Prestons Post
Term 3, Week 3
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to our Week 3 newsletter. I hope everyone is staying safe and well and I thank you for helping to keep our staff, students and community safe by keeping your child home to learn remotely during these times.
Updates
Yesterday, the Premier announced ongoing restrictions which will be in place until at least 28 August. For us at Prestons, these updated public health order requirements mean:
- Parents and carers in the Liverpool local government area must keep children at home unless they cannot be cared for or educated at home.
- Our school remains open with skeleton staff to meet the immediate needs of the school, due to the restrictions on the 8 local government areas we are limited in who is able to come onsite to work and supervise students at school.
- We have a small number of staff who live within the Liverpool local government area, these staff are rostered on to supervise students who need to attend school. Please note that all students are using the same platform of work and students at school are doing the same online learning as students at home.
I wanted to thank everyone once again for continuing to support us to keep everyone safe by keeping their children at home. Our classroom teachers, support teachers and SLSOs are doing a magnificent job connecting with children through Zoom, seesaw and phone calls. We are sending paper packs home for those with no access to the internet, however, this is not the preferred method as it means that your child is not able to receive explicit teaching and feedback on their learning in a timely manner.
Our whole Prestons team are working hard to ensure every child is engaging in remote learning every day. We are making phone calls and sending texts messages. Please answer any calls that you receive from private numbers as they are most likely one of our amazing teachers trying to check in on your child. It is expected that all children engage in learning each day.
Remote Learning
We realise that learning at home is hard, please know that we understand. Many of our teachers are parents themselves and understand the difficulty in trying to manage their own work and supervise their children while they are also doing learning from home.
These are difficult and unique times, we do not expect our students to be sitting in front of the computer every day from 9-3pm. Our teachers are posting morning greetings each day, we love seeing everyone check in and this helps us to know if you and your child are doing ok or if you need help. We are posting reading, writing, maths and one other KLA (key learning area) per day and this is plenty. Please know that we do not expect you to replicate the school experience at home, if your child is struggling with work please contact us and let us help. We do not expect parents to be classroom teachers at this difficult time.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind our parents that you were your child's very first teacher and you will continue being there for your child throughout their lives. If you or your child are struggling, frustrated or simply overwhelmed with one of the tasks or activities, leave it. We will pick up where we left once lockdown is over. Please do not feel pressured to get it all perfect or complete, just get your child to check in every day and do what they can. Enjoy this time with your little people, they don't stay little for long. Reach out to us if you need anything.
Have a wonderful week of remote learning and don't forget to look after your child's and your own wellbeing.
Liz Van Der Meulen
Principal
Learning and Caring with Pride - Mrs. Whittles
I hope all our families are adjusting as best as can be expected to the challenges of remote learning. It has given me great pleasure to attend Zoom classrooms this week. I have had the pleasure of listening to our students share some wonderful ideas and experiences that they have enjoyed throughout their week.
Zoom classrooms are a great opportunity for students to connect with their teachers and peers. Despite learning remotely, you can feel the enthusiasm and excitement of each student behind their screen as they see their teachers and friends. I know, I get a little excited too when I see their smiling faces and sometimes the faces of their siblings in the background. It is also a great opportunity for students to ask their teacher questions about their remote learning tasks.
I have had the pleasure of speaking with many families throughout remote learning. I know that our families are working hard to best support students with their learning tasks. Our students are incredibly lucky to be supported by such a terrific school community.
This week is Education Week. The theme for Education Week is: ‘Lifelong Learners.’ It does seem quite appropriate given the current situation. As a community, we are an example of lifelong learning as we learn how to best manage the current situation. Teachers and students will be discussing Education Week. As a community, we will be postponing Education Week celebrations until a later date.
Mrs. Whittle
Kids Helpline
Qualified counsellors at Kids Helpline are available via WebChat, phone or email anytime and for any reason.
