Lynda's News
COVID- 19 Update- stage 4
Monday 3 August 2020,
The following information has been sent to parents today via Caremonkey (Operoo)
The Victorian Government announced yesterday that, on the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, regional and rural Victoria will move to Stage 3 restrictions and metropolitan Melbourne will move to Stage 4 restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
These requirements apply to all schools across metropolitan Melbourne and rural and regional Victoria.
The changes to schools’ operations will come into effect from Wednesday 5 August, following a student free day on Tuesday 4 August, and are likely to apply until the end of Term 3.
As outlined in the Chief Health Officer’s advice on Friday, schools remain safe places for staff and students – but these steps are critical measures to reduce the movement of students and families across the state.
There are implications for our school, and for families in our school community.
A summary of what the changes mean for schools is below.
Prep to Year 10 in Metropolitan Melbourne
Prep to Year 10 students will continue with remote and flexible learning.
The criteria for students that can attend on-site has changed as follows:
- children whose parents are permitted workers. The Victorian Government will provide further advice about this over the coming days
- vulnerable children in out of home care, children known to child protection and other agencies and children the school identifies as vulnerable
- children with a disability who also fit one of the above two categories.
Once the Victorian Government releases details regarding who are ‘permitted workers’, parents will need to email me at principal@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au if their child/children meet the criteria listed above and subsequently require onsite supervision. Furthermore, parents need to provide me with a letter from their employer indicating their occupation and that they are required to be onsite at their workplace.
If you have any queries or questions regarding this please do not hesitate to contact me.
No School For Students on Tuesday 4 August and Tuesday 11 August- No Remote/Home or onsite supervision for students on these days
As stated by the Victorian Premier yesterday Tuesday 5 August will be a student free day. There will be no school for students on this day as teachers will continue to prepare for remote/home learning. Furthermore, there is no school for students on Tuesday 11 August. This school closure day was already planned and has been previously advertised to parents as no school for students. Staff will be completing online professional learning modules on this day.
What do Good Learners do?
Good learners don’t just learn within the four walls of a classroom or indeed sitting at a desk completing copious amounts of written work. Good learners are adaptable, experimental, hands on, cooperative, willing to support the learning of others, ask questions, think critically, collaborate, reflect and communicate effectively.
The different learning environments students are presented with this term just might give them the opportunities to develop and grow in ways that we may not have considered. I am sure as adults many of you are still learning. I know all our staff have demonstrated good learning behaviours as they continue to navigate new ways of delivering learning to our students.
Wellbeing
“Research shows that being open and honest with children is the best way to help them cope with serious situations. Sharing news will help children to not feel excluded, imagine the situation is worse than it really is or, even, blame themselves. Sharing information shows that you trust and value them, which can enhance their resilience. Try not to overload children with too many details. Give small amounts of information, wait and then ask if they have any questions,”
Wellbeing comes from physical, mental and emotional health. For children and young people, there are many things that build positive wellbeing.
Wellbeing can come from:
- understanding and managing emotions
- having good relationships
- experiencing a sense of accomplishment
- using their strengths
- taking part in healthy activities, getting lots of sleep and eating well
More ideas on how you can look after your child’s wellbeing click here
Victorian State Government Education and Training publication Wellbeing activities and conversation starters for parents of primary school-aged children is available to support parents with six key elements that are important to well being
Contacting Teachers/Staff
Parents needing support with home/remote learning can contact teaching staff during normal school working hours ie Monday- Friday between the hours of 8:00am and 6:00pm. St Catherine’s staff access their work emails normally between 8.00 am-6:00 pm and will endeavour to respond to emails within 24-48 hours. However, staff are not expected to respond in this timeframe during weekends, public holidays and term breaks.
I need to ensure the health and wellbeing of staff and ensure they take appropriate break times away from the demands of their busy schedules. Thanks for your support with this.
Thank you- Year 6 video message- “We’ve got this!”
A very big thank you to our fantastic year 6 students and Mrs Moore for organising the students to send out a video message to our school community. I must confess to shedding a few little tears when I watched the messages from our year 6 students. I miss all your smiley faces! The staff miss all our students too and we were filled with hope and positivity as we watched your message. Thank you for your positive attitude to learning and supporting our younger students with your can do attitude.
Prayers for our school and wider community
As we continue to hear each day sickness and deaths from COVID-19 particularly in Victoria, we pray for those who are sick, the medical staff facing the virus head on each day, for the families who have loved ones in hospitals or nursing homes, for families who are suffering a decline in mental health, for those who have lost jobs, for the children who cannot attend school, for the sick and lonely. St Catherine La Boure- Pray for us.
CareMonkey is rebranding to ‘Operoo’
This is a quick note to inform you that St Catherine’s digital forms and school operations platform provider, CareMonkey, will be rebranding as ‘Operoo’: School processes, without the paperwork.
Operoo’s mission is to help schools eliminate operational inefficiencies so that every dollar and every minute possible can be spent on a students’ education.
The name change will occur the week beginning Monday 10 August. How you use the service, as well as the ownership and operation of the company, will remain unchanged.
You can continue using the system, and its mobile application, as usual. Just be aware that, after Monday August 3rd, emails and notifications sent from the system will start appearing under the new name ‘Operoo’. You will also be automatically diverted to the new Operoo website if you go to the old CareMonkey website.
We look forward to continuing to digitize, streamline and automate St Catherine’s operations with Operoo.
