03 Apr 2020
Dear parents/carers,
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Department of Education, Mark Scott, hosted another webinar to update Principals on the current state of play in relation to COVID-19 and the ongoing impact on schools. The key message from this forum was that schools and families can expect to continue Learning at Home well into Term 2.
Whilst there was no confirmation of how many weeks we might expect to be operating in this way, we can only assume that we all need to prepare for Term 2 to be characterised by the continuation of social distancing and the expectation that people stay at home unless they absolutely need to leave.
I am cognisant of the strain that this is placing on our families and I want to assure you that we are doing everything we possibly can to support the learning of our students, without unduly burdening our parents and carers. As I mentioned in my last briefing, much of the remote learning that we are preparing relies on access to technology, we want to assist families where possible and this might be in the shape of issuing an internet-capable device to assist with continuity of learning. Please contact the school or myself personally (carolyn.lasker@det.nsw.edu.au) if we can help in this regard. We also anticipate that the Department of Education will be issuing a limited supply of internet dongles that will assist families without an internet connection at home. We will advise next week how these can be accessed. Similarly, if families are experiencing hardship in other aspects of everyday life please reach out to us.
There is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding aspects of the 2020 HSC. NESA have indicated that they will provide more important updates early next week, as soon as we have any additional information, we will be sure to pass it on. This is a very difficult time for all our students but particularly those sitting for the HSC in 2020. We are thinking of all of you and encourage you to stay connected with your teachers and peers (albeit remotely).
Our student attendance rates (on-site) are currently less than 5% and more than half of our staff are working from home. Staff are still working tirelessly preparing learning materials and supporting the continuity of learning for students in their classes. The school will continue to remain open next week (Mon-Thurs) for families who need to send their children to school. School holidays commence on Friday 10 April. Students and staff will all need a break during this vacation period and staff will not be expected to be delivering learning material remotely during this time.
As we are faced with the prospect of a lengthy period of at-home learning, we are currently developing a modified timetable for students and staff to provide some additional structure to the day. Whilst this will provide a useful scaffold, there will still be flexibility for students to engage in important wellbeing and family activities throughout the day. This will be published to families early next week.
We continue to align the hardcopy work packages as much as possible with what exists within Google classroom and the gym will remain open each day from 9am-11am for collection of learning materials. We ask that you just sign the materials out so we can keep a track of which students are working on hard copy materials.
Once again, I would like to thank you for your understanding and support during recent weeks. Many of our staff have been making phone calls to families to check-in and see how everyone is managing and they have been so encouraged by your words of support.
Until next week,
Carolyn Lasker
Principal