23 Mar 2020
Dear Parents/Carers,
The NSW Premier has advised this morning that parents/carers should keep their children home for practical reasons. Our doors will remain open for students whose parents work in our healthcare system, education system, emergency services and other essential workers who need to be able to access suitable supervision of their child’s learning.
Beginning tomorrow teachers will activate our Learning Continuity Plan (LCP). This means for those students who attend school because there is no other supervision option at home, there will be supervision in classrooms to complete learning tasks. Please be mindful we have a number of staff members who fall in to the high-risk category and will not be on-site as of tomorrow. Students at home or at school will be set learning activities each day to complete. As you can appreciate for the foreseeable future we will not be able to provide a traditional classroom experience.
This week all teachers will be moving towards using a digital learning platform - Google Classroom. Students are able to access Google Classroom via their DoE student portal and it is also a free app (available for download on the App Store or Google Play).
While teachers and students are adjusting to this new digital learning format, day plans will be emailed to parents and posted online to Google Classroom this week. Our aim is from next week, to only communicate with students in Years 2-6 via Google Classroom where we will upload the daily learning plan for all students to access.
All students in Years 2-6 are familiar with this platform and should be able to independently access Google Classroom through their student portal. If your child is not familiar or needs assistance, please follow the student guide attached.
Kindergarten and Year 1 students will need additional support, through parental guidance. More information for Kindergarten and Year 1 students will be emailed to parents in the coming days.
Teachers will continue to monitor Google Classroom and year group activities throughout the day and will guide students with their learning.
If you are sending your child to school for supervision, a reminder that the health and safety of our students and staff is paramount. Students who are sick, no matter their condition, must stay home from school. If any student displays any signs of sickness at school, parents will be called to collect them immediately. Students should remain at home until symptoms resolve and, where appropriate, seek advice from a medical practitioner.
I encourage you to visit the website of NSW Health if you seek further information about COVID-19.
We appreciate your support as we endeavor to ensure a smooth transition to digital learning. This is new to all of us. There will be some teething problems. We need to remember to be patient with each other.
Thank you to all the parents who have been in contact with us via email. Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to each one, but please know they are all being read. I will provide a further information tomorrow and provide advice regarding setting up a learning environment and establishing routines whilst learning at home.
Kind regards,
Principal
North Sydney Public School