Kurrajong Public School

1111 Grose Vale Road

Kurrajong NSW 2758

Ph: 4573 1647

Email: kurrajong-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Website: kurrajong-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Principal: Miss Rosemary Richardson

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

What an amazing couple of weeks we have had! Our teachers and students have embraced online teaching and learning from home. Yesterday I popped into a stage 3 ‘Catch Up’ via zoom. It was great to see all of those smiling faces again!

Kurrajong PS remains committed to the well-being of our students and staff. We are following the instructions of the Department of Education, based on the latest Health Department advice. We will respond quickly to any change in this advice due to the dynamic nature of this event. For the well-being of our community and indeed our nation, everyone needs to stay at home as much as possible. To have contact with others may well lead to you contracting the virus or passing it to someone else, potentially a family member, or someone vulnerable. However, our school remains open for those families who need it.

At the end of this, your child's mental health and well-being will be more important than their academic skills. How they felt during this challenging time will stay with them long after this is all over. Take the pressure off yourself being a home teacher, instead enjoy this time to strengthen your family bonds and let this time be about connection, not corrections.

Of course there ARE expectations during the school term. If a students fails to ‘connect’ with their class teacher or complete set work, they will be marked as absent on the class roll. Students who are ‘having a go’ will be marked ‘F’ representing Flexible Learning. (see attached guide)

At this time, most staff are on duty during the school day (either working from home or physically at school) and are very busy preparing further online and package learning for students. If you have questions, including technical questions, it's best to email the school at <kurrajong-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au> and then put Attention: <the name of the staff member> at the top of the email or in the subject. If you'd like a call back, just say so in the email.

BE INFORMED BUT NOT FIXATED

It's necessary to keep updated from reliable sources in order to take practical steps to protect yourself and loved ones at times like this. However, too much information can increase anxiety and distress.

· Put a limit on how much time you expose yourself to media.

· Seek specific information updates at particular times during the day once or twice.

· Find a credible source you can trust, such as the World Health Authority or a local or state public health agency.

TRY THIS TIP TO HELP ALLEVIATE STRESS AND PRESSURE

This exercise helps you shift your focus to experiences in the present moment and away from what is causing you to feel anxious. It can help interrupt unhealthy thought patterns.

5-4-3-2-1 TECHNIQUE

Using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, you will purposefully take in the details of your surroundings using each of your senses. Strive to notice small details that your mind would usually tune out, such as distant sounds, or the texture of an ordinary object.

-What are 5 things you can see?

Look for small details such as a pattern on the ceiling, and the way light reflects off a surface, or an object you never noticed.

-What are 4 things you can feel?

Notice the sensation of clothing on your body, the sun on your skin, or the feeling of the chair you are sitting in. Pick up an object and examine its weight, texture, and other physical qualities.

-What are 3 things you can hear?

Pay special attention to the sounds your mind has tuned out, such as a ticking clock, distant traffic, or trees blowing in the wind.

-What are 2 things you can smell?

Try to notice smells in the air around you, like an air freshener or freshly mowed grass. You may also look around for something that has a scent, such as a flower or an unlit candle.

-What is 1 thing you can taste?

Carry SUGAR FREE gum, or small snacks for this step. Pop one in your mouth and focus your attention carefully on the flavours.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE (BASC)

As we move toward the Term 1 vacation period the Department’s Before and After School Care (BASC) team has committed to collecting and collating vital information regarding vacation care.

To support this process, we are asking that all families who require care for their children complete a survey regarding care arrangements for the upcoming holiday period.

The Department is working with vacation care providers to ensure that the needs of all families are met during the Term 1 holiday period.

Please complete the online survey to confirm your child/children’s care requirements, which can be found here:

https://surveys.education.nsw.gov.au/s3/school-holiday-care

For those of you who are using the printed version of this survey, please return the completed survey to the school by 2:00pm Friday 3 April 2020.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing is not proceeding in 2020 to help principals, teachers and school staff focus on student learning during the outbreak of COVID-19.

The nation’s Education Ministers met on 20 March deciding to cancel NAPLAN for 2020. The decision was made to provide teachers and principals as much time as possible to focus on the continuation of their students’ education.

COVID-19

A new department hub is now live, to find all information in relation to COVID-19.

Public-facing hub -

https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19

₋ Quick links to help people find the info they want including all the ECE stuff ₋ FAQs for parents and the community ₋ News updates ₋ Wider Government updates – via links

FINALLY…

I would like to sincerely thank our school community for their support and patience during this uncertain time. With decisions being made, not daily but by the hour, all of us have had to prepare for change and then accept any decisions and move forward in the best interest of our students and school community. I apologise that COVID-19 has changed many of our end of term events from our ANZAC Day ceremony, to our very popular Easter Hat Parade. However, these decisions have not been made lightly and hopefully, on our return, we will be ready for some type of normal and celebrate all the amazing work they have done.

