Learning and Working from Home                                                 5 August

First, an important reminder: An Engagement and Wellbeing meeting for Parents (in place of Education and Communication) is scheduled for Tuesday 11 August at 7 p.m. This meeting is via Webex and the agenda is focused on Community Engagement, the next stage in School Council’s Communication Strategy. Please email laburnum.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you’d like the agenda and meeting link.

This week, we have enjoyed hearing how families are settling into Learning from Home 2.0, which is easier in some ways than the first time around.

Thank you for the very positive endorsement of our additional Webex sessions. After written explanations, the Parents@Webex meetings and a chance to see these in action, we are delighted to hear that Webex Essential, Plus, Check-in and Extra are making sense to families. Remember, Webex Essential is the most important class meeting each day. Teachers have been energised by the extra time with students, who have really become experts in using video conferencing (with support from their parents) in less than a term.

Parent and student feedback on ClickView has also been fantastic and we’re pleased you’re seeing the advantages of this extensive online library. It was fortunate that students returned to school last term just at the right time for teachers to introduce ClickView before LFH 2.0. ClickView provides teachers with resources that free up time for us to add more Webex sessions, something that has benefits for everyone.

Yesterday, our teachers were fortunate to have another student-free day to get ready to deliver LFH from offsite. Last term, staff could come and go to school (and work on-site) as needed, but from today there are some clear instructions to all schools about reducing employee movement in the wider community. Although our teachers preferred to work on-site, that option is no longer available except under certain circumstances, and only with a ‘Permitted Worker’ permit. The office staff are also working offsite, so please email if you need anything.

Teachers spent part of yesterday organising whatever they might need at home for the remainder of the term. They compiled additional assessment kits, for example, as they won’t be sharing these with the teacher next door for a while. PLC teams also looked at consistency of feedback, inquiry tasks and focus areas of English and Mathematics.

We have now also moved into a phase of increased contingency planning, in case any teachers have extended absences. With some clarity around eligibility for on-site attendance of students during the Stage 4 state of disaster, we’ve been able to look at the resources available to support students going forward.

Our Staff Consultative Committee have discussed our priorities in considering the allocation of teacher work during this time. These are as follows (not in any particular order):

• Supervision of onsite students
• Class teachers’ face-to-face (Webex) sessions
• Literacy Intervention program
• STA speech therapy program
• Online website LFH pages each week

Given what we currently know for the next couple of weeks, our Specialist teachers have now been ‘allocated’ to a year level. When not involved in on-site supervision, Literacy Intervention or STA, they will each sit in on some scheduled team planning and Webex class meetings with the PLC leader as follows:

• Prep - Ms Farlow
• Year 1 - Ms Simmons
• Year 2 - Ms Mason and Mrs Keogh
• Year 3 - Mrs Lienert
• Year 4 - Mrs Hartney
• Year 5 - Mr Marikar
• Year 6 - Mrs Yue-Lamb

We’re doing this so that, if a class teacher has an extended absence, a specialist can take their place. As well, all specialists are attached to every level in case there are multiple teachers who need to be covered. Confused? Don’t worry, we’re not! Just be aware there’s a reason a specialist teacher might appear in class Webex sessions.

Although we’re hoping this arrangement isn’t needed, we are committed to trying to maintain the teacher-student connections that are so valued at this time and essential for children’s wellbeing. We feel these are best managed by teachers who are already familiar to our students.

In the event of brief class teacher absences, Webex will still be cancelled, so that specialists can maintain their other commitments. We’re very grateful that our specialists, who are all generalist classroom teachers, have been so flexible.

Student Support Group Meetings (SSGs) have commenced this week. If your child is scheduled for an SSG you will receive a meeting invitation via email from the classroom teacher.

Due to constraints with Webex, Literacy Intervention, STA and Play Therapy sessions timetabled throughout the week, please understand we are unable to change SSG times that have been scheduled. We know Kathy is the timetable queen, but there is almost no flexibility left in the week. 

Our fantastic Parents Group is very willing to support any families who are stretched at the moment, or in isolation with limited support. If you need someone to do a grocery run, for example, please email us and Parents Group will try to assist.

Finally, we hope to distribute a new on-site application form to families, as soon as we receive this from DET. However, as we are in a state of disaster, please understand the absolute emphasis is on implementing critical measures to reduce the movement of students and families.

As a result of this imperative, only the categories of students outlined to parents on Sunday, which include those of 'permitted workers', can be considered when making decisions about on-site applications.

Take care,

Kim