Dear Parents
Entry into school:
As you may have heard on Monday, June 8th you will be allowed back onto the school grounds to drop off and pick up your children.
At all other times you will be required to continue to come through the office.
What have we learnt over the last few months?
We have discovered that most of our children are very resilient and strong enough to come to class by themselves. “Letting go” is a difficult and extremely important part of parenting.
We knew this but, the fact that we are lucky in respect to our school environment has been reinforced. Rawlinson Primary School is a very safe environment for our children, where you can scaffold a slow release for your children, helping them to develop independence and letting them walk into school by themselves. It is amazing to watch all the Kindy students walk by themselves to class, hang their bags up, take out their drink bottle, snack and diary and go into class, cleaning their hands and sitting on the mat. All I can say is Wow!
We are also aware that there is another side to this coin.
At Rawlinson Primary School we love our Culture which is one of inclusion and we enjoy seeing the parents of our students socialising around the school at home time. You will always be welcome, however, there needs to be a balance and I would like you to consider the serious gains that we have made during the last few months in emotional intelligence with our students.
What else?
We have had far less sickness in the school in the way of flus and colds and we need to maintain this healthy attitude. So as a school we will be taking the following as policy into the future. Hand sanitiser will be available in every room and children will continue to be encouraged to wash their hands regularly.
Students who have been sent home from school due to being unwell or returning back to school from being ill, may still present with some symptoms. The degree of these symptoms will vary and teachers will need to judge whether the student is well enough to continue at school and participate in all activities. If you as a parent think they are unwell please keep them at home. If they have a cough, runny nose or a fever, please keep them home. If in the professional opinion of the teacher the student is not well enough to participate at full capacity, this student will have their parents contacted. Parents need to also consider that their child may potentially infect other students with their illness. Please ensure we have your correct phone number and alternative emergency numbers.
Athletics
Mr Pham and I have a had a chat about the Athletics carnival and training. We are keen to have the carnival but as you can appreciate cannot make any decision yet to run one. In the mean time I have a very strong opinion that children, when they arrive at school, benefit significantly from doing some exercise. Mr Pham agrees and so we have decided to engage in some before school training. This is how it will work.
· Training will be at 8.30am on Tuesday and Thursday only, at this stage, for all Years 1 to 6.
· Please don’t arrive at school before 8.20am. Any student arriving before this time will go to the Undercover area till 8.20. I will make an announcement that all students are to move to the oval at 8.30. This is to prevent students from arriving too early and going straight to the oval unsupervised.
· Mr Pham and I will do games and activities from 8.30 till 8.40. Any child arriving after we start is to come to the oval. All children from year 1 to 6 are to participate.
· Students need to be back at class by 8.45 and we will endeavour to make this happen by dismissing them from the oval at 8.40.
We have had a terrific reception from the students with this program so far and really look forward to having fun on these two mornings before school.
There is a lot more bubbling away at the moment so please keep an eye on the school calendar and notes that go home as we build back into full production.
Cheers
Darryl Dedman
