Dear Parents,

Welcome back to term two. A very different start to a school term than what we have experienced before. We have been challenged by events out of our control and have had to learn new ways of operating as families and as a community. I want to thank you firstly for your support and ask your patience as we embark on the new experience of remote schooling. 

Term 2 for your children will start officially tomorrow. Today you will receive an email from your child’s teacher(s), it will contain an explanation of how remote schooling looks like at the moment and a series of tasks for your child to complete. We have given suggested times but we know many of you will be juggling your own work commitments, the needs of your family as well as possibly sharing devices. It is okay for you to change the order to suit what is happening in your home. My advice – be gentle on yourself! We are all learning in this space and we know that what remote schooling looks like as the term progresses will evolve and improve.

The teachers will be working hard to plan the next day and the following days learning tasks so that the education of your child continues. To help us with that we ask you make the time each day to respond to your child’s teacher, please share examples of their work, ask any questions or even share a funny story of how you are managing. We are here to help you!

Stay safe, stay home if you can; we need to work together to flatten the curve so that sooner rather than later we can come back together as a school community. I cannot wait for that day! 

Regards

Jodie

The leadership team at St Michaels Traralgon will provide a care and supervision program for some students. These students must meet one of the below criteria:

• The child’s parents/carers are classified as essential worker/s and cannot work from home during school hours
• The child is in statutory (court ordered) out of home care
• The child may be at an immediate risk of harm

It would be expected that this would only be necessary during the days you are at work, if you are working part- time then the days you are at home your child would be learning at home with you. We know that we will have families who meet one of these criteria and whilst the majority of staff will be working from home, we will have staff available to provide supervision during this time. To ensure we have adequate numbers please fill in the intention form each week.  

Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Doctor Brett Sutton has amended the current stay at home directions to provide further clarity about childcare arrangements. You can have another person come to your house to look after your child if you need to go out for one of the four listed reasons (food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise, and work or education), or if you are working or studying at home. You may also drop your child at another person’s house to be looked after, while you are out, if it is for one of the four listed reasons. This may help some families who have concerns about how they will manage their work commitments during this time.

The intention form for week 2 is due by Thursday 16^th April by email to principal@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au

The Office team will also be working remotely for Term 2 therefore the office will be unmanned.

• If you need to contact the Office please email office@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au or call the school mobile on 0455 952 026 and they will pass on messages via email to staff.
• If you have any questions regarding remote learning please contact your child's classroom teacher via email.
• Please refrain from contacting all staff via personal mobiles/email or social media.

Answer from last week:

3.2 km + 5.4 km + 8.9 km = 17.5 km
22 km – 17.5 km = 4.5 km
Neil ran 4.5 km on the fifth day of training.

Welcome to the 2020 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St. Michael’s Primary School is excited to be participating. A new application is being used this year that offers a range of exciting features including: 

• access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
• a modern user-friendly interface
• rewarding  students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
• the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review 

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 4 September 2020. 

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books. 

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers. 

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit:www.education.vic.gov.au/prc 

As you know, reading helps ensure children develop important foundational skills –
setting them up for school and for life. Just as importantly, reading also helps our kids imagine, explore and learn more about the world around them.
This year, everyone who completes the Challenge will receive a Certificate of
Achievement – and with more than 12,000 titles on the Challenge’s reading list, there really is a book for everyone.
For children not yet at school, the Challenge invites parents and carers to experience
40 books with their child. For students from Prep to Year 2, the Challenge is to read or experience 30 books and for students in Years 3 to 10, the Challenge is to read 15 books.
I also encourage you to visit the Challenge Facebook page: facebook.com.au/VicPRC
There you can join the community of avid readers to share stories, stay informed and
recommend books.

We currently have 27 students participating with 32 books read!