Dernancourt School R-7 Newsletter

19th March, 2020

From the Leadership Team.

           

Dear families,

We would like to sincerely like thank our students, parents and staff for their understanding and support during this difficult time. Official advice regarding COVID-19 is received often and requires changes to our programs and practices and more frequent communications across our community. We would like to ensure that all members of our community are kept up to date with the changes and ask again that you ensure we have your current email and phone numbers in the event that we need to contact you. This can be done via our Skoolbag app.

For our most up to date information about COVID-19, parents are asked to check their emails and have the skoolbag app installed on their devices. 

 It is important that we all work together in these uncertain times and we appreciate your patience as we navigate teaching full time currently whilst preparing for possible site closure.

STUDENT LEARNING

As you would appreciate, learning experiences are rarely provided in worksheet format these days so it is not a simple matter of just ‘sending the work home’ for students who are unwell or absent for a period of time or if site closure is necessary. For this reason, it will take time for us to develop, source and collate meaningful resources which can be used in a home setting.

 We are currently developing year level appropriate resources (not class specific) which will be provided as required. We hope to have this information prepared soon. These may be delivered to families using an online format eg Facebook groups, Class Dojo, email but will not necessarily be tasks that require learning to be completed online. Learning experiences are so varied in each classroom that continued home-based learning is quite a complexity for teachers.  

 Whilst this cannot replace quality teaching and learning, we hope to provide continuity for your child’s learning during this difficult time.

These resources will be distributed to support families in the event that:

  • our school is closed for a short period of time (1-2 days)
  • our school is closed for a lengthy duration (14 days or so)

TEACHERS

Teachers are currently using the existing flexibilities within the Australian Curriculum to provide learning and assessment materials for our students.

Teachers will provide their students with:

  • clear and detailed instructions about learning tasks
  • links to any resources / websites /apps
  • if links to websites require students to create an account; teachers will provide detailed instructions
  • feedback and communication via: Dojo / Facebook and/or email.

Teachers will be checking these communications regularly.

General information about usernames and passwords for commonly used online schools resources will be available from our website.

STUDENTS

All students will have an exercise book titled Home Learning 2020. Usernames and passwords used at school will be inside the exercise book. Parents can login as their child if their child needs support to do this.

Students:

  • are expected to read teachers’ instructions and access their learning resources

  •  are expected to complete all work provided to them by their teachers and submit their work/evidence of learning as indicated by their teacher
  •  experiencing difficulties with their work are expected to communicate with their teachers via email
  • Teachers will answer questions via email

Students will have their library books and/or home reading books in their blue folder.

PARENTS

Teachers will put all necessary instructions and learning resources for your child’s continued learning on Dojo, Class Facebook or email. If your child needs support with their learning during a school closure, please encourage them to contact their teacher via email.

 Communication with teachers is likely to be a challenge and should generally be restricted to between students and their teachers; if teachers find students are asking the same questions about the work, they will provide additional clarity / information to overcome that issue.

 Please avoid contacting your child’s teacher/s on their behalf; your child can explain any issues more clearly directly with their teacher.

STUDENT WELLBEING

In times of uncertainty, it is important that families know how they can access additional support. If students or families require support around their wellbeing, a good starting point for all young people is  www.reachout.com,  as this service connects to many other services but also has student friendly information about COVID-19.

This information is correct as of Thursday 19 March; further information updates will be uploaded as necessary.

Kind regards,

The Leadership Team

Kellie Anderson & Anita Becker 

Welcome Dale

Prior to joining Dernancourt School R-7, I worked part-time at Ardtornish Primary School throughout 2019 and at various other schools as a relief teacher.

I am originally from Broken Hill and prior to teaching I was a jeweller for over 20 years. As such I have a strong interest in Art and Design and making and creating as a way to make children's learning more meaningful.

My partner and I have an 11 year old son, Sidney. I love attending live music, going to the movies, listening to my son play the drums (most of the time), attending my son's soccer games and making jewellery when possible.

