Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

We are about one full week into lock down, and for Queensland, the news around the local COVID infection appears to be promising with low transmission rates and high testing numbers.  We all want this to be under control as soon as possible.  We do not yet know what to expect for next week - returning to school or continuing in lock down - so we are planning for both scenarios.  I will contact families across the weekend, once the announcement is made by the government.

Remote learning at home

I am just so impressed with and appreciative of all of our families who are leading remote learning at home.  We completely recognise the magnitude of the job you have been given and applaud the courage and perseverance you show each day as you chip away at each day's school work, before you undertake your own daily work.  Well done!

Remote learning at school

This week, our attendance AT school looked like:

• Monday - 108
• Tuesday - 98
• Wednesday - 117
• Thursday - 114
• Friday - 118

All students this week have been using the remote learning programs designed by our teachers.  It is the very same program at home and at school.  The students at school have been grouped into small groups that we have called pods.  These pods are predominantly family groups and are all multi-age and named by the children.  

The following reflection is from Mrs Ellison (one of our Year 6 teachers) about her group, the Dino Nuggies.  

This week has really opened my eyes to the beauty of multi-age learning. It has reminded me of high schools where they have tutor groups or homerooms with students from Years 7-12 meeting daily.

There's been lots of lovely moments between older and younger students that you just can't see in a regular classroom setup.  Also it's been incredible to see how self paced our programs are and how much independence they allow our students. They're really not doing too much different to what they'd be doing in their regular classrooms and their learning has continued because of how we all leverage digitally.

Some stand out moments for me in my world this week:

• We wrote a checklist on the board with the students' must do tasks for our pod. We quickly realised some kids couldn't write on the board so one of the older students verbally asked what the younger ones had to do and then I scribed. Kids went up during the sessions to cross/add things as they went.
• We played handball during breaks. The preps 'lived' in the ace square and played alongside whoever else was in ace. The prep students got to bounce the ball to serve to the other kids. There was the unanimous and unspoken agreement that if the preppie accidentally broke a rule or bounced the ball wrong, we still cheered them on.
• A Year 6 student took a prep student for a nature walk to collect materials for the prep maths task. They sat on the floor to create a picture graph together. Photo attached.
• We adjusted the learning space! We lowered the Year 6 desks and got pillows to prop our Preppies up. River's legs still swing wildly though
• A video link wasn't working on one of the student's iPads so we all listened to the a story for their English task air-played from my laptop on the TV. Everyone was learning completely different concepts at their own pace, but wanted to listen and enjoy the story in the background together.
• A Prep directed drawing lesson turned into a whole pod challenge with Year 4 and Year 6 students joining in too.
• It turns out EVERYONE loves mobilo blocks!
• Who knows what we're in for from here! I miss my Year 6s but this has been a pleasant change of pace for me.

Salma from Prep O is the only girl in the Dino Nuggies pod, so today Mrs Ellison promised to wear pants, so they could do a handstand routine together. Very impressive!  Check out their photo in the gallery above.

Students attending next week

If we are still in lock down next week, please register your child's attendance (click here) by Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm.  This will provide us a small planning opportunity.  Even if your child attended this week, please complete the attendance list again.

Our cafe is re-opening

The cafe is re-opening from Monday for morning tea and lunches for staff and students attending school.  Please use flexi-schools for orders.

Keep well, stay home and spare a thought for those most affected by this pandemic.  

Vic