for everybody.

• The survey will be conducted online and should take 10 minutes to complete.
• The survey can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop or laptop computer, tablet, smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.
• The survey will be open until Friday 26 June 2020.

 

Students can access the survey here:

https://www.orima.com.au/lfh/students

School Name: Winters Flat Primary School

School PIN: 7533

 

Parents can access the survey here:

https://www.orima.com.au/lfh/parents

School Name: Winters Flat Primary School

School PIN: 310546

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BIRTHDAYS

Tully – 11 in the second week of May

Athene – 7 in the second week of May

Tenzin – 12 in the second week of May

Louis W – 12 in the second week of May

Jazmine – 10 in the second week of May

 

Hip Hip:  Hooray

Hip Hip:  Hooray

Hooray: Hip Hip

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BUILDINGS UPDATE

• The new roof has been added to the Main Wing.
• Oakview will be demolished in mid-June.
• The Kitchen will be remodelled with a new external façade – due for completion by end of July - Week 2 Term 3.
• The modular sections of both the new multi-purpose room and the new art room are due for delivery on Monday 6^th July – completion date by mid-August.

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Suzanne Kinnersly

Principal

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Camps, Excursions and money paid

It is still unknown whether schools will be able to hold their camps and excursions later in the year.  We will have to wait for advice from the Department. Some families have already paid for the 2/3 camp and for some of the excursions that were scheduled to take place during this Term.  The following information is about the money you have already paid to school:

• Families who have paid for camps and excursions can request a refund, keep the money as credit on their account for future use, or allocate the paid amount to any outstanding items that they might have on their account.
• Please let the school know your preference by emailing, phoning or communicate through Xuno.
• We will issue accounts to families when school returns if you cannot remember what is on your account.

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School Photos 2020

School photos were scheduled for May but of course these could not go ahead this term. They are now scheduled for Thursday October 22nd. We will still be doing the same group photos and Grade 6 graduation photos.

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Sushi Orders to return

Sushi orders will return when all the students have transitioned back to school.  The dates of the Sushi orders will be:

• Friday 12^th June
• Friday 19^th June
• Friday 26^th June (last day of Term 2)

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Remote Learning Survey

Thank you to the 38 families who responded to our Remote Learning Survey. We know there have been challenges for us all but we are getting through them together.

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eSafety

Attached here is a brochure with tips on how you can teach your child/ren to stay safe online.

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Year 6 Transition

The Year 6 to Year 7 transition Information packs for students currently in Year 6 at Winters Flat PS have all been delivered. Applications are due back by Friday 29th May 2020.

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Victorian Premiers Reading Challenge

Visit the link on our website here to read all about this years challenge. 

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Karen Mahoney & Renae Wilson

Office

JUNIOR LEARNING COMMUNITY

P/1 J | Atticus A

For showing Care for Others by listening and asking questions. Also, for making an excellent Lego movie and sharing it for show and tell. Super effort! 
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P/1 J | Peggy M

For showing Care for Self by working hard to complete learning tasks at home. Super effort in all areas Peggy!
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1/2 A | Angus N

For showing Care for Self by making a fantastic effort for all tasks this term and always maintaining a positive attitdue. Keep up the great work Angus!
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1/2A | Ava M

For showing Care for Self by having a great go at Home Learning this term, and always being willing and confident to participate and share her ideas during our Web-Ex catch ups. Thank you Ava!
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2/3W | Sam G

For showing Care for Self by consistently applying himself to home learning activities.

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2/3W | Indiana B

For showing Care for Self by approaching her home learning activities with enthusiasm and creativity.
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SENIOR LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY

Abi E

For showing Care for Self by approaching her learning activities with care and diligence.

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Teekah M

For showing great Care for Others by helping out her class mates in Google Classrooms and being an amazing moderator. Thank you so much for your awesome effort. Keep it up.

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Jacob M

For showing great Care for Others by helping out his class mates in Google Classrooms and being an amazing moderator. Thank you so much for your awesome effort. Keep it up.