Since 1991, Australia’s kids and young people have been turning to our professional, specialised counsellors, no matter who they are, where they live or what they want to talk about.
Over this time, we have responded to over 8 million contacts. For some young people, connecting with Kids Helpline has been a life-saving experience, while for others it’s about practical help and emotional support at the critical moment they need someone to listen.
Talking helps! We’re here for you.No problem is too big or too small.
We're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
1800 55 1800
NSW Premier's Sporting Challenge
Hi Parents and Carers,
Prestons is once again participating in the annual NSW Premier’s Sporting Challenge which is really exciting! This wonderful initiative encourages students to get active each day and will run for 10 weeks which is the whole of Term 3. While students are learning from home, teachers are posting daily activities to Seesaw for students to complete to keep active at home or students can participate in their own choice of physical activity and let their teachers know on Seesaw so they can record down their participation. When face to face schooling does return students will continue this challenge at school.
At the end of the 10 Week Challenge all students will receive a certificate of completion based upon the amount of physical activity they have completed. It has been wonderful to see so many students already engaging in this fun challenge.
Good luck everyone and keep active!
Mrs McEachran (PSC coordinator)
Kindergarten 2022
We are now accepting enrolments for Kindergarten 2022
Children who turn 5 by the 31st July 2022 are eligible to enrol for 2022.
Enrolments can be accepted via our website www.prestons-p.schools.nsw.gov.au
Click on the enrolment tab and begin by checking if you live within the local area. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office on 9602 7435.
School Photographs
We will keep our families updated as information is received. Thank you for your understanding.
Stage 3 Camp Payments
Interline Bus Services
Due to the current COVID lockdowns, Interline has been directed to run reduced timetables until advised that normal services are to resume.
Should you have any questions please contact Interline on 9765 7222 or by email enquiries@interlinebus.com.au
Book Club - Issue 5 is NOW LIVE
All orders are required to be made online (please simply click on the link below). This catalogue will continue until the end of Term 3 and the book orders will be received in Term 4.
100 Days of Learning
SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING
Classroom Chat with 6 Eagles
6 Eagles have shown independence and self-motivation for learning. They have been using both SeeSaw and Google Classrooms to produce quality work and reach their learning intentions. We have been focusing on the concept of context which has allowed the students to make predictions about the background of a text before reading it.
6 Eagles have shown great enthusiasm in their physical activity sessions which have also involved members of their family and have challenged themselves by beating their personal records weekly. They have had the opportunity to become chefs as they have whipped up very tasty brownies and will continue to bake something new every week.
Ms Kliro would like to say a big thankyou to the amazing efforts that 6 Eagles have put into their work. I am very proud and excited to continue to provide you with engaging and insightful material to motivate you to learn through online learning.
Classroom Chat with 2 Monkeys
Although Term 3 has commenced in a very different way to what we are used to, the Monkeys have shown incredible resilience and perseverance in adapting to the change towards online learning via SeeSaw and zoom. The Monkeys are lucky enough to also share their learning journey with the Toucans, making us the TOUKEYS with two extremely proud teachers, Mrs Calabro and Mrs Quinn.
The Toukeys are enjoying their reading and writing tasks based around persuasive texts. They have worked hard this week to produce pieces of writing in an effort to persuade their teachers to host a taco party!
The highlight of our term so far would have to be our class zoom meetings! The Toukeys have absolutely loved seeing their classmates and teachers, listening to stories read by Mrs Calabro & Mrs Quinn, taking a dance brain break together and engaging in one of their favourite lessons, phonics engine rooms!
There's no shortage of quality work shared online by the Toukeys! Just check out a snippet of quality pieces below! Artworks inspired by Pete Cromer, persuasive writing pieces, hand-made boats, reading, addition skills and the list goes on!
Mrs Calabro and Mrs Quinn are SO proud of the Toukeys and their families for working so hard to continue their learning at home and having fun at the same time!