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Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,
This week, school systems, including Catholic Schools NSW, made the collaborative decision to stay open for the remainder of this term and to continue to make plans for the regualr return to school in Term 2. There are mixed messages in community about this topic and I understand the reasons. From what I have read, some of the thinking is that children might be safer at school given that parents may need to look for other sources of care, including grandparents, who are vulnerable to the illness. While we have no cases within our school community, parents and carers can continue to work, and children can have access to the full educational program. An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald 17th March 2020, 'Keep the schools open for the sake of the kids', by Kerri Sackville sums up this thinking well. Our school seems very calm at the moment and completely operational but I will also understand when the time comes that the advice is to close.
If schools do close, our teachers will become like many other workers at the moment and continue to work from home. They will be required to prepare and present an educational program for students through online platforms and other options as required. Teachers will be required to provide feedback to students and support students who may need adjustments made to the learning. The only part of their current role they won't be fulfilling is that of playground duty.
School staff have been under increasing pressure from different sources this week in regard to our position and planning for the potential closure of the school. I must publicly thank the staff of Holy Name for the level of professionalism and for their response when posed with this emerging issue. Together with families, our teachers have supported the creation of a very calm response to some of the chaos in the community. It is business as usual at Holy Name, with the addition of proactive and preventative measures around social distancing, handwashing and hygiene. The students have taken to this new way of doing things with ease. We thank the Priceline Pharmacy and members within our community who have supported us to provide the products needed to enact our responses.
Home Learning
Our staff will continue to develop the home learning options for students so that if and/or when we are called on to close, the staff, students and families will be prepared. Over the next week or two, teachers will be sending information out to families about how to access online learning to check that everyone has access and to iron out any problems. We really need you all to practise accessing the presented options at home and communicate with teachers about any problems you experience so that we can work with you to solve any issues prior to any changes to attendance at school. The details for accessing home learning for Kindergarten and for Years 1-6 will be different. Kindergarten will send home resources and a learning program via Class Dojo. The learnign program for Years 1-6 will be via Class Notebook. We will of course have options for those who let us know they cannot access a device and/or the internet and will send out more details on Monday.
This week, we have already requested that anyone concerned about access to online learning options to email admin@forster.catholic.edu.au with their concern. We have also asked any parents of students whose immune systems are compromised in any way to make contact with the school so that we can begin to develop a plan for their child.
Proactive measures at school
Together with the increased hand washing, sanitising and wiping down of surfaces, we have introduced social distancing where possible for students. One of the measures taken was to discontinue lining up under Kirkangina in the mornings and after break periods (except Kindergarten who have just got into the swing of this!). Students are asked to line up outside classrooms with their teacher. We are asking parents to only enter the school when necessary, otherwise, to pick up and drop-off students at the gate. Please email your classroom teacher, letting them know the regular pick-up place for the students so we can make sure they are in the correct place.
Thank you for understanding the cancellation of events and opportunities as part of the preventative measures. In some ways, this will allow us to focus solely on our work in classrooms with students, achieving the academic goals we set for them each day.
Support needs within our community
As this pandemic progresses, I understand that individuals and families within our school community may be significantly affected by the roll-on effects of the changes in place. I know that some workers may have reduced shifts and/or lose their jobs altogether and businesses may have reduced sales. If you or anyone in your family need support during this time of unusual circumstances, please don't hesitate to make contact with me at school. I am keen to rally around our members who need us and to provide support where we can.
Regards
Brooke Stephens
In the past few weeks there seems to be a spike in poor behaviour choices from some students. At Holy Name we promote good behaviour choices around our school motto of “Concern for Others.” Children will make mistakes though, and also choose or feel pressured into making poor choices.
At Holy Name we endeavour to counsel and guide children to change their poor choices into more positive ones. If this is a minor behaviour in the classroom, the class teacher will follow policy by a friendly warning, official warning, time out in the classroom, time out in a buddy classroom and then the Reflection Room (RR) or Time out (TO) if necessary. If the children progress to the RR or TO they spend time with myself or Mrs Russell and we talk through the problem, discuss how it could have been handled better and come up with a plan for the future. The children may have a restorative conversation with a peer or teacher if necessary.
Physical violence is not tolerated and children may go straight to the TO room. Each case is reviewed and sometimes we may send a child home on suspension if their behaviour is very serious or is a continued pattern. Internal suspension can also occur where a student spends a certain time working in the office with a member of the Leadership Team and has supervised breaks at a different time to their peers. If this was the case, I would contact parents and or carers.
Our aim is to proactively assist our children to make good choices and lessons are specifically tailored to this within our Personal Development and Health lessons and our structured teaching of social and emotional skills in the classroom.