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Indigo F

For Care for Self, demonstrated by displaying excellent organisational skills throughout our online learning platform. Thank you Indi for always being 'present', having everything you need and helping others by sharing your knowledge. You are developing excellent leadership skills. Well done Indi.

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Lucinda N

For Care for Self, demonstrated by the care, effort, focus and diligent hard work you are putting into your work tasks during our remote learning program. Your work pieces are beautiful and really reflect your efforts. Congratulations Lucy.

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CJ R

For Care for Self and Others, demonstrated by the wonedrful infectious, positive attitude that you bring to our online work space. You are always well prepared with your finished pieces to share with others and are always willing to ask questions, that helps to clarify information for yourself and others. Thanks for the smiling face we see each day CJ.

Seasons for Growth children’s program for Grade P-3

Seasons for Growth is an innovative and evidence based grief and loss program which aims to strengthen social and emotional wellbeing of children who are dealing with significant life changes such as;

• Family separation
• Loss of a pet
• Loss of something or someone you love
• Moving to a new place
• Impact of illness
• Loss of a friendship

It is a small group program (4-7 participants) run weekly with 40min sessions. It combines psychology and education with peer support, using the metaphor of the seasons to explore grief. The program incorporates a wide range of age appropriate activities including writing, drawing, discussion, stories, role play, music and guided meditation to:

• Learn that change and loss are part of life
• Learn about different ways that people experience change and loss (individual story and feelings).
• Learn skills to assist with adapting to change and loss (caring for feelings and remembering good times).
• Learn about ways that help in moving forward in life (making good choices and moving forward).

For further reading see the attached Seasons for Growth Program Information sheet as well as the link below:

https://www.goodgrief.org.au/seasons-growth-children-and-young-peoples-program

Where

The sessions will be held at the school, during school hours

When

The first five sessions will be held once a week, over the last five weeks of term three.  The remaining three sessions will be held the first three weeks of term four. It is recommended the eight sessions are split over terms to integrate the learnings over a longer period of time.

How to enrol your child:

If your child is in GP-3, please contact me on 0475 801 424 or email Belinda.ganglmair@education.vic.gov.au to discuss a referral.

If you have an older child who is experiencing grief and loss and you would like support, please contact me.

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Take care,

Belle

Wellbeing Officer

KITCHEN & GARDEN...

Below are the activities for Weeks 6-7 of Remote Learning. These can also be found on the school website, along with a video demonstration for Basic Pizza Dough and Carrot Yoga.

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Week 6

Leek and silverbeet Pizza

Basic pizza dough

Botanical Drawing

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Week 7

Potato, leek and chive soup

Basic bread-Rolls

Bug catcher

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Jane & Terry
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Some more lovely pictures/videos shared that show all the great work students are completing! We are looking forward to the P-2 students coming back next Tuesday. Parents/carers of 3-6, feel free to keep sending photos in :)

‘This article is reproduced from Learning Potential, a product of the Australian Government Department of Education. For more great articles visit www.learningpotential.gov.au and download the app.’

What is coding?

Computers are amazing, but they can’t think for themselves (yet!). They require people to give them instructions. Coding is a list of step-by-step instructions that get computers to do what you want them to do. Coding makes it possible for us to create computer software, games, apps and websites.

Coders, or programmers, are people who write the programmes behind everything we see and do on a computer. When children learn to code, it helps them to develop essential skills such as problem solving, logic and critical thinking. Through coding, children can learn that there’s often more than one way to solve a problem, and that simpler and more efficient solutions are often better. Learning to code encourages children to become creators, not just consumers, of the technology they use.

While learning to code at the primary school level, children are encouraged to think critically and strategically to solve problems—often simple puzzles like getting an onscreen character to move around a maze. For younger children, visual blocks are often used to represent programming concepts and terminology, such as ‘procedures’, ‘loops’ and ‘conditional instructions’.

Children are naturally curious and creative, and they can pick up simple coding skills (and have lots of fun!) through online games and tutorials. You can help your child learn more about coding with these great resources:

• The Hour of Code, a fun and image-based introduction to how computer coding can be done.
• CS Unplugged teaches computer science concepts to children without using a computer.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY...

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