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Newsletter 6

Dear Parents and Carers

Principal’s Message

Welcome Back! It was absolutely wonderful to have the school return to a place of learning yesterday when we welcomed back 65% of our students after the holidays and school closure.

The general feeling was one of excitement amongst both students and staff as they reconnect with their friends and colleagues.

Great to see you all!

Parents Your support and cooperation with the before and after school arrangements has been a major contributor to the smooth transition back to school. As a staff we are extremely appreciative. Thank you.

Thank you also for your understanding of the new requirement that parents do not enter the school grounds and to maintain social distancing around our school.

After observing how well arrangements proceeded yesterday, we have decided to change the Year 1 student collection arrangements. As of tomorrow, Year 1 students can be collected from the front entrance at 2:50pm.

Having our Year 1 cohort leave just prior to the end of the school day will help alleviate the 3:00pm social distancing pressures

A connect notice explaining the details was also sent today.

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Which Gates do Students Use? Students in Years 2 – 6 are asked not to enter or exit the school through the gates on Rostrata Avenue. They are asked to use gates either on Concraige Way or those on the D Cluster side of the school. Special arrangements for Kindergarten, Pre Primary and Year 1 have been outlined for families with these students.

Concraige Way Kiss and Go From today, students who use this Kiss and Go are to wait inside the new pedestrian gate at the Rostrata Ave end of the Kiss and Go. Gate 2, where Kiss and Go students have previously been waiting, will now be exclusively for cyclists and those walking home. Motorists using the Kiss and Go are asked to collect their children from the Rostrata end of the Kiss and Go adjacent to the new gate.

Keeping Everyone Safe If your child displays any signs of being unwell, please keep them at home to recover. Understandably at this time, if staff have children presenting who appear to be sick, parents will be called and requested to collect their child straight away.

Sanitation As part of the return to school arrangements, we have two cleaners on site all day working through an Education Department checklist highlighting areas within the school to clean and sanitise frequently. One of these is the playground equipment which is wiped clean twice a day after the breaks.

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Drinking Fountains A reminder that these have been closed and children are asked to bring their water bottles to school which can be filled up from designated taps throughout the school.

Students learning from Home Staff have been monitoring how students working from home are engaging and managing with their work and many teachers have already made contact with these families and students.

The following may answer some questions for parents whose children are working from home.

1. What are the arrangements for teaching and learning for Term 2?

For those students who learn from home, distance education packages and resources will be provided. Where schools can provide online support and teaching for students at home, this will be implemented. For those students learning from home, contact will be made each week by phone and/or on-line. Schools will maintain good communication with parents/carers, providing up to date information about

arrangements.

2. Where children are learning at home, will they be taught by their teachers?

Teachers will not be required to deliver to students both at school and at home simultaneously. From Wednesday 29 April, for those students at home, distance education packages or online resources will

be provided. It is important that students remain connected to their schools. Schools will maintain regular contact with

students and families each week either by phone or online. Students who come to school will be taught a face to face program and timetable. Supervision of children learning from home is the responsibility of parents or carers.

3. What support is available to parents if their students are learning at home?

Schools are the main point of contact for parents with children learning at home.

Schools will provide clear advice and guidelines to assist parents in supporting their child’s learning at home.

A helpline for parents (1800 882 345) has been set up to further assist parents.

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4. Will parents/students be penalised if they keep their kids at home?

No, they will not - all students will be provided with a learning program.

Student non-attendance will not be penalised. For those learning at home, attendance will be recorded as ‘E’ (enrolled in an approved education program, at a different location).

Parents continue to have the choice about whether they send their children to school, and are encouraged to discuss any concerns they have with their school.

5. What is the role/responsibility of teachers to students’ learning at home?

Teachers will not be asked to deliver to students both at school and at home simultaneously.

Schools will provide clear advice and guidelines for parents with children learning at home.

Schools will provide a distance learning model to students. When they are able to, this program will be developed and delivered by the school. Schools may utilise Department support to deliver printed work packages.

For students learning at home, contact by the school will be made each week by phone and/or online and feedback given on work package completion.

Regular contact will be maintained between the school and home to support and monitor the wellbeing of students.

It is critical students continue to have access to their teachers. This is why our teachers will be on site next term making sure the individual education needs of every student are met.

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Parents/carers are responsible for their general safety at home or elsewhere.

Parents/carers can support their child’s learning by creating a supportive learning environment and regular routines.

Capital Works Program

During the school holidays, significant works were conducted at the school to rectify previously identified maintenance items. This was part of the Government’s stimulus package.

These works included painting of the canteen and classrooms in A, B, and C clusters, replacing the vinyl flooring in the canteen and some of the vinyl flooring in A and C clusters, painting the framework of all of our walk ways throughout the school and some of the external timberwork. The administration area and staff room were also painted.

Significant areas of the school grounds were turfed including; around the bike track in the Kindergarten, bare areas created after the new carpark construction and the front verge of the school. This greening of the grounds, together with a new coat of paint has refreshed and brightened our school.

It looks great!

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Concertina Doors Replacement Program The classrooms have been measured and the new concertina doors have been ordered. Unfortunately, manufacturing and delivery is at least eight week meaning that if we are lucky, they might be installed during the next school holidays, otherwise it will be at the end of Term 3. A total of eleven are being replaced throughout all clusters.