In my experience, the best way to deal with any behaviour concerns regarding your child is to make an appointment and speak to your child’s teacher. The classroom teacher is your best source of information about your child and any involvement from myself will come from that conversation. Journeying together as a united front with families is the best way for positive outcomes for everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding behaviour management please contact me via email: kyla.loring@mn.catholic.edu.au
As we are following the NSW Catholic Education Guidelines for the COVID-19 virus, all whole school and stage Masses and Liturgies have now been cancelled until further notice. This means that our pre planned masses for Yrs 2, 3, 4 and 6 classes will no longer go ahead. Yr 1 in Week 9 Thursday 26 March and Kindergarten in Week 10 Thursday 2 April will still celebrate their Term 1 Liturgies in the children’s classrooms with their teachers and Fr Greg. We look forward to inviting parents to the Kinder and Yr 1 Liturgies later in the year. All Sacrament programs run by the parish for 2020 have now been cancelled. Bishop Bill is calling 2020 a fallow year. The parish office will notify our parents by email of Bishop Bill's decision. All week day and weekend masses have now been cancelled until further notice. Thank you for your understanding and support in this matter.
Yr 1 and Kinder students are invited to bring a grocery item to their liturgy. We are teaching our students in Religion about almsgiving during Lent. These groceries will help support Catholic Care’s community pantry. We are hoping to support this local catholic agency redistribute basic food items to the less fortunate of our community.
Items you can donate are: cereal; long life milk, canned tins for casseroles, baked beans, spaghetti, small tins of tuna or spam, crackers: jatz or rice cakes, two minute noodles, soups-tins or sachets, tins of corn, tomatoes, four bean mix or peas, tea bags, small jars coffee, sugar, cans of stewed fruit.
Mini Vinnies would also like to support CARITAS and raise money during this Lenten period. They have gathered pre-loved books and are selling them for $1 each. If you wish to buy a book and support Mini Vinnies, simply go to the office at any time of the day. Likewise, please call the ladies in the office if you wish us to hold a book for you. We have only one copy of each book so you will need to be an early bird. The following books will be on sale from Monday 23 March.
This afternoon, we received notification that NAPLAN 2020 has been cancelled. No schools will participate in the National program. There will be no further practice testing, however, teachers will continue to ensure students are building confidence in this form of assessment as part of the regular teaching and learning programs.
We have received some fantastic feedback this week about the new canteen operations and menu. Unfortunately, we still have next to no volunteers and not enough patronage for the team at Plunge to consider staying on past the end of this term. On Thursday this week, we had 14 lunch orders which is not financially sustainable and on Friday, we had 45, which is excellent. I am hoping that by sharing this information with our families that we may see some new volunteers come forward and an increase in patronage across Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Please contact the school office on admin@forster.catholic.edu.au if you are able to volunteer.
Dear Parents/Carers,
Please find below links to resources and information that families might find valuable as we navigate our way through the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on mental health, community culture and general lifestyle. If your child is experiencing significant difficult managing anxiety about Covid-19 please communicate with the classroom teacher. You might consider seeking assistance from one of our local mental health care professionals via your GP or we have a school psychologist here three days a fortnight. If you’d like to discuss a referral to our school psychologist please speak with either the classroom teacher or myself through the school office.
Take gentle care
Kind regards
Simone Maloney
Learning Support Teacher/Primary Coordinator
1. Headspace Information aimed at supporting teenagers and young people
https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-cope-with-stress-related-to-covid-19/
2. Reach Out
Self-care strategies for young people
https://au.reachout.com/articles/10-ways-to-take-care-of-yourself-during-coronavirus
3. Centres for Disease Control &Prevention
Information on how to talk to children
https://www.cdc.gov/childrenindisasters/helping-children-cope.html
A downloadable colouring in book for children that explores the feelings associated with disasters and how to cope.
https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/readywrigley/documents/RW_Coping_After_a_Disaster_508.pdf
4. The Autism Educator
A social story explaining COVID-19
https://littlepuddins.ie/coronavirus-social-story/
5. Queensland Government
Social stories for children recovering from natural disasters (available in a range of languages).
6. APS
Tips for coping with COVID-19
https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/38073179-4701-48bd-afd9-988c560ee2f9/20APS-IS-COVID-19-P1.pdf
7. Beyond Blue
Information to help with mental health issues such as stress, depression and anxiety in relation to COVID-19
8. Dept of Health
Keep up to date with latest developments and other information about limiting the spread of the virus or managing symptoms.
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx
Last year we had over 60 great prizes thanks to your generous Easter Egg donations.
We are once again seeking donations of Easter Eggs for our Easter Raffle. Single eggs, Bunnies, Humpty Dumpties, small packets or anything Easter related (Colouring Books etc).
Donations of gift bags and baskets also appreciated.
Please send donations to school BEFORE FRIDAY 3 APRIL 2020.
Raffle drawn Monday 6 April 2020.
Thank you for your continued support.
Parents and Friends Committee
Cricket Trials
Last week, Lucas Monks and Austin Murray in Year 6 travelled to Newcastle to participate in the Diocesan Cricket trials. Both the boys gave their very best effort at the trials and Lucas was successful in progressing through to the Polding trials in Lismore in August.
Winter Trials – as of yesterday, all Diocesan and Polding Winter Sport trials have been cancelled.
Polding Swimming – Polding Swimming has been cancelled as well.