20 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

Term 2 Week 4

Calendar of Key Events

From the Principal…..

Congratulations to students, parents and members of our PPS team for the amazing learning that everyone has completed during the beginning few weeks of this term. It has been an absolute pleasure to see student work via Canvas and to visit classrooms to see students so engaged. The growth in ICT skills for students and staff is phenomenal, as is the ability for students to remain focussed on tasks of high interest. The resilience and perseverance of our students has also been shining through as they tackle many of the challenges that arise during their time at school. The role of adults modelling a calm and settled approach during this time is critical.

Preparations for Week 5 – Monday 25th May

At PPS we are excited to welcome all students to our classrooms next Monday. In line with DoE guidelines students only will be welcome on school grounds with signs clearly stating that parents and carers must wait outside the gates to collect children at a pre-arranged meeting place. In the mornings only, kindergarten and prep children can be walked to the classroom door, but parents are not to enter classrooms. This approach is evidence-based, as we know that Covid 19 is spread by adult to adult contact. Limiting the number of adults on our school site helps to keep everyone safe and healthy. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

What is Physical Distancing?

We have heard this term many times – we were using the term Social Distancing – but we really want to stay socially connected, so we have changed to talk about physical distancing to ensure we all stay safe. The physical distancing measures at school apply between adults. Research clearly shows that Covid 19 is not spread by children, nor is it a virus which affects children generally. Physical distancing is not possible nor practical in the school environment without seriously limiting learning opportunities. Hand-washing and hygiene protocols, cough and sneeze etiquette and general cleaning within schools are considered to be far more effective control measures. These are all well-embedded at PPS.

Keeping Yourself Healthy

Each newsletter we will bring you a short message from our School Nurse, Bec Beeston. This week’s message is a highly topical one about staying healthy.

The following clip is appropriate for watching with younger students:

NBN Support for those Students without Internet at Home:

To help Australians respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, NBN Co is providing up to $50 million to assist phone and internet providers to support low-income family households with school-aged children who do not currently have an active NBN connection at home.

This funding will help phone and internet providers create more affordable offers to connect eligible families during Term 2. More than 20 phone and internet providers nationwide have agreed to participate in this program.

The assistance period runs from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020. Each phone and internet provider has their own pricing structure and may still charge a fee for monthly access, data costs and account set up fees.

Phone and internet providers that are ready to connect customers as of 1 May 2020 are:

Activ8me | https://www.activ8me.net.au/ - 132 288
Aussie Broadband | https://www.aussiebroadband.com.au - 1300 880 905
IPSTAR Broadband | https://ipstarbroadband.com.au/products/educationreliefoffer/ - 132 800
SkyMesh | https://www.skymesh.net.au - 1300 759 637
Superloop | https://www.superloop.com - 1800 101 210
Southern Phone | https://www.southernphone.com.au/ - 131464
Flip Connect | https://www.flipconnect.com.au/nbn/ - 1300 354 788

Contact the service providers directly for further information.

Learning, Playing and Getting Along at PPS

During the last few weeks we have been talking about how we can best support the ways that students are able to learn, play and get along well with each other. That’s why we all come to school. Learning, playing and getting along well together is what we do at PPS.

We’ve been trialling some different arrangements for lessons and break times during the past few weeks so that children have different times to play throughout the day and aren’t so worried about rushing their morning tea and lunch to run off and play. Eating can then become a chat time with friends. We will provide some further details about what we find once we’ve settled on a structure to share which seems to work better.

Lee Craw
Principal

Before School Care Hours

Happy Birthday

Celebrating birthdays this newsletter are:

Max, Kaylee, Scarlett, Lucas, Charlotte, Harry, Zaria, Chris, Mrs Katsabiris, Mrs Richards, Ms Todman

Community News……

2020 Professional Learning Days/Moderation Days

Monday 20th July 2020 – Professional Learning Day 2
Friday 30th October 2020 – Professional Learning Day 3

2020 Term Dates

Term 2

Finish date: Friday 3 July

Term 3

Start date: Tuesday 21 July
Finish date: Friday 25 September

Term 4

Start date: Monday 12 October
Finish date: Thursday 17 December (students)
Friday 18 December (teachers)

2020 PPS Support Staff

Schoolzine Information

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