Michael Gray, Principal

Dear Families of St. Joseph's Primary School,

RE: Term 2 Schooling Program

In response to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the Victorian Premier, State Education Minister, Chief Medical Officer and the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria has now released clear guidelines for schooling in Term 2 for Victoria school communities.

With this emerging situation, I can confirm the St. Joseph's Leadership Team has been meeting regularly to interpret the guidelines and importantly build on our evolving plan for Term 2. 

Our program will focus on ‘flexible and remote learning’ for all students off-site (in the home) for the full 11 weeks. Victorian schools have been strictly advised that all students should be learning from home, with exceptions allowed for vulnerable children and where no other arrangements can be made. St Joseph’s families have indicated their preference via our survey sent at the end of Term 1. I reinforce that access to on-site learning is only available for students who have no other practical option to remain in their home. 

Therefore,

• Teachers will provide access to the off-site/on-site program while working from their home. 
• A rostered skeleton staff will be on-site at St. Joseph’s each day. 
• The students in the on-site program will access the same program that students are completing at home. 
• On-site students may not have their classroom teacher or necessarily have a teacher full time at school, however, adequate supervision will be provided along with appropriate social distancing and health recommendations. 

Please note, current classroom teachers will be conducting their classroom programs from off-site but will not always be available for eligible students on-site.

The student program for Term 2 will commence gently with teacher and parent support and participation. It will be a step by step learning process for everyone. If internet technology lets us down we will work around this issue. Generally speaking, formal work will be in the mornings and the more creative elements in the afternoon. This timetable is flexible and can be responsive to your work needs too. This student work will be recorded by the students in their Learning Journals, including books read and other creative self-sourced learning. This procedure will also apply to the on-site program students.  

St. Joseph’s families have already been invited to complete two surveys; one to express interest in the on-site delivery of our program and secondly to indicate home internet and electronic device capabilities. Our final response to these surveys will be provided on Tuesday 14th April. 

If you have not yet completed either of these surveys please refer to the links below

Teachers will return to school on Tuesday 14th April for further lesson preparation, including practice with our preferred communication technology ‘Google Meet.’ All staff meetings, planning and preparation will be conducted online with staff working from home.

The ‘student school/homework pack’ is to commence on Wednesday 15th April 2020, remembering Tuesday 14th April is a ‘pupil free day’, no students, staff only. If you missed the family pack distribution please refer to the link below. Please note these documents will follow the child if there is a shared care arrangement with the child’s responsible supervising adult.

The steps families can take now in readiness for learning to start next week are:-

• Set simple routines and structure as stability will help young people settle and perform well.
• Negotiate a daily timetable with your family remembering that your work needs to fit into this schedule too. Formal learning is best in the morning; creativity, fun and physical exercise are better for later in the day. A formal school remote learning timetable will be distributed once we are underway.
• Establish a simple workspace for each person and discuss shared access to electronic devices if needed.
• Look for resourcing support we will distribute on a regular basis, and note that older siblings can make excellent tutors for younger family members.

For families right across Australia, the past weeks have been spent getting used to the new normal — school at home, limited visitors, and only essential outings. 

We are in this together and St. Joseph’s will work relentlessly to help everyone adapt to this new teaching environment. We will approach this challenging new reality with a ‘can do’ attitude and a ‘hopeful’ mindset that involves; Living with Joy, Living without Fear and Living with New Eyes.

Regards,
Michael Gray. Principal.