Dear Parents,

How lucky we are for our children to be able to return to full time school in a week’s time!  Two months ago, we couldn’t have predicted when this was going to be possible but now it is upon us we are so very grateful.  I am sure you are excited about this ‘return to normal’ as well. 

Last week, on the days that all Infants and then when all Primary students returned, we held a virtual prayer service via Zoom as a way to welcome everyone back and to reconnect with their community. As part of this ritual the children were asked to share what they were grateful for and the most common responses were: “seeing and being with my friends again”, “for all the work that our teachers have been doing to help us keep learning”, “for their family not to be sick” and “for those who have worked so hard to keep us safe and healthy.”  It was heart-warming to hear how the people in their lives are the things most valued by them.

On the playground they also had the opportunity to write on our freshly painted chalkboards, a message about returning to school.  The most popular words I noticed were “awesome” and “fun” along with phrases such as: “Thank you”, “School is exciting”, “good 2 b back”, “no longer so bored”, “I finally get out of the house and my pjs”, “I love being back at school”, Yay! We are back!” and this acrostic:

  Spectacular

  Creative                                                     

  Happy

  Over the moon

sO fun

  Lovely

It was wonderful to see how much our children appreciate, value and enjoy St Joseph’s.

Entry and Exit Points

From next week we will have both Farquhar St and Union St gate open for morning drop off. Please note, that parents still need to drop their children outside the school gates.  If you feel your child may need the support of a staff member to come into school, please use the Union St gate. If you are using Kiss and Drop of a morning at Union St please do not stop directly at the school gate as what has been happening, and will no doubt occur even more so with all the children back at school each day, is the build up of traffic back to, and around into, Kenrick St.  This can be avoided if you drive up a little further away from the school gate. 

We will start to put a coloured cone to help indicate where to drop off when it is peak time. Thank you for your assistance with this.  Once again, thank you for the consistent efforts you have been making with pick up.  The staff, students and even passers-by have noticed how efficient and effective our practice has now become.  Keep up the good work by always displaying your name car in the windscreen in a way that staff can read it (not on your dashboard, please) and checking that your children know their last name.

Of an afternoon if you are entering the school playground for pickup we ask that you leave via the Convent gate in order to keep our one-way thoroughfare practice happening.  Please ensure that you keep the walkway clear once you come in and continue to spread out across the playground, maintaining social distancing.  

Return of Devices

If your child has borrowed a school device for home learning please continue to use it until the fulltime return to school in Week 6.  On returning to school, ask your child to take the device to the office with their name attached to it.  If your child has experienced any trouble with the device please just attach a short note explaining the issue.

Continue doing …

On reflecting on the last couple of months and considering ‘where to’ from here, in light of your children and their development, I would like to offer you the catch phrase of “Continue doing…“ 

Continue doing those practices that have led to increased independence in your children. Eg Kiss and Drop, rather than being escorted in and out each day; carrying their own bags; logging in to the computer; locating things for you at home or putting things back where they belong after using them; starting their chores or homework without needing you to be with them the whole time …. We have heard so many stories about what your children have been doing and you have seen how capable they are so- do not stop.  Continue fostering their independence and letting them to show you and themselves what they are truly capable of. It’s also a great way of building their self-confidence and self-worth.

Continue being involved in your child’s learning. Keep up the conversations you have been having as a family around what your children are learning. Continue to ask them questions – no doubt you have a better idea of the types of questions to ask now, or the topics, as you have had more exposure to the learning that happens here at school.  Research shows us that the more engaged parents are with their children’s learning the greater their learning outcomes.

Continue doing the fun family things together that we have been hearing about at school. Your children have really valued these experiences. It is these types of things that they will remember about their childhood more than anything else. 

Take care,

Karen