Filter Content
Dear GHSS Families,
I hope this finds you all well and looking forward to Easter a holiday break with you family without the need to juggle Zoom Meetings or try to complete school activities.
Attached to this newsletter is a PDF of the letter emailed to all parents this morning in relation to the fee relief the school is able to offer to families at this point in time. We recognise that many families will be impacted in one way or another during this unprecedented global crisis and hope that this fee relief goes some way to easing lessening financial concerns families may have at this time. Please ensure your respond via email as to the option you will be taking before the end of the holidays.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of all our families at this time. Wishing you all a relaxing Easter at home.
Warmest regards and blessings to you all.
Jacqui Hamblin
We have received notification from the Education Minister that schools will remain open for Term 2 under the following conditions:
- Parents who are able, are encouraged to keep their children at home.
- Those who need to send their children to school to maintain employment, children of essential workers and those who require schools to support them overcome particular vulnerabilities, however, may choose attend.
- To ensure that all students’ needs are met, staff will be present on school sites.
- All students will be taught: those attending schools and those learning at home.
- Students will receive the same class program of learning at school that is provided for those working from home.
For those students who do attend school next term, please note the following:
- Parents of school bus students are to advise the bus driver if the bus service is going to be used by the children in the family.
- Students are to bring a water bottle to drink from with the bottle labelled with the student’s name.
- All students will be asked to wash their hands with soap and water regularly, including upon entry to class, at the start of the day and after break times; before and after eating; after toileting.
Students are to remain at home if they are unwell in any way. Those attending school whilst unwell in any way will have their parents contacted to collect them.
See Saw & Zoom
Staff are working over the holidays to learn about the learning platform the school will be using to deliver online learning for term 2. We will be using the See Saw platform which can be accessed by any device – laptop, tablet or phone. Staff recognise that a number of parents wish to maintain as screen-free an education experience for their children as possible and to this end will provide materials and instruction on See Saw for parents who wish to deliver the content to the children in person. We also appreciate that there are those of you working from home or with the learning programs of other children to juggle, and to this end, staff will also provide recordings of readings and songs and recorded instructions that will allow students to follow along with their learning independently.
Information will be emailed to you once we have set up the system, that will allow you to log in to your child’s See Saw Journal. Here is where all of your child’s teachers will be able to place the work for your child and where you are able to upload completed work in photo form. We hope this goes some way to keeping your email less full and assists in managing the work of multiple children. We will also schedule a class catch up Zoom meeting for all classes each Monday morning as a check in. We shall schedule these to occur one after the other so that you are able to get through each child in your family in the one morning. Some class teachers may also negotiate an additional Zoom catch up for their classes at a different time in the week.
Some staff have had families speak to them regarding homeschooling. This is the decision of each individual family, however, I do offer the following information. The choice to homeschool will mean ending your enrolment at GHSS. We will no longer be able to offer you the support of your teacher or access to resources from that time onwards. You will be required to then register with the education department and they will provide a period of time for you to prepare a learning program that meets the curriculum needs of your child or children. They will then conduct a homevisit to assess the appropriateness of your program of learning and advise on any required alterations and improvements. The terms and conditions of Fee Policy remain in place and state that any child who withdraws from the school must provide one full term’s notice and can’t seek to reenrol until the following school year.
Please ensure you give a homeschooling decision considerable thought. Our staff really do not want to lose any child from their class and are working hard to ensure that we can continue to support and monitor the learning and development of your children. Please feel free to contact them to discuss any concerns you have in relation to your child’s education.