Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Firstly, let me start by saying thank you to our school community for the support you have shown our site in the wake of the COVIS-19 pandemic. The way our community have embraced our changes has been reassuring that we are headed in the right direction. I just want to use this time to communicate with families our next steps and how Term 2 is going to look in the foreseeable future.
ICT and internet
We have reached an agreement with the department to provide devices and internet to students that don’t have access to these. At this point in time, students that don’t have devices will be provided with the following if they need.
- R-2’s will receive ipads
- 3-6’s will receive chrome books
- 7-12 will receive laptop computers.
This does not mean that all families have to have this. If your child uses another device then that is fine as all learning is available on all platforms.
Internet will be provided in one of the following ways, a sim card, USB dongle and wi-fi point. At this point in time, internet will be limited to educational sites and will be free for students to use while we are socially isolating.
If you have already replied to the sms or email that went out on the 08/04/2020 then your devices will be available for pick up from the school from the 22nd April – 24th of April. There will be some paperwork to fill out when you come in, before we release the device. If you require a device or internet as you don’t have one, then please email me at grant.keleher97@schools.sa.edu.au.
Student Timetables
This will be made available on our school website from Tuesday the 14th of April. We have tried to limit the amount of face to face screen times for our students as we feel that our Learner Management Systems of Canvas (for secondary) and Google Classroom (for primary) will be excellent at supplementing our lessons with resources that students will use to be successful.
If your child receives intervention then this will also continue to happen via Zoom. Your class teacher will be in touch early Term 2 to let you know what times this will happen.
Care Group
In Term 2 each of the secondary classes will have Care Group at the normal time of 8:50am. This will be a time for all students to check in with their teachers and will allow the school to take attendance rolls to make sure that students are engaging in online learning.
If for some reason a child’s technology does not work, we are more than happy to attend the Care Group of a sibling and the teacher will make sure the roll is adjusted accordingly. If you have technology issues and can’t attend, or your child is sick then we ask that you call the front office on 88 322 613 and let us know.
Attending on-site in Term 2
At this point in time the position for the government is still for those parents who cannot arrange child care or care for their children at home because they are working away from the home in an essential service to be sending their children to school in Term 2. The school will be open to cater for the children we have onsite. Students at school will be doing the same online work and participating in the same online classes as those being educated from home. All students will follow the same timetable and students at school that don’t have scheduled lessons will be completing work through supervised study in mixed age groups.
School buses will still be running for those children attending that need transport to and from school. However the Point Pearce bus will not run due to the community lockdown.
If you are an essential worker or a parent of a vulnerable child and they are coming to school in Term 2, then I ask you reply to the sms you would have received on 09/04/2020. Alternatively you can let the school know.
Lastly I wanted to wish all of our families a safe and happy Easter. While it will look different to what we are used to, I want you to take this time to ask families to spend quality time together and to check in on those that might not be able to have their family with them this Easter.
I look forward to seeing you all again in Term 2 and hopefully we have a clearer direction on when this will all end and we can get some normality back in our lives.
If you do have any questions, the school will be open and I will be available via email over the holidays to support the transition to online learning. You can check the school website for anything COVID-19 related and we have put together a “Remote Learning Manual” that will support parents and students journey for Term 2 and beyond.
Yours Sincerely
Grant Keleher (Principal)