September 16 Newsletter

16 Sep 2021

Click here to view the September 16 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

14 September - Remote Learning Update

14 Sep 2021

Good afternoon!

I join with you in expressing my disappointment at today’s announcement. Our staff were really looking forward to having the students back at the beginning of Term 4.

However, whilst disappointed, I fully understand and support the need to keep our community safe, especially our most precious children.

At this stage, the earliest that our students would return to the classroom is November 1. This may change, depending on COVID cases and vaccination rates across the ACT.

As this is a significant period of time, remote learning will also evolve.

St Jude’s school staff have already been planning for this possibility. Now that all families have mastered MS Teams we will be exploring modifications to the live sessions and I will elaborate further in this week’s newsletter. If you have a strong opinion one way or the other in relation to this, please send me an email.

Thank you for everything you are doing in co educating your children.

Take care and stay safe

Regards,
Cameron Reed
Principal

September 9 Newsletter

09 Sep 2021

Click here to view the September 9 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Remote Learning Packs - Wk 9 & 10

06 Sep 2021

If you require a hard copy of the Remote Learning Pack for Week 9 and/or Week 10, please email office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au and we will arrange for this to be ready for collection.

Sending our best wishes. Stay safe and well.

Regards,
Natalie Hancock
Front office

Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish YouTube Link

03 Sep 2021

Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish YouTube Link

1 September - Remote Learning Update

01 Sep 2021

Good afternoon parents and carers,

Following yesterday’s announcement in relation to remote learning, we are again reviewing our current practices.

We have received a great deal of positive feedback in relation to the balance between levels of independent learning tasks, live MS Teams sessions, pre recorded teacher instruction as well as off screen activities. We also understand that across our 305 families there is great diversity occurring within each household and to meet each families individual needs is challenging, some would say impossible. However, you are doing an amazing job, being positive and supportive of each of your children.

In tomorrow’s newsletter I will outline what the next 2 weeks of remote learning will look like. There won't be huge changes, rather, an opportunity to build upon or modify our current practices. I wanted to give each family some space between yesterday’s announcement and each of you then working out what that might mean for your family.

Regards,
Cameron Reed
Principal

23 August - Remote Learning Update

23 Aug 2021

Good morning parents and carers,

I trust that you are safe and well.

Thank you again for all that you are doing to keep our community safe and in supporting your child’s wellbeing and educational journey.

Each of the year levels have posted this week’s schedule on See Saw and the students should be able to begin working through it.

You will also have received a larger than normal pack from our specialists. This pack is for the next 4 weeks. We made the decision to be proactive with this, rather than to drip feed.

The majority of the work can be completed without having to print things off. However, I am aware that we have some families who don’t currently have access to a printer.

If you are one of these families and would like a printed copy, please call Natalie at the front office and we will organise this for you to collect.

Organising packs for seven year levels across a number of teachers presents some administrative challenges, however, our aim would be to have this ready to be collected today.

As a school we have an environmental focus, as such, we are only collating packs for families who request it.

The teacher’s are meeting every morning on Teams and there have been many positive comments made about just how well our children are adjusting to a different mode of learning.

In this week’s newsletter I will draw from some research in relation to the impact of remote learning on the continuity of education. The research may surprise some of you.

Next week, the pack will be much smaller as it will only include the relevant information from your child’s homeroom teacher.

You may have noticed that we have created a remote learning tab on our webpage, over the next few days we will be adding some information shared with us by our school counsellor with information about how best to support each other from a wellbeing perspective.

Regards,
Cameron Reed
Principal

18 August - Remote Learning Update

18 Aug 2021

Please visit the following link:

https://stjudesps.schoolzineplus.com/_file/media/2155/remote_learning_update_august_18.pdf

Regards,
Cameron Reed
Principal

Remote Learning/MS Teams

16 Aug 2021

Whilst we did Remote Learning last year, the present situation with the COVID-19 Delta variant is quite different. Delta is incredibly contagious and, unlike the Alpha strain, children are getting it and spreading it.  This lockdown is intended to stop people moving around and interacting with each other, which will hopefully eliminate the virus in our community.  For that reason, If you have vulnerable circumstances or are an essential worker and cannot work from home and need your child/children to come to school on Tuesday and/or Wednesday and/or Thursday this week, I am asking that you email us at office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au

As is the case with most organisations, we have been advised to only have essential staff at school, however, we need to make sure that we have enough staff for the number of students attending. 

This week, teachers/learning support staff will reach out to your child via MS Teams/SeeSaw/email or phone. This week is very much a trial of MS Teams, linking school staff with your home. If you are experiencing challenges/difficulties with MS Teams, please let your child’s teacher know. It would be great if you could be specific with what isn’t working as it will help us problem solve more effectively.

Regards,
Cameron Reed
Principal

Lockdown Communication Update - 12/8

12 Aug 2021

Please find attached a letter from the Catholic Education Office in relation to the COVID lock down.

Two pupil free days have been allocated to every Catholic school in the system.

These days are tomorrow (Friday August 13) and Monday (August 16). These are pupil free days for staff to facilitate remote learning. We have been advised that no students are to attend school. However, I have spoken with Camp Australia to see if they can provide an option. As a result of the short notice, and because it is outside of their normal providing hours, they are only able to offer 22 places. This will be on a first in basis through their normal booking system. Please only put your children in if you are an essential worker. The cost is $56.38 per day and the session is from 7:30am to 6:00pm.

I know this is very short notice and will present challenges, however, we need to abide by ACT Health and CE guidelines and we continue to appreciate your support. The ACT government has advised us that we are to minimise movement and interaction, as a result there will be minimal staff at school on Friday and Monday.

From next Tuesday, children of essential workers who are not able to provide care can attend school. Camp Australia will continue to provide before and after school care as per usual for children of essential workers from Tuesday August 17.

Your child has brought home a learning pack which has sequenced learning activities for the duration of next week, August 17 - 20. Your child’s teacher will be in touch with you early next week in case you require any clarification. We will also send out further information via email and SZApp tomorrow. I ask that you only complete the tasks allocated in the pack. If your child’s InitialLit or Stepping Stones text comes home, please don’t do additional pages. If your child was away today, please call the office to organise an appropriate time to pick the pack up.

You are the best judge of your child’s well being. As such, you can decide if your child needs a break from learning. I am aware that some of this is information overload. As such, I will try to space relevant information as the situation evolves.

Warm regards and stay safe

Cameron

Cameron Reed
Principal