I am looking forward to meeting all the families of Dernancourt School R-7 over the coming weeks.

One Plans

One Plans

In previous years, students who received targeted support at school had an individual plan which recorded their goals and the strategies implemented to assist them in achieving these goals. From this year, our staff will be using a One Plan which is a new plan that supports the integration of the current Negotiated Education Plan (NEP), Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Individual Learning Plan (ILP) into a single learning plan through an online module. As this is quite a change, staff will be receiving some intensive training before the end of the term and will then begin to document goals and other information gathered from parents into this new plan. We will begin meeting with families during Term 2. In the meantime, all previous plans are still valid and teachers are developing updated goals as needed.

Vacation Care Update

At this stage, Vacation Care at Dernancourt School R-7 OSHC will continue to be offered in the April holidays. Based on directives from the Department of Education in relation to COVID-19, excursions will be replaced by incursions to be announced in the near future. Please be aware that while our service's eligible places meet current criteria set by the Government, there remains the possibility that directives relating to crowd numbers may change. In this case, we my need to cap numbers based on the date the booking forms were received. Priority of access will be given to families whose guardians have work commitments. In the event that the Department of Education rules all sites must close, Vacation Care will be cancelled. We thank you for your understanding in these difficult circumstances. We are doing our best to continue to provide a safe and hygienic environment for your children based on current Department recommendations and guidelines.

Regards Tom Kibble

Dernancourt OSHC Director

Book Club News

Thank you for ordering from the Scholastic Book Club. Each time you order either via LOOP or through the paper orders at the back of the pamphlet the school earns credits which can be used to purchase resources for the school.

When ordering from the sheet at the back of the paper magazine that comes out with all books listed could you please put the number of the book, cost and name of book in the area provided. Put your child's name and class at the top of this form, both first and last names. In the past have received orders I cannot process because the number of the book is incorrect and the name of the book is illegible so I cannot trace the book without one or the other of these things being correct. Place orders in an envelope or plastic zip bag and hand int the front office before the closing date. This is very important as any books that are ordered after the closing date come in on a different invoice and the credits we earn go towards paying for the postage of the late books. All books ordered before closing date postage is covered by Scholastic.

When you order through LOOP on the Scholastic website you will get an invoice you can choose to download, I do not need this invoice. All books come packaged with the student's names, hence the need for the child's first and last names, so that I am able to distribute to your child's class. This invoice is for you to keep.

Thank you for your previous and future orders to help our school.

Linda Brooks - Book Club Organiser

Parent Association News

Important Information for our Year 7 families.

PCW Post

Fundraising

A Kytons Fundraiser brochure for Easter treats has been distributed to families. Extra hard copies are available from the Front Office. Please complete the forms and return it to the front office no later than Wednesday 25th March, 2020. Payments can also be made via Qkr app.

Orders will be available for pickup on Wednesday 1st April, 2020.

Crossing Monitors

All students in year 5, 6 and 7 received Crossing Training from SAPOL. Forms were sent home for families to give permission for their child to participate as a Crossing Monitor. A roster has been drawn up to include names of students who returned the note. Thanks to the following students for keeping our crossing safe. 

Week 9Myrto P11Tiana P8Isabelle P12
Week 10Kevin P5Mitchell P8Digby P14
Week 11Lilley P5Chelsea P8Devina P12

2019 Year Book

Uniform Shop

OPENING TIMES UPDATE

The safety and wellbeing of shop staff and the school community  are paramount, In line with recommendations from JS Sport (our uniform shop company) some changes to the running of that shop need to be made. For the last two weeks of Term 1 the uniform shop will only be open on Friday morning only from 8:30am - 9:30am

1.  One student/parent in the shop at one time.

2.  Card only - no cash transactions. 

Online orders can be placed at

   https://www.jssportsonline.com.au/collections/dernancourt-r-7-school

A reassessment of these changes will be looked at for Term 2.

Important Dates

Calendar Term 1 Weeks 8-11 and Term 2 Weeks 1-5

Community News