Scotts Head Public School Newsletter

Hello, Giinagay, Hai

I want to 100% acknowledge and commend the compassion of all teachers and non-teaching staff for their dedication and commitment to student learning and wellbeing, during this unprecedented start to the 2020 school year.

I also would like to 100% acknowledge and commend the parents who have been so supportive and flexible with this ever-evolving situation.

I am so proud of the students who from the feedback have transitioned into learning from home.

What does a managed return to school operations look like?

The phased approach to manage a return to full on campus face-to-face teaching sees students being reintroduced to some face-to-face learning in line with available health advice. The plan is phased, and flexible, allowing us to slowly bring schools back to normal while responding quickly to new spikes in transmission if they occur.

There are five phases to get us back to full onsite school operations:

• Phase 0  Where we currently are - schools are open for families who need it.
• Phase 1   Students at school at least one day per week.
• Phase 2   Students at school at least two days per week.
• Phase 3   Students at school five days per week, with social distancing measures.
• Phase 4   Students at school five days per week, with full school activities.

Why are we doing a phased approach?

Maintaining the health and wellbeing of our staff, students and school community is of utmost importance. A phased approach will mean there are a smaller number of students at school each day, providing more space to spread out. It also helps to balance the varied needs of students and staff, their families, personal circumstances and workplaces.

The flexibility of the approach means we can also respond quickly to any new spikes in the spread of COVID-19 and keep the adults contact to a minimum.

What can parents do to help?

The following social distancing measures at school will be until further notice:

• Only one family at a time in office area.
• Staying outside the school gates for pick up and drop off times.
• Limit physical contact when greeting people around the school.
• Limit the flow of community members on the school site.

As part of the school’s accountability how is attendance marked?

• Students on site at school will be entered as present (+) by office staff by 9.30am each morning.
• Students not on site and are learning from home is marked as “F – Flexible”. Teachers will mark the roll at 3.00pm each day which will enable them to see which students are engaging online.
• If a student is sick, they will be marked as “S - Sick”.
• When there is no student contact, and staff are unable to contact the parent and it is unknown if they are engaging in the work either online or offline – the roll is marked with a “?”. This will convert to an unjustified absence after 7 days if there is no contact from the parent/carer with a reason.

Parents/Carers need to advise the teacher or the office if their child is not learning from home so the roll can be updated. If you need support with your child during this time, please contact the school and a arrange a time to speak to Gillian.

From Week 3 – Monday 11 May 2020 classes will return as follows:

Monday – Kinder & Year 1/2

Tuesday – Year 2/3/4

Wednesday – All students learning from home

Thursday – Year 4/5

Friday – Year 5/6

I'd like to thank the Young family for their kind donation of tennis rackets to the school, they are greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, yaarri yaraang, terima kasih.

Bu Gillian

Gillian Stuart - Principal

All classes across the school are communicating with students and parents via the app DoJo. This will be our main source of communication with parents and we are aiming for 100% of students being connected this way across the school. Everyone should have got instructions in their student packages on how to set this up on your device.

If you need some help setting this up, please contact the school.