Dear Parents and Carers
Yesterday I sent two emails to your daughters:
Email One (see below) - is a summary of what is planned for the next few weeks and to give all students a sense of control over what is happening.
Email Two (see below) - was a mental health check in. You will be happy to know I have heard back from over 240 students (so far). The majority of students are in yellow to orange – excellent given the circumstances. Lots of red, and only a few green or blue. Anyone who emailed me with a green or blue heart, I either had a little email conversation with or forwarded to their House Coordinator for follow up.
Modified Timetables – are currently being finalised. We will be sending them out to all students and parents on Monday afternoon, 6 April with some instructions. Based on feedback from the girls, I believe they will be very happy with the new timetable as breaks up the remote learning. We have gone with a simplified strategy based on the current experience of schools in a variety of jurisdictions across the world.
Using Teams (attached) – please find attached an infographic to help your daughter use Microsoft Teams.
Parent Forum – next week the Leadership Team will be available on two different times next Thursday to answer any questions you may have after looking at the timetables and documents to guide your daughter with her learning at home. Please look out for these being advertised on social media.
Pupil Free Week 10 – a reminder that teachers and support staff will be in training next week and not available for emails. However, all assessments are going ahead. If you have been unable to find alternative care arrangements for your daughter and you are an essential services worker, can you please let me know by 5pm TODAY.
Thank you again.
Your emails and messages of support are AMAZING! I am sorry I am not getting to all of them to respond in a reasonable timeframe. But I will try my hardest to do so.
Remember to fill your hearts with acts of faith, hope and love. I see students, staff, parents and strangers doing wonderful things everyday – let’s cling to those and hold them close (metaphorically, of course, otherwise always practice social distancing).
Kind regards
Mrs Loretta Wholley
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EMAIL ONE
Dear Students
Hi there!
We (Mrs Wholley, Mr Coe and Mrs Taylor) here, just checking in and letting you know what is happening for the next few weeks.
Week 9 (2 to 3 April) – for the rest of this week, teachers are available to you via remote learning – through Moodle, Email, Teams and any other app they may be using. You can ask questions and they will help you.
Week 10 (6 to 9 April) – teachers this week are preparing for Term 2, when we believe all schools around Australia will be going online. We will send you a modified timetable – this will help you plan your work at home for Term 2. During this week teachers may set you work, but you will not be able to contact them (via email or Teams) as they are doing extra training to make sure everything is ready to go. All assessment tasks due this week, will still need to be submitted as per the assessment calendar (your teachers will give you further advice about this).
10 April to 27 April – School Holidays, relax, sleep in, wear pjs all day if you are allowed, read, watch tv, play games, go outside, follow good hygiene, watch funny videos on social media, draw, just chill, chat to friends, clean up, cook. Celebrate Easter. Please try and contribute around the house without being asked, it will make a big difference.
Week 11 (28 April to 1 May) – Set up ready for remote learning. Be familiar with your new modified timetable. It will only have 3 to 4 lessons per day with screen-free breaks in between. Focus. Try your best. Follow instructions. Get involved in PC time (this is what connects us). Please contact your House Coordinator if you need any advice or help with the modified timetable.
Most importantly - Be gentle on yourself and your family. This is new for everyone! You as a student, your parents who are also juggling their jobs at home whilst also helping you and looking after the home, your siblings who all of a sudden you have to share all this time and Wi-Fi with (try not to fight). The staff here who are going to be your virtual teachers while also trying to fit in the same stuff as your parents.
We will be here to help you. We don’t want you to be anxious about your school work, we just want you to give it a go. Then when things go back to normal we will be here waiting for you to return. We will try and run some additional fun things remotely, our Captains are already planning a few things too.
A few of you have asked about St Angela Merici Day – if we miss this date, we will move it. It will be the one priority I will ensure we will celebrate at another time in the year. I am not sure about all the other events. We will have to make decisions closer to the time when we know more. But I don’t want you worrying about these things – that’s our job!
Have a great rest of week.
Mr Coe
Mrs Taylor and
Mrs Wholley
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EMAIL TWO
Let me know how you are going!!
You can copy and paste one of the hearts below, or find one of your own.
Ros Parisi
Public Relations Officer
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