St Andrews PS Newsletter

What a joy it's been to welcome our beaming STAPS kids back to school. Their energy, happiness and enthusiasm has been a welcome addition back into the school yard. 

I know one pup who has been particularly happy to welcome the additional ball throwers and pat givers back!

A huge thank you firstly to our amazing staff who have kept the our school running along over these past few months and have worked hard to tweak, revise and create amazing learning opportunities for students to undertake at home, and also prepare a warm welcome for the return to school. ,To celebrate their hard efforts we'll be heading out for a nice meal together tonight.

Secondly, parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, siblings...  Thank you! We know how hard it's been, navigating the new remote learning horizon but you've almost come out the other side. You should be incredibly proud of the efforts you've gone to create a positive learning experience for your children. We thank you for your unwavering support.  Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any current or ongoing concerns. You are not alone and we’ve heard all of the stories so don’t hold back from getting in touch.

Another huge thanks goes out to our cleaner. Joe's been here every morning and afternoon to ensure that our students and staff are safe and school is in tip top condition. He even makes sure to get out to that playground each day to make sure that the kids can play with no worries at all!

The students have done an amazing job with transitioning back to face to face learning! I'm so proud of each and every one of them and I cannot wait to welcome back the senior class next week. The yard has been full of laughter and games, and cubby land has been built up with a new wonder of cubby creations. It has been so lovely to welcome life back in the school!

As you may have heard, school reports won't be as normal this year. On the last day of term you'll be receiving a student report that will outline your child's learning this year as well as comments about how they went with remote learning. Due to the fact that a large period of time was off site, we are not going to be including a specific learning achievement level for your child as we simply do not have the evidence to back up what would need to be shown. We know this may be alarming to you but, rest assured, our teachers are incredibly confident about the learning plans they have in place to ensure your children are fully catered for as individual learners. We welcome you to make a time to meet with them to discuss your child's learning. As always, you can schedule a time to meet with our teachers any time but you will be formally invited to attend Parent Teacher Interviews at the beginning of Term 3. 

Lastly, a few dates coming up.

There is a curriculum day scheduled for the last Wednesday of Term as our staff will be attending their next Bastow Literacy session.

Due to the Library upgrade, thanks to FRRR, our passionate, hardworking PFA have decided to sell off our old (excess, multiple copy) books in an impromptu sale tomorrow. As we are still not able to gather on school grounds, books will be displayed outside from 2:30 until 4pm tomorrow for sale. We ask that you please respect social distancing guidelines, sanitise before handling books and remember, not to gather. This sale is to act in the benefit of Indigenous communities and people in need, not as a social gathering. Eftpos facilities will be available as we would like to avoid cash. 

The Prep/1 class has settled back into the routine of school beautifully this week. During our staggered drop off in the mornings, the children are choosing from a range of creative and cooperative activities. The maker station has been hugely popular, with creations like aliens, vehicles, doll accessories and even Forky from Toy Story all making an appearance. At recess and Lunch many children have engaged with Cubby Land, with lots of wonderful working together to create special places to play. During the afternoons we have been learning about making Stop Motion movies using the ipads, and in all the time in between we have been getting back into the routines of reading, writing and maths at school. On Friday we practised our report writing with a factual sentence about something we are enjoying at school.

Isla - My favourite thing is Cubby land because you can join cubbies.

Miska- I liked a new thing and it was making a stop motion movie because it was really fun and it was hard work.

Hazel - At school this week my favourite thing was writing. It was a great part of school. I also like the reading as well.

Milly - At school this week my favourite outside game was a teddy tree house hotel. We made it out of sticks from cubby land. First we made a bed, Finny put bark on it to make it look like a floor. Our teddies names are Asha, Dogman, Sophie, Enchanted and Harmony.

Noah - I liked the crafting table and the teddy hotel. Oak and Enchanted and Ice Cream Asha. I liked the stop motion movie.

Bodhi - At school today we did Maker Station. I made Forky.

Finny - At school this week my favourite thing was the teddy tree house hotel and I put bark on it to make a bed and a floor.

Margot - At school this week I went to Cubby land, the Maker Station and I read books.

Indi - I tried something new. I had a go at the Geo boards. It was really fun.

Maxwell - We built a truck.

Harold - I built a truck with Lego.

Emilia - I like playing on the monkey bars.

Eve - I liked playing with the dolls

The 2/3 class came back to school with a BANG, full of stories, tales and excited to share it all with their friends. We have all settled back into school routines and have got very used hand washing, social distancing and having our very own pencil cases. After learning all of our new routines, we all have jumped back into our learning.

In Literacy, we have been focusing on narratives, specifically how to “fatten up” characters to make them more interesting. Through interviewing characters we have created, we have learnt so much more about their backstories and personalities. We learnt that Bob the Mummy would rather be made out of plastic because it lasts longer than bandages, and that Carol the Grandmother tried to do a push up once, but would rather sit on the couch.

In Numeracy, we have been focusing on time. I can confidently report that I can no longer get away with being five minutes late for brain break. The Grade Twos have been building their confidence telling time to the quarter hour and grade threes have blown me away with their ability to convert between units of time.

Digital learning has also left its mark on our cohort. The class has been excitedly publishing their informative reports through Google Docs. This has been a wonderful way to link our home learning experience with our classroom learning, as the drafting and editing of this project was completed during home learning.

It has been heart-warming to see all of your children return, having enjoyed learning from home, but ready to be back in the classroom.

I am so incredibly proud of all grade 4/5/6 students. Learning from home has certainly had its challenges but the way that the students have learned to adapt has been nothing short of amazing. My favourite part of this experience has been seeing the students in their “natural habitat.” Most Meet calls consist of a pet bird/dog/cat jumping in to say hello and I’ve loved the opportunity to see photos/videos of students in their backyards doing all sorts of obstacle courses and challenges. The occasional parent’s head popping in during a Meet has been lovely, too. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank parents for being so supportive and flexible during this unprecedented time. It wasn’t always easy but your support and patience has been greatly appreciated. What beautiful children you have all raised!

The grade 4/5/6’s have been busy working on their YOP (Your Own Project) over the past few weeks. The students have been passionate about taking control of their learning by focusing on a topic that interests them. We have such a broad range of topics (mushrooms, dirt bikes, French cooking, gardening, sewing, rabbits- just to name a few) and we’re excited to see the results of their hard work when they come back into the classroom June 9th and do their presentations.

Nat