13.05.2020

08.05.2020

28.04.2020

Dear parents,

Today was a pretty amazing day. I am so proud and encouraged by the amazing resilience and courage all of our families, students and staff demonstrated when they encountered problems with technology or the new way of learning today. Thank you for being patient and persisting. I sat in on a few TEAMS class meetings and it was absolutely wonderful to connect with all the beautiful faces at home and so worth the extra effort and time you put in.

Attached is a timetable of the teachers who will be in front of the classes here at school for the next two weeks (cohort teachers) and also those teachers who will be monitoring the learning from home. If you are working from home and you have any questions regarding the teaching and learning or any IT issues, please consult the timetable and contact the relevant person on that day.  We have several teachers working from home so the best method is through email and these are all listed on this timetable. It is also available on CANVAS under the tab “contacting your child’s teacher”.

Teaching Timetable Weeks 1 and 2 Final.pdf

Because we have some staff working from home I would like to welcome five new staff here at school. Miss Sam Vince is taking the Grade 4 cohort for Mrs Isaac and Mrs Morgan, Miss Ashley Swan is taking a grade two class for Mr Young, Mrs Lou Carter has returned to teach the grade 3 cohort on Thursdays and Fridays for Mrs Palmer and Mrs Thompson and Mr Devereux are also here filling in where needed.

Over the next few days/weeks you may encounter some more hiccups and I encourage you to please reach out to us as we are here to help!

27.04.2020

Please see the document below for helpful information about learning at home in Term 2:

Learning_at_Home_in_Term_2_Primary_Schools.pdf

24.04.2020

Information for Term 2

Hello! I hope this communication reaches you feeling well and rested after a very different school holiday break. From Tuesday, 28th of April school is open for children of essential workers and those who can’t be supervised at home. We ask that over the course of the term if you experience a change in circumstance and need to update us on whether your children will be returning to school that you give us 24 hours notice please. An email or contact through Schoolzine is preferable. This will help us to ensure that the organisation and structure of our onsite classes meet with the current social distancing guidelines and also that we have adequate staff onsite for duty of care. Term 2 is going to be like no other we have experienced before. At the end of Term 1 we got a glimpse of what the ‘new normal’ could like for us at LPS and for you guys at home. Staff have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that when your children do resume, whether that be at home or at school, we are ready for a productive and successful term of teaching and learning. During the four student free days our staff had dedicated time plan, design and write rich and engaging learning tasks and to also provide supporting resources for learning at home and at school. CANVAS, Seesaw and Microsoft TEAMS will be three digital platforms that will be essential to delivering these. There are several previous posts and videos on Schoolzine about these platforms and how to access them. I urge you all to reread/watch these and become familiar with them so you can navigate through this new way of working and learning with your children. On Monday the Lindisfarne Primary School CANVAS site will be made live.  There will also be a new post introducing Microsoft TEAMS and how we will be using this to connect all students at home with their class teachers and classmates. Also on Monday, every parent will be contacted through Seesaw and sent their child’s email address and password. Students will need these to access Microsoft TEAMS. Please keep an eye out for any new communication on Schoolzine. Facebook and Seesaw to ensure that everyone has the most up-to-date information. Until then, please stay home and stay safe.

10.04.2020

As our Lindisfarne Learners are going to be spread across a number of different sites next term, we will be using our CANVAS site to communicate intended learning sequences and activities. Below are three videos which give you a very quick snapshot of what this site looks like and how to navigate it. We will still be finalising it over the holidays, and it will go live on Monday 27th April at 3pm. For the moment, this is a public page and so you will just need to follow the link on Monday 27^th to access. In the meantime, please have a look at the videos as it will give you a good idea of what our learning will look like for Term 2.

Weekly planners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmh3HDvCk-8

Task grids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txDvPwd6igU

Specialist grids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ-8Qr6YYOs

Next term we will also communicate further information on how to use Microsoft Teams as part of our learning communication and connection.

09.04.2020

03.04.2020

Coronavirus- Term Two Learning Mode form for parents carers.docx

30.03.2020

Dear Parents,

Further to the instructions from the Prime Minister and Premier we will remain open for all students with parents who are at work or unable to provide care for their children. We are currently working with a skeleton staff, and will continue to provide education and care for those who attend however moving forward we will be adopting the following new protocols until further notice:  

• All students who attend school from Tuesday this week must be dropped off at the gate/area in front of the school crossing in Loatta Road between 8:30am until 9am. This does not apply to Kinder. Kinder students will be met at their gate on Henley Street.
• Students must be WALKED to this area not to classes. Senior staff will meet all students outside at the gate and will direct/take them to their respective classrooms.
• After school, students will be dismissed from the same area from 2:55pm. Parents are asked to wait outside the gate (practising appropriate social distancing) and not inside the school.
• All adults are asked not to enter the school or school office unless it is an emergency. We ask that if you need to contact a teacher or the office you send an email to or call on 62439232.
• All classes will be collapsed from Tuesday. We will cap each class at under 15 and practice social distancing as per the Health Departments recommendations.
• The Grade 5/6 classrooms along with the Grade 4 building and Music building will be closed to students. The top area of the school (above the library) will also be out of bounds to students until further notice.
• All playground equipment will be out of bounds until further notice. A small selection of sports equipment will be available and cleaned daily for students to use at recess and lunch.
• Before and After School care have asked that parents call them on 0400677590 when you arrive at school and an educator will meet you at the Loatta Street gate.

We ask that you respect these new protocols and consider that our staff are working under very challenging conditions.

