Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers, 

Welcome to Remote Learning 2.0. Not the news we were hoping for but I know that by working together we can support our students to be safe and well at the end of it. 

Since the announcement by Daniel Andrews on Sunday afternoon, the School Leadership team have been very busy preparing for what remote learning would look like this time. There is no doubt that we have learnt a lot during the last time and both parents and teachers have grown and adapted in what they are confident to provide. To ensure we have everything ready to go we have been given approval to have Wednesday as a school closure day as well. Remote learning will begin on Thursday 6th August. 

You will notice once we begin remote learning that this time there is an increased face to face component of the day where your child will be able to have increased connectivity with their teacher and peers through whole and small group activities.

Above all, the message is the same as last time – do what you can, we are all struggling to balance work, life and family the best that we can in these uncertain times and your child may be experiencing anxiety about what they hearing and seeing in the media. If all you are able to manage is the face to face component each day then that will be fine. The wellbeing of all your family is important. 

We are able to offer Term 3 fee concessions for families who are experiencing financial difficulties due to the implementation of stage 3 restrictions. The details are included in this newsletter in the Cancellation of Student Activities - Important message about  School Fees section.

On-site supervision will be available for P-6 students in the following categories, based on the following criteria:

·         children whose parents work in permitted industries

·          vulnerable children including:

• children in out-of-home care
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm
• children idenitified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service).
• children with a disability who also fit one of the above criteria.

The Victorian Government will provide further announcements in relation to the definition of a ‘permitted worker’ in the coming days and therefore, access to on-site Remote Schooling for your child(ren) may be subject to change.

There are very clear guidelines regarding who is able to access on-site supervision. The intent behind this measure is to ensure the safety of staff and students in schools by limiting who can attend, so it is not possible for all students to be here. If you are working from home, have a day off work, aren’t working at the moment, are studying or have access to alternative care arrangements then your child cannot be accessing the onsite supervision.

We know that some of you found it challenging to do remote learning at home and may feel that your child would do better being onsite at school. Again, this is not a valid reason to send your child. In order to keep everyone safe and stop the spread of the disease in the community we need to stay home as much as possible.  Please support us by adhering to the guidelines.

Stay safe and well so that we can be back together as a community as soon as possible!

Kind regards

Jodie