Barry France

Principal

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ROSTRATA P & C NEWS

General Meeting Term 2

Welcome back to Rostrata for another term, whether that is online or in person! I hope everyone managed to stay safe and enjoyed the school break. We will be holding our next General Meeting on Monday 11th at 7pm online via Zoom (this is the Monday of Week 3). All parents are welcome to attend and join ($1 per year); being a part of the P&C is a great way to keep in touch with what’s happening at Rostrata Primary. Please visit the P&C website (rostratapandc.org.au) for more information.

As this meeting is going to be online, I will need non-P&C members to email me by no later than lunchtime on Monday 11th so I can add you to the Zoom session. My email address is president@rostratapandc.org.au.

I look forward to seeing you online!

Cheers,

Tristan Cameron

P&C President

Rostrata Dads

We are not sure if our planned trip to Lesmurdie Falls on Sunday 24 May can go ahead. We'll communicate more nearer the time. This week's tip of the week comes from Fathering Project founder Professor Bruce Robinson: keeping kids active during COVID-19.

Year 6 Graduation

Hello Year 6 Families!

What an interesting year for our Year 6s to be finishing primary school. Unfortunately, the year ahead is looking a bit bleak in terms of photo opportunities for the 2020 Yearbook, with there being no carnivals, no events, and no excursions on the horizon. As a result, our yearbook is going to have to deviate from the norm, and we will need content that will be reflective of this unusual period. For this reason, we are putting out a call for students to provide us with material about their time during the coronavirus; social isolation, distancing from school, friends, family, the impact on them (positive or negative), and how it may have changed the year for them.

Ideas could include (but are not limited to):

• Poems • Songs • Stories • Artwork • Photos • Craft

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We know the kids will be bursting with great ideas; however, we will need to ensure that content reflects all students in the year group and would love to have at least one contribution from each student. If a student makes multiple submissions, we may not be able to include them all, so when submitting multiple items, please indicate the order of preference for inclusion to assist us with compiling the content.

Please submit files in the following formats to graduation@rostratapandc.org.au (in a ZIP archive):

• Poems, Songs, Stories, and other text-based submissions: Microsoft Word Document • Photos, Photos of Craft, Scanned Artwork: Full Resolution PNG (preferred) or JPEG (high quality) • Digital Artwork: EPS, SVG, AI, PDF, or DXF (Vector File Formats) - if you are unable to export/save as a vector file

format then please send as a high-resolution PNG

Many Thanks 😊 Stay Well,

2020 Graduation Committee

P&C Website

To keep up to date on all P&C related events and information, please check out our website: www.rostratapandc.org.au

Tristan Cameron

P&C President

GARDEN NEWS

Hi Parents and Carers,

We are looking for families interested in feeding and basic care of the school chickens in the kitchen garden on weekends.

This involves feeding, collecting eggs, checking water and ensuring the chickens are in good health on Saturday and Sundays plus school holidays.

Please email Astrid King on astrid.king@education.wa.edu.au if you are interested. No experience with chickens necessary, however you must be comfortable walking into the chicken enclosure with chickens in close proximity.

Preference will be given to families of students from years 4-6, however we will also consider families of younger year levels.

Astrid King

Garden Specialist

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CHAPLAIN

2020- a year for finding joy in the simple moments.

The April school holidays were a much-needed break for families after the crazy end to a unique Term 1. During this COVID-19 season, we have all had to adjust our routines, and the way we interact with both our immediate families and with other people. Many of us would have found ourselves facing new challenges, and in my house we had to come up with new ways of entertaining ourselves, and of celebrating Easter, Anzac Day, and the two April family birthdays.

Instead of a big family gathering at my Dad’s farm for Easter, we had to make do with phone calls, and sending vouchers by mail/email to the grandchildren. My best memory of Easter 2020 will be because of Australia Post’s fantastic delivery service. My sister (who lives on a farm) received her parcel of essential food supplies (the shelves at the local store were bare) within 2 days of it being posted, and in time for the Easter weekend!

The 18th Birthday Party had to be postponed, and instead we celebrated the occasion by sharing Italian takeaway and birthday cake together at home. We definitely missed having the extra people around to help us work through the birthday cake! The friends who lived locally still delivered presents and even organised a Zoom get together with my daughter.

Anzac Day was another day for new experiences. Instead of a dawn service at the RSL, we were near Mrs de Hoog’s house before 6am, in time to hear her and her husband play the Last Post together on their trumpets. Several neighbours gathered in the darkness (keeping their social distance) to remember the occasion. We could hear the faint sounds of other performers coming from other houses in the suburb.

Despite the social-distancing restrictions, I was still able to enjoy the wonderful weather, and saw many families out and about doing the same. I could appreciate the grocery shops being restocked and anticipate the loosening of restrictions within Australia. I saw people taking the time to acknowledge their neighbours, and waiting patiently on ‘the dots’ at the supermarket/pharmacy.

This quote from Brene Brown reminded me of the importance of ordinary times (and we might feel like we have had a lot of these lately). ‘Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down extraordinary moments’. What new memories were created for your family during this time?

Louise Lathbury

Chaplain

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