Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4. It was lovely to see and hear all the children as they settled back into school. Whilst the children are excited to be back and see their friends, it is yet another change that they have gone through this year and may be experiencing some anxiety about it. The following is adapted from https://www.psychology.org.au/ and gives some tips for families to help families transition their children back to school.

Transitioning back to school in the COVID-19 era can present many challenges for parents and children. Many parents have reported that learning from home has given their child the opportunity to work at their own pace. Many children have also benefitted from the 1:1 support which has helped with learning.

The shorter school day and flexibility for rest breaks has also meant that fatigue has been less of an issue. In addition, anxiety has improved for some children as a result of these factors. Given this, it is no wonder that returning to school comes with a mix of relief and excitement along with a new set of stresses for children and parents.

Many parents had conversations with their children about the importance of learning from home to keep them healthy and safe. Some children may now worry about the safety of returning to school. To help your child feel safe, have a conversation with them explaining that:

• the decision to return to school is based on medical advice
• children do not usually get sick from COVID-19
• everyone at school is working hard to make sure that children are safe
• anyone who is unwell will stay at home
• the government is keeping an eye on things – if it starts to be unsafe, decisions about what to do will be made
• reassure your child that it is normal to have mixed emotions such as excitement, relief, worry and anger
• discuss what they are looking forward to and what they are worrying about reinforce good hygiene practices.
• the drop off and pick up procedures will be different and how you will manage it as a family

After school, it will be important to:

• talk to your child about their day, including what they enjoyed, what they felt worried about and what they are looking forward to tomorrow
• schedule extra family time as your child is likely to have missed being at home with you
• your child may feel more fatigued and will benefit from quiet activities to recharge.

In other news, you will have noticed when you picked up your children from school that the trees outside the staffroom have been removed. These trees were beginning to create damage to the paths, drainage and buildings and we had been advised that they needed to be removed. The decision to do it now was to make way for a demountable building that will house the two classrooms we need next year.

We have begun the process of planning for the 2021 school year. If parents have a genuine reason for class placement requests for next year, could you please put them in writing addressed to myself by Wednesday 21^st October if you haven’t already done so. An enormous amount of time and effort is put into the creation of class lists and many factors are taken into consideration by the staff. A written request will be considered on its merits but is not a guarantee. Who is teaching which grade has not yet been decided so please do not request certain teachers.

At St Michael’s we work on a whole school approach to class planning and are blessed to have a committed teaching staff who collaborate to give the very best learning opportunities to all students in our care. Please be aware that a request has to be made for this current year, we will not be referring to requests made 12 months ago as circumstances change.

If your family situation is changing, we would also appreciate you letting the Office know. An accurate indication of student numbers assists us enormously in our planning for 2021.

Kind regards

Jodie