Dear Parents and Carers of St Kevin’s,

We continue to be impacted by COVID, but the learning of your children is still our priority. The entire student body has embraced on-line learning completing both digital and hard copy assignments and tasks.

Many students are displaying amazing diligence and organisational skills completing all set work by 1pm each day, and then having the entire afternoon to themselves to engage in leisure activities of their choice. How do they do this? They get up early and check their schedule and emails for updates from their teachers and then they’re off working. Scheduled TEAMS meetings or ZOOMS provide them with support and any extra work they may need to do. Congratulations to these students!

Currently I am listening in on the Year 3 TEAMS meeting where Mr Vaughan and Mrs Hogan are doing explicit teaching of number, all the while also explicitly teaching Year 3 how to use TEAMS effectively and efficiently. The children have discovered how to “leave” a meeting and then how to come back as a whole class when requested, without actually logging out of their meeting. Year 3 have also discovered how to collaborate within TEAMS to write their plays for the puppets they have created. Well done Year 3 and thank you Mr Vaughan and Mrs Hogan for all your work.

The infants’ students are submitting their work through See-Saw and as a result the teachers can easily track the progress of each student. Daily ZOOM lessons are maintaining the art and skills required in learning to read. Keep up the great work Kinder and Year 1.

Years 2 – 6 are working hard with assignments and collaborative projects being completed within TEAMS. All students in Years 2-6 also must complete set times and tasks in Essential Assessments – My Spelling and Sunset Maths & My Numeracy plus Lexia for Reading. Again, teachers can track engagement and if work is not being completed teachers can follow up with phone calls and emails to both students and parents.

So even though we’re not face to face in the classroom, learning continues to be a priority for us. It is different, it is at times a little crazy, it is at times challenging, but learning is still a priority. So together as parents and teachers we are ensuring that our children continue to learn both through online engagement and at home doing many varied activities. Keep up the great work everyone as we all learn new things during this weird time.

Me as learner? I have leant how to use See-Saw and Teams. I am re-visiting the art of crocheting. I am learning to use diced chicken in different ways for interesting dinners as we can’t go out to a restaurant I am learning how to do my hair in different ways as it gets longer every day!!!

So stay safe and have fun with your learning at home.

Mary-Anne Jennings

Principal