13-Nov-2020
Dear Families,
I hope that for you, like us, school is starting to feel more and more ‘normal’ as the weeks roll by. We were thrilled to be able to start transitions for next year’s Foundation students this week, were given the green light for Year 4 camp in the last week of school and we are preparing for the KABOOM sports program coming this Tuesday.
While there have been some relaxation of restrictions for schools, many are still in place. The attached document is provided in the hope that it answers questions you may have about what is permitted in COVID safe schools.
Our students have continued to build their stamina and connectedness to their peers as we build towards an exciting 2021. Next year we will be running a similar timetable with staggered start and finish times as well as 2 different recess and lunchtimes. This ensures we can continue to play our role with social distancing, ensure all of our specialist programs (Art, French, Physical Education and Science) can run and ensure that our students can enjoy our spacious grounds in fewer numbers.
NAIDOC week Theme 2020- Always was, Always will be- recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.
It has been enlightening to see and hear the learning around Aboriginal culture and achievement this week at school. The tapestry of our country is strengthened when we are able to educate ourselves about the stories, symbols and history of our First Nations people. Information can be found here https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/naidoc-week
Annual Implementation Plan
Our 2021 AIP has been submitted for approval by the DET and it focuses on the 3 key priority areas listed below.
These are the most important things our school system must deliver over the remainder of this year and into 2021.
DET priorities
The three priority areas for 2021 are:
- Learning catch-up and extension: We will support both those who need it to catch up and those who have thrived to continue to extend their learning. Additionally, we will support those cohorts who were most affected by the lack of usual transitions and establishment practices in 2020 e.g. 2021 Foundation and Year 7s to ensure successful transitions through their schooling and beyond.
- Happy, active and healthy kids: We will make sure we look after our students’ mental health and enable every student to get back outdoors, get active and get creative.
- Connected schools: We will build on the stronger connections that schools have established with their families, carers and communities through 2020 to embed and spread improved ways of working to support our students.
Tutor Learning Program
The Tutor Learning Program has been designed to support students whose learning has been disrupted through remote and flexible learning in 2020. The funding allocation for each school is based on a model of students receiving two or three 45-minute sessions each week in groups of no more than five students for 26 weeks. It is expected that our school includes 45 students in this program.
At Edithvale we will be going way beyond the Department’s model. We are committed to running a tutoring program for the entire year that will focus predominantly on Literacy. The Reading Enrichment and Development (READ) program will be see 80 plus students in any given term work in small groups of 3 or 4 with a dedicated Teacher and Education Support staff from our current roster.
2021 Class Structure
Next year we will be running 21 classes across the school – keeping these as small as possible. We have well over 90 Foundation students joining us (including 4 sets of twins). To ensure we can access dedicated learning areas for each class, we will be changing the location of a number of our year levels and have been busy reconfiguring the brand new STEM facility.
Noting the disruption of 2020, we have, where possible, kept students in a learning environment they are familiar with. We acknowledge that a couple of staff on our 2021 roster cannot be with us for transition but we remain confident, as history tells us, that this will not get in the way of our students’ preparation for the start of next year.
The upgrade to the STEM facility will limit our ability to use that space for whole school assemblies (should these be allowed again).
In 2021 our (approx. 440) students will be organised in these configurations:
Foundation students – LTC (current Year 2/4 building) – 5 classrooms
Year 1’s in the Main brick building (current Prep rooms) – 4 classrooms
Year 2’s in the current Year 1 relocatables – 4 classrooms
Year 3’s in the remodelled STEM building – 2 classrooms
Year 4’s and 5/6’s in the LC – 6 classrooms
Next week we will share our plans for an expanded transition program to be held in the second last week of term.
Counselling Supports
Thanks to funding from the City of Kingston we are pleased to offer counselling services FREE of charge to people working, living or caring for children attending a school, in the City of Kingston.
We know these are tough times for many families, loss of employment, loss of business income, stress and anxiety, loss of loved ones, remote learning and the return to school based learning has been challenging for many families and individuals.
In response to this need, the City of Kingston are offering up to six sessions with one of their qualified and experienced counsellors. The counselling can be for you, your family, your partner or your child.
To access this FREE service you or someone in your family must live, work or go to school in the City of Kingston.
To make an appointment call the Heartlinks of Family Life team on 8599 5488 or email them at heartlinks@familylife.com.au
We also have access to clinical psychologist Naomi Newton. Naomi sees her student clients on-site at school each Thursday. If you’d like further information about next steps – including getting a Mental Health Care Plan – please contact either Luke or James at school.
Take care and keep well
James Whitla
