St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School Camden eNewsletter

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Parents & Guardians,

It is a challenge to sit and draft a newsletter for the first time in nearly ten weeks. It is even more challenging, as I reflect on the world’s journey over the past three months, as we have come to terms with the impact COVID19 has had on the basic rights of people to live their lives with hope and freedom.

I now know more about myself and my capacity to adapt to challenging circumstances that I have never experienced in the workplace, my family life or in the community. Whilst I have admired the capacity of staff to adapt to huge changes quickly, I am just as inspired by children as young as five who have also needed to completely reconceptualise their understanding of school and learning. The school community, at all levels, responded to the challenges incredibly well. I will never forget the sense of appreciation staff experienced from parents for the remote work they prepared. Whilst nothing will ever replace the quality of education provided through face to face teaching, I know that St Paul’s teachers, support officers, administration staff, parents and most of all, the students, came with their “best game” to face this challenge.

The world continues to throw new challenges our way as we now seek to reacquaint the students with school life again, reconnecting with each other and their teachers. I have been at the gate each morning and afternoon with Mrs Brunetta and Mrs Debrincat reassuring the children as they return through the gate from such a long break, supporting their emotional needs as for some, this becomes an overwhelming time. To then see parents staying outside the fence, watching their children to reassure themselves about having to let go, has been heart wrenching but necessary. I must admit, having a school where parents can’t enter the grounds together due to adult social distancing requirements, is somewhat confronting.

Once the children have reconnected with school life, we will see the confidence return to our school. Our school, simply by its very nature is a place of optimism and affirmation. We will get this back in bucket loads over time I am sure. I often experience comfort in the gospel in such times:

“But the angel spoke; and he said to the women, ‘there is no need for you to be afraid.

I know you are looking for Jesus, who is crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said he would. Come and see the place where he lay then go quickly and tell his disciples! He has risen from the dead now he is going before you to Galilee. It is there you will see him.

Matt. 28:5-8

The resurrection is the feast of our Catholic school. Our Christian way is one of new beginnings and hope. I have experienced first hand from all who come to this very special place, our school, simply by its very nature, a place of affirmation and optimism, now more than ever. The spirit of the resurrection stands in contrast to a prevailing atmosphere of gloom and pessimism about people’s endeavours. These new dreams we are creating right now as the children return to school, are an essential experience of what it means to be human. We can now dream again about what we shall be, what our life will become, no matter whether we are seven or seventy seven, coming to collect your grandchild from their classroom in the afternoon. Welcome back to my happy place. I hope you have come back to your happy place too. When we can have everyone together on the playground, it will be time to celebrate! Haven’t worked that out yet!

Go Gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Clarification of Drop Off & Pick Up Procedures

It has been brought to my attention through social media, that some are questioning the school’s procedures for drop off and pick up during this phase of COVID19 for the return of all students to school.

The process that the school has put in place is a part of the school’s ‘Action Plan’ which has been approved by the CEO.

In coming up with the ‘Action Plan’ it was the school’s number one priority to ensure that there are no large numbers of adults congregating on site in the morning and afternoon.

The school needs to get 620 students on and off this site orderly, in a timely manner and safely. Not only are we a large school but we are also situated in the CBD of Camden with direct access to a public carpark and a through road that adds to the complexity.

The school’s procedures have been planned with deep reflection to minimise danger for the better good of all when taking the above into consideration.

Therefore:

In the morning parents drop off at the gate, as families come naturally in a staggered pattern anyway. If we allow parents in they will congregate and then we have a crowd, as many already do so outside the gate.
The children are moved off quickly as soon as they have lined up after the bell, straight into class where they are expected to use the hand sanitiser provided.
In the afternoon, we have allowed pick up to start from 2.45pm- 3.15pm to once again encourage a staggered pick up.
Mrs Brunetta and I stay at the gate to ensure that once children have been collected, parents move off in a timely manner.
We are also there to answer any questions about our processes from parents should they need clarification on matters such as this.
If the children were called to the gate for pick up the process would go well beyond 30 minutes and parents would be frustrated having to wait and crowd at the gate, rather than collecting their child/ren in a timely manner.
Having the children wait on the playground to be called to the gate would again take up to an hour if we opted for this process and this would be an unreasonable expectation
It is not safe for parents to be waiting at the gate in the afternoon anyway as they would be standing in a public carpark which is obviously a WH&S issue for all.

I hope this gives clarity to parents why you have to drop off at the gate in the morning but cannot do so in the afternoon.

Rationale for the Interim Report for Semester 1, 2020

In these unprecedented times in education, traditional direct instruction has been altered due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Determining academic mastery is challenging in remote learning environments as conversations, observations and assessments are limited. The Interim Report reflects the engagement in learning undertaken during classroom and remote learning over the course of Term 1 up until the middle of Term 2, 2020. The Key Learning Areas of Religious Education, English and Mathematics have been a key focus for all of the classroom and remote learning experiences delivered during Terms 1 and 2.

Features of the Interim Reports to parents	Why
Explanation of Interim Report to parents	The Interim Report reflects the learning engagement undertaken during classroom and remote learning over the course of Term 1 and mid -Term 2, 2020. The Key Learning Areas of Religious Education, English and Mathematics have been a key focus for the classroom and remote learning lessons delivered during Terms 1 and 2.
Learning Engagement for Religious Education, English and Mathematics	Previously schools have reported to parents twice per year and report on student progress and achievement against a five point scale (A-E). Due to the current circumstances and the need for schools to teach remotely, valid assessment of student learning has been challenging. Therefore, it seems more appropriate that student engagement in learning in the three Key Learning Areas is reported on for the period of Term 1 up until the middle of Term 2.
Effort for Religious Education, English and Mathematics. 3 descriptors: *Extensive, Moderate, Needs Improvement*	Teachers will report to parents on a student's effort with their learning, taking into account both classroom and remote learning. Teachers are encouraged to consider which context they have the strongest evidence of a student’s effort to make a judgement. e.g. If the teacher has stronger evidence of a student’s effort to their learning in the classroom, then they are to make the judgement based on this.
Learning Engagement in Religious Education, English and Mathematics. 3 descriptors: *Exceeded Expectations, Met Expectations, Working Towards Expectations*	The Learning Engagement should reflect the level of competence a student displayed in engaging in the learning experiences. Teachers must choose 5 comments that reflect the learning experiences the student engaged in each Key Learning Area and make an overall judgement on the Learning Engagement of the student.

In Brief:

The report will not be A-E.
The report will assess effort and engagement only in Religion, English and Mathematics.
There will not be a general comment.
Engagement is about whether the child went online each day to work on the learning provided and their commitment to the learning. It also involves how confident the student was in giving the work their attention, curiosity, interest and passion.
Effort usually refers to whether a student tries hard, asks for help, and/or participates.

Parent / Teacher Interviews:

Parent / teacher interviews will take place during Week 9 and Week 10, 23 June - 30 June 2020.
The interviews will be conducted by a timetabled phone conversation.
As we are not providing an A - E report, any work samples are only used to provide parents with evidence of the students' engagement and effort. This naturally would require an additional face to face meeting at the parents request.
If a parent enquires about their child’s academic performance, teachers will use the work samples to indicate ONLY: that the child is working at Grade Expectation / Above Grade Expectation / Below Grade Expectation. Naturally, again this would require an additional face to face meeting at the parents request.
The work samples will support the teacher in outlining to parents that effort and engagement rating is not indicative of academic performance. Eg; Harry may have Extensive Effort and Exceeds Expectation for engagement yet is working at below grade expectation for academic ability. Again, this would require an additional face to face meeting to look at work samples at the parents request.