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Dear Families,
We arrive today at the end of a long week, a week that has probably caused heartaches, stomachaches and headaches. We have all had to adjust in some way and probably all feel a little loss of control. Complaining about things we find important can be natural but at times not helpful - especially when we can't control them or might not actually happen. Issues when I got home from work extended from the threat of TikTok getting removed from Australia through to the media gossip of restrictions of two blocks of Cadbury per transaction. Sometimes it might be the straw that breaks the camels back.
I'm lucky in my life to have the support of some wise people, both personally and professionally. An elderly neighbour is one of those. Last night was our first chat for months, bumping into each other putting out our bins. He was interested in how the community was coping as they had been very disciplined and have been isolating at home for months. Instead of the dread and negativity that seems to capture our attention at the moment, he spoke optimistically of the future and wondered what the world will be like when this is over. He didn't lecture the youth of today, criticise consumerism or offer any political commentary. His eyes lit up with excitement from above his mask thinking about the possibilities ahead for a change in the way we do things, say things and treat things .... for the better. My neighbour's quietly spoken passion reminded me of our school mission of 'Building the Kingdom' here at Lumen Christi. I don't think my neighbour is a man of faith but I'm sure he could have easily filled the sandals of a wise man born in Bethlehem a few centuries ago.
Early this week in one of our many meetings, Mr.Mahoney and Mrs.Colaceillo shared the below clip called "The Great Realisation". I wonder what you could take from this reflection?
This week we have seen an explosion of communication both into and out of the school, and though I feel guilty bombarding your inbox I have experienced first hand how quickly we can distribute critical information to families regardless of time or place. Again I can only suggest to families the urgency of subscribing to the school communication feeds and having the App downloaded and registered.
This newsletter has a few repeats of messages that have been sent this week as well as updates or links from the school website.
Finally can I take the opportunity to recognise the efforts of staff to enable Remote Learning to be operational within days (compared to the metro schools that were given a week of school time at the start of term) as well as the attitude of our students who had to take so much in on Monday as their world flipped. Sometimes I think we should be taking resilience lessons off the kids!
We thank our families for their generous support and encouragement. The kind messages and simple things make a world of difference when we receive them. I wish all our our families and our parish community all the best during the weeks ahead.
Take care - Dave
Even though we are only a few days into Remote Learning we've notice a slight change in the way some families are approaching Round 2.
Yesterday at our Whole School Google Meet we spoke about the conditions where people learn. We learn when we get to that tipping point of struggle, a living on the edge type excitement you might feel your on a roller coaster or walking across a swing bridge. Teachers are constantly looking at their strategies to deliver the curriculum to a class of students all wth different needs and different behaviours - they live on the edge too!
A wise colleague from early in my teaching career told me to back off a little with my instructions, she felt I was spoon feeding them the answers. She told me that they had to be like jelly, they had to wobble a bit on the plate.
Checking in with a few families I have heard them talk about how this time around they are sitting back a little more and not driving the learning as much. This reminded me so much of the jelly on the plate analogy. In a classroom setting our staff aren't in a position to deliver constant support to everyone, but in a home environment you can. The challenge is to find the happy place between offering too much and too little support, we don't want jelly on the floor but we don't want to create unsuccessful learners who don't think for themselves, fear challenge or don't have the space to innovate for themselves. It also allows more potential time for parents who work from home to not be 1:1 for children. It may take a little time to get the balance ...... treat it like going to baby sleep-school and controlled crying!
As the capacity and safety features of Google Meet and Google Classroom are established for us to use immediately this time around, I remind parents that those spaces are just as important for you as they are for the children. Feel free to listen in or log in on your other devices to keep informed of what is happening.
The wellbeing of everyone in the home is of critical importance during Remote Learning. The academic components of Remote Learning serve to ensure learning continuity as well as provide stimulation for the children during lock down. Our concept of Family Well-being tasks is in place to provide parents with some activities, that link to our Specialist Learning Enrichment program, that offer flexibility and choice.
Families are encouraged to complete tasks together in a way that suits the demands of your household and resources. They are not compulsory but we strongly recommend you prioritise finding some time to do some activities together regularly. The resources provided are a sample menu and naturally we are quite happy for families to do other creative things together that we haven't even thought of.
Last term during Remote Learning the school made the decision to allow families to borrow a device from school to help families deliver home schooling. Please click on and complete the below web form link if you would like to take up this offer.
Please ring the school to organise a collection time.
We ask that only one adult per family comes onsite to collect the device and that you exercise social distancing when you attend.