Over the next two weeks our teaching staff will be preparing and learning for online learning to commence in Term 2. In the meantime we ask that you don’t ask for individual learning for your children and direct you to the DoE website where you can click on “Online Learning’ for ideas and activities for the remainder of Term 1. We also have a COVID-19 tab on the Schoolzine app with up to date information and activities for at home learning.

These are strange and unnerving times, and I thank you for your understanding, and encourage you all to stay home if you can.

27.03.2020

Today, Premier Gutwein announced that schools will remain open next week (Monday March 30 – Friday April 3).  He also asked, that where possible, parents should keep their children home from school.  For those of you who are considered essential workers, we are open and here for you to send youchildren. We ask that parents who are keeping their children at home next week please notify school as soon as possible via our usual channels.  Accurate student numbers support the school in providing appropriate care and support for those that will attend. 

For students at home we encourage families to access the online learning materials available via the online announcement earlier in the week, as we continue to work to prepare home learning opportunities for our students.

https://www.education.tas.gov.au/learning-at-home/ 

Thank you to those families that have been in contact with the office and class teachers over the recent few days, passing on support and appreciation for our school staff and the hard work that they are doing at this difficult time.  I ask for your continued support through:

• ensuring that you have read communications before contacting school staff and asking questions
• understand that replies will take longer than normal due to the increased contact from families
• not requesting individual work sent home to you and your children at this time
• respecting that our staff also have families and obligations outside of their work hours

We appreciate that these are challenging times and encourage you all to look after yourselves and your children’s health and wellbeing during this time.

26.03.2020

Information regarding 2020 levies:

Dear parent/carer

I am writing to you to let you know that the Tasmanian Government has announced there will be school levy relief for all parents/carers in Tasmanian Government schools.

What does this mean for you?

If you have paid the 2020 school levy payments you will be reimbursed directly from the Department of Education.

If you had not yet paid your child’s levy payment you will not be required to do so.  Similarly, if you are making instalment payments these can now stop.

The Department of Education will be aiming to have the majority of refunds provided to parents by the end of April with any balance shortly thereafter.  The refunds will be provided via a cheque delivered in the post.

Any payments related to activities, camps, interstate or overseas trips will continue to be reimbursed, if this has not already occurred.

This process will be managed directly between the Department of Education with parents and carers. We ask that you do not contact the school office in regards to this matter, in this current climate our school staff are under enormous pressure to look after the wellbeing of staff and students.

I also wanted to assure you that this will not have an impact on the funding that is available for our school.

We realise that many families are feeling worried and have been effected greatly by COVID-19. Please be assured that we are doing everything we can to look after our school community.

26.03.2020

Home Reading Program: Adjustments

As we move away from books travelling between home, school and then new homes we are looking at other ways to support home reading routines. Please find below some alternative suggestions to reading levelled books. If you complete one of the activities below we ask that you continue to complete your child’s home reading log but keep it at home for the time being.

Reading Eggs and Reading Express (Prep – Grade 6)

This program has been created by the same company as Mathletics. It is a paid subscription that the school resources to supplement classroom teaching and learning programs. Reading Eggs is designed for emerging readers and focuses on essential reading skills including phonics development. Reading Express builds on this program with comprehension activities and a digital library. Students from Prep – Grade 6 have their own log ons which will be coming home soon on Seesaw.

Students can have stories read to them through digital platforms such as:

Storyline Online – www.storylineonline.net

Story Box Library – www.storyboxlibrary.com.au

Audio Books – www.stories.audiable.com/discovery

David Walliams Free Audio Books - https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/

If students have a State Library Tasmania membership they can access a range of digital books, comics, newspapers and audio books.

Reading at home using your own library of fiction and non- fiction books, as well as everyday texts (recipe books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, instructions, manuals) supports a student’s reading development. Although your child may not be able to read these independently, reading the together can lead to increased vocabulary and fluency and of course a love of literature.

Every time your child engages with reading material at home, please complete their Home Reading log to recognise their commitment and this will enable us to celebrate with them when they reach their 100 nights.

Please also check out the DoE Tasmania Learning at Home resource to support your child’s reading at home.

25.03.2020

Letter_to_parents_and_carers_from_Secretary_and_Minister_for_Education_and_training_25_March_2020.pdf

25.03.2020

24.03.2020

Resources for learning at home:

23.03.2020

Letter to Parents and Guardians from DoE Secretary:

Letter to Parents and Guardians from DoE Secretary - 23 March 2020.pdf

19.03.2020

FAQs for Parents - COVID-19:

FAQ for Parents - Coronavirus - (COVID-19) (002).pdf

16.03.2020

LPS update regarding COVID-19:

Lindisfarne Primary is continuing to remain open with the Minister for Education briefing Principals this morning (16 March) on new precautionary measures to support current advice around social distancing.

We will continue to communicate any updates to our families via Schoolzine and Facebook.

As of today we will be cancelling several of our planned events;

• Inter-School Athletics Carnival
• ECE Athletics carnival
• Launching into Learning sessions
• Parent teacher meetings
• Winter Sports Roster games (netball/football)
• All excursions and incursions (including guest speakers and sustainability centre outdoor classroom)
• Assemblies
• School Photos (postponed until August)
• School Canteen will be closed until further notice
• Buddies
• Choir
• Kinder fruit sharing
• Breakfast and classroom cooking programs

We will continue to ensure our staff and students follow health and hygiene practices; regular hand washing and refrain from touching our mouths and faces. We would appreciate families reiterating these messages to their children.

We encourage families as always to keep students home who are unwell and to seek medical advice as appropriate.

We will keep our community informed of any updates or advice we receive from the Minister of Education that may change our practices at LPS.

We appreciate our community's support as we work together through this period together.