eNews #7  School springs to life!                                                      28 May

There were lots of smiles on Tuesday as we welcomed back our Prep - Year 2 students. They certainly had a great day reconnecting with their teachers and classmates and we loved seeing them back where they belong.

Each year level currently has a separate outdoor area for lunch and recess, to prevent ‘mixing’ between levels. When I walked around during the breaks, it was fascinating to see some of the creative games that children were playing. There were fairy gardens, rabbit jumping races and some delightful constructions in the front garden by Year 1, including the campfire below. Although children are not sharing sports equipment at the moment, they had no trouble finding imaginative alternatives.

Our student-free day on Monday was very well-spent in planning the transition back to school. This included consideration of:

• how the health advice would be followed at LPS;
• re-establishing school routines:
• establishing an approach to assessing student learning progress and
• identifying students in need of immediate health and wellbeing support.

As mentioned in last week’s eNews, we had already made a decision to prioritise student health and wellbeing when students return to school. Last Thursday, our staff had professional learning with Therese Raulin, a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist. Therese has many years of experience working with schools, both as a consultant on wellbeing issues and as a mental health clinician. During these times of unpredictability and stress, Therese talked with our teachers about ways some children may have flourished at home, trauma presentation in children and how we can get every student ready to learn at school again. We have worked with Therese previously and she will return to LPS in a few weeks to follow up with our staff.

This session led into our student-free day, where staff spent time planning the wellbeing sessions that are now in place across the school, in both mornings and afternoons. Teachers are supporting students to return to our ‘new normal’ routine: acknowledging the changes around us, providing developmentally suitable information about what is occurring, as well as creating a safe space for students to raise their concerns and feelings. Teachers will also identify anyone needing immediate support.

In terms of assessment, our teams planned opportunities to reconnect with each student, mainly through individual assessments such as Reading Conferences, running records, phonological awareness checks and Mathematics interviews. Although these types of assessments take time, they can also rebuild the relationships between students and their teachers as they work one to one together.

Of course, we spent time on Monday going through the safety requirements as schools resume. In addition to extensive hand washing and sanitising routines, limited use of shared equipment and the new pick up/drop off and play area arrangements, we revisited the processes for dealing with unwell students or staff. There were also considerations around staff social distancing and the interactions between adults that are so important to monitor at this time. Our timetable has been temporarily reorganised to factor in new requirements: another challenge for Kathy Verbi!

Our staff felt very ready to welcome students again and greatly appreciated having Monday to prepare for a successful transition back to school, whether on Tuesday or in a few weeks’ time for older students.

Thank you to all the Prep - Year 2 families who were so supportive of the new school routines this week. We love those individual ‘signs’ on cars! So far, pick up and drop off is working smoothly. Teachers sort each group into ‘walking’ or ‘car pick up’ before taking them to the gates. The only confusion has been with some students who knew they were going home by car, but were collected by parents who had parked a short distance from the school and arrived at the gate by foot. As long as your child knows whether to go to the car pick up area or wait for parents to come to get them, this is perfectly manageable.

Pick up still took until 3:30 p.m. to complete. The vehicle pick up was smooth, but the weather has also been very kind. We expect there’ll be many more cars if it’s raining or colder. Over the next few days, we will review how the pick-up in particular is working.

To help us make decisions around the Years 3 - 6 return arrangements, when we more than double the number of students entering and exiting LPS, we’d love one parent in each family to answer some very brief survey questions. These will give us information about your ‘usual’ entry and exit points and how you expect your child will get to school for the remainder of the term. Please follow this link, which will remain open until 5 p.m. on Sunday 31 May. We can then consider your responses in finalising the next stage of Return to School.

Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 circumstances, we have had to cancel both the Year 4 and 5 camps for Term 3. DET has advised schools there are no camps or excursions allowed for ‘the foreseeable future’. This is incredibly disappointing but completely unavoidable. In the end, we want any camp to be a safe and happy experience for students, staff and the families awaiting their return. We have rebooked camps for 2021, with complete optimism that COVID-19 will be a memory by then!

A couple of reminders:

• If your child is starting Prep next year, we need their completed enrolment form as soon as possible. We aim to finish making enrolment offers in the next four weeks.
• Surrey Clothing is still open for uniform purchases. Click here for winter uniform options, and here for online orders.
• Year 6 - 7 Transition forms are due back by the end of today.
• And from Wendy Keogh:
  

  

  Click here for Issue 4 Book Club and online ordering  

  Closing date for all orders is Friday 12 June

  PLEASE NOTE: No cash payments at school will be accepted.

  Unfortunately, as we are unable to receive the orders at Laburnum Primary School for this issue, you will need to have your order delivered to your home address for a fee of $5.99.

Kim