Miss R

EASTER HAT PARADE

Due to current circumstances we have had to cancel our wonderful Easter Parade. We know that this is disappointing for all involved as it's a Kurrajong tradition. Teachers have been brainstorming ways to keep our school spirit alive and have come up with an idea of having our wonderful students creating their hats at home and sharing them online. Please send in photos of your child/children via Seesaw or email with their creations and we will post them on our Facebook page for all to enjoy. Make sure your children submit their hat photo to their teacher no later than April 9! EASTER EGG RAFFLE

PLEASE continue to support our school by bringing in your Easter Egg raffle tickets. Our raffle will be drawn on Thursday 9th April live on Facebook. In order to main social distancing, please drop your raffle tickets and money off in our letter box located in the pick up/bus zone. Don't forget to catch our LIVE draw at 10am on Thursday!

SCHOOL PHOTOS School photo day has been postponed and will be rescheduled to Monday 10th August, in Term 3. Please note the following; If you have placed an order online, that order is valid and your order will be fulfilled on photo day. It is important to hold on to your envelope as you will need this for the rescheduled photo date. Online ordering will remain open until photo day. Please call MSP Sydney West on 9831 5505 if you have any questions or concerns. Keep an eye on 'eNews' for more updates! STAY SAFE EVERYONE!

DANCET2BFIT

Postponed classes will be made up in Term 3.

You can link with your school community and

keep up with the Dance2bfit programs at

home.

https://www.facebook.com/dancd2bfitaus

BOOK CLUB

Issue 2 orders have been delivered to the

School. Orders can be collected from the front

office.

Resilience Respect Responsibility Excellence

CANTEEN CLOSED from Monday March 23

until further notice

Resilience Respect Responsibility Excellence

NSW Department of Education

education.nsw.gov.au

Remote learning guidelines for students and parents

Stay connected

Ask questions

Use classroom language

Take breaks

Workspace

Focus

Your normal routine

If you don’t understand something, ask your teacher or classmates online.

Talking to your teachers and in class is different from how you speak to your friends online. Use proper grammar and avoid excessive emojis.

Take breaks away from screen. Move around and try not to sit all day.

Work in a quiet area, at a desk or table and try to limit distractions.

During calls with your teacher, stay focused on the call. Avoid reading chats or looking at other tabs.

Eat breakfast, brush your teeth and get dressed in the morning.

NSW Department of Education

iPadOS Android

A

A

B

B

B

How STUDENTS access

in NSW Public SchoolsZoom meetings

Sign into Zoom with a desktop browser

Accessing Zoom using mobile Apps

Need help using Zoom?- Check the links

1. Use a modern browser in Windows, MacOS or Linux2. Browse to the NSW DoE Zoom console at:

https://nsweducation.zoom.us3. Select Sign in at the bottom4. At screen login with

your department credentials5. First time, you should be asked

to download and install theZoom desktop client. Do that.

6. Once signed in, Zoom will be ready for use!

1. For your specific mobile device:

o Download the Zoom app - LINK LINK

2. Once installed, open Zoom, tap Sign In then tap SSO3. Type nsweducation and tap Continue. 4. The DoE log on screen will appear. Sign in

with your normal department credentials5. Once signed in, Zoom will be ready for use!

• How to Join a Zoom Meeting• Participating in a Meeting

NSW Department of Education

Vacation Care

Survey for primary school parents and caregivers

With the Term 1 vacation period approaching, we ask that you confirm whether your child/ren will require care and supervision during school holidays.

Please return the information in the form below by Friday 3 April 2020.

1. Enter the name of the school where your child / children are enrolled.

2. How many children require care during Week 1 of the holiday period? Please indicate how many are

enrolled in vacation care.

Enter your answers as numbers in the table below.

Day of the week How many children need

care?

How many children are already

enrolled in vacation care?

Friday 10 April (public holiday)

Monday 13 April (public holiday)

Tuesday 14 April

Wednesday 15 April

Thursday 16 April

Friday 17 April

3. How many children require care during Week 2 of the holiday period? Please indicate how many are

enrolled in vacation care.

Day of the week How many children need

care?

How many children are already

enrolled in vacation care?

Monday 20 April

Tuesday 21 April

Wednesday 22 April

Thursday 23 April

Friday 24 April

Monday 27 April (school

development day)

4. If your child/children are already enrolled in vacation care for the upcoming holiday break, please

record the name of the service.

5. Does your child/ children require care outside of 7am-6pm? Yes No

Pointers for Home Learning Parent responsibilities during remote learning Provide support for your children by:

• establishing routines and expectations • setting aside a space for your child to work in • monitoring communications from your child’s teachers

• beginning and ending each day by asking about your child’s learning • taking an active role in helping your children with their learning

• encouraging physical activity and/or exercise • remembering that your child might be stressed or worried during this time • monitoring how much time your child is spending online

• due to privacy reasons, parents are not to appear on the screen during video link ups • keeping your children social, but setting rules around their social media interactions.

Please note that if your child is not engaging with home learning you need to contact the class teacher. Students who are not making contact or are not submitting work will be marked absent on the attendance roll.

Student responsibilities during remote learning These responsibilities should be adjusted according to the age of your child:

• establishing and/or following a daily routine for learning • working in a safe, comfortable, quiet space in their home set aside for them

• regularly monitoring digital platforms and communication to check for announcements and feedback from teachers

• completing tasks honestly and doing their best work

• doing their best to meet timelines, commitments, and due dates • communicating with their teachers if they cannot meet deadlines or require additional

support • collaborating and supporting classmates in their learning • complying with the department’s Student use of digital devices and online services policy

• make sure you are suitably dressed and not in your bedroom during video chats • communicating with school staff as different needs arise.

Planning your child’s day The school has provided your child with a schedule or timetable for their learning. This should include regular breaks for activity, eating and drinking. In the activity breaks it is important that students get up and move around.

If you live in a private house, then it is safe for your child to go outside into the garden, balcony or courtyard.

Wellbeing Being confined to home for an extended period of time can cause stress and conflict. Tips for looking after your children during isolation include: • talking to your whole family about the infection – understanding the situation will

reduce anxiety • helping your children to think about how they have coped with difficult situations in the

past and reassuring them that they will cope with this situation too

• reminding them that the isolation won’t last for long • exercising regularly - exercise is a proven treatment for stress and depression.

• encouraging your children to keep in touch with family members and friends via telephone, email or social media (where appropriate).

Communicating Communicating with your child We encourage you to start and finish each day with a few simple questions about your

child’s learning to help them structure their day. Not all students thrive in a remote learning environment; some struggle with too much independence or lack of structure and your questions will help keep them on track.

Communicating with the school Make sure that you know how the school and your child’s teachers will be communicating with you and check that channel regularly.

Make sure you know how to contact teachers for learning support and who to contact for technical support if your school chooses to use digital devices as part of their remote learning

plan. This situation will be new for most schools and families. Schools will be trying to engage in a cycle of continuous improvement and refinement based on feedback so they may ask you and

your child for feedback on how the system is working. Most schools already use some kind of platform to communicate with parents and students. These existing platforms should continue to be used whenever possible.

Communicating with teachers Teachers may have set times where students can chat with them online, deliver video lessons

or when digital options are not possible they may have set times for calling your child on the telephone. It is important for you and your child to remember that teachers will be communicating with

many other families, so your communications should be important and short. You may also need to remind your child to be patient when waiting for support or feedback.

Using technology It is strongly advised that parents do not purchase software from third-party providers in response to this situation unless specifically advised by the school. Your school and the department already have a wide range of software and devices available

and these have been specifically chosen to provide your child with the support they need. • Google Apps for Education - Online Google apps.(Google Classroom) For student access go to:

Students portal>Learning>G Suite. • Office 365 – online Office apps. (Teams)

• Microsoft Office 365 Desktop Apps – may be installed on up to five computers and ten mobile devices. Select the ‘Install Office’ link.

Accessing digital devices and the internet The department’s policy regarding technology, devices and the Internet is available at the following link Student use of digital devices and online services policy

If your child will be using digital resources as part of their learning and they are unsure of how to do it they should contact their classroom teacher for support.

Managing screen time There are limits as to the amount of time anyone should spend online, but the amounts and the rules for screen time vary by age. Videoconferencing and social interactions using video do not count towards screen time.

The following recommended screen times (excluding video conferencing) are based on the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• Ages 2-5: 1 hour, broken into sessions of a maximum of 30 minutes. • Age 6 and above: no specific screen time limits, but screen time should not affect physical activity and face-to-face interactions at home and school (where

possible). It’s very important to be consistent with your screen time limits. Make sure that non-school activities are limited in length.

Managing behaviour Even though your child is at home they still need to comply with their school’s behaviour

management policy. Collaboration, group work and peer feedback during remote learning will require students to communicate online and work together in digital spaces. The expectations of your child and

required behaviour will be the same as a face to face lesson.