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Dear Parents and Families
At the expense of sounding like a ‘broken record’, I once again would like to congratulate ALL of our amazing students for how well they have continued to engage in their learning and stay connected to school. Our data analysis and feedback from staff suggests that the majority of students have been consistently attending Home Group and tutorial sessions throughout the week and the amount of work uploaded and submitted in Canvas or emailed through to teachers has been wonderful. Our attendance data continues to remain high at above 85%.
I know that there has been much ‘commentary’ in the media that suggests that students will be significantly behind in their learning after schools re-open but I know we have a real confidence that we have been able to support our students to not fall behind. The rigorous but well-paced learning modules that have been released through the Canvas courses have been specifically designed for at home, online learning. As we have courses for all Learning Areas, for all students to access and have been able to support and facilitate access to this online learning, we know that students will not be hugely disadvantaged in their learning if they have stayed engaged, when they return on the 9th June (Tuesday).
Our bi-weekly check-in surveys and daily home group online for 30 minutes have also ensured our home group teachers and grade teams can continue to monitor student wellbeing. Our students have and will continue to have access to support through these platforms along with our Wellbeing and Support Team having their own Canvas page for students to access. If students or family members have any concerns, there are many ways to seek support from school.
- Canvas links (Home Room and Support Team)
- Through regular Teams meetings
- Emails (teachers, staff or the main admin)
- Schoolzine notifications
- Phone calls
We are certainly missing everyone immensely and are really looking forward to when we can have everyone back on campus. I would like to continue to thank those families who are able to continue to support your child’s learning at home though, as per the Governments request, and also for letting us know if circumstances change with 24 hours notice.
Currently student learning at school continues to be the same as students learning from home in an online delivery mode. This will continue until Tuesday 9th June when schools will be open for all students to return. Current advice from the Health Department and Education Department regarding at risk ‘vulnerable’ students with pre-existing medical conditions remains unchanged in that families can continue to keep children in these categories at home and our school will continue to provide their teaching and learning program. This may look slightly different to what it has been so far this term, but we will certainly continue to support your child.
You can access COVID-19 Advice for People with Chronic Health Conditions and further information on immune system conditions, medical treatments and chronic conditions that may increase the risk of illness via the DoE website.
Parents and carers of children with complex medical needs are required to seek medical advice, where the needs are not already known by the school, from a registered health practitioner to support informed risk assessment and decision-making regarding the suitability of on-site education wellbeing for their child. Medical advice is defined as the provision of a formal professional opinion regarding what a specific individual should or should not do to restore or preserve their health. This may be provided in the form of a medical certificate, but it is not compulsory for this to occur.
We will be sending a survey to families regarding returning to school soon, which will enable us to have a real accurate understanding of who will be on campus and who will be at home and any further supports we need to put in place.
The clear message is and always has been that schools are safe, and we will continue to have all the necessary hygiene and wellbeing protocols in place to ensure everyone’s safety. However, families are asked not to send their child to school if they are showing any signs of cold or flu like symptoms or are unwell.
Why Our Schools are Safe Places
Tips to Prepare for Returning to School
Important information regarding school from 9th June:
Arriving and leaving school:
To reduce the number of people and adults on our site (and all school sites), the DoE have instructed us to inform parents of the STOP, DROP and GO message. Parents are asked to drop students safely near the gates of the school or if needed via the school car park turning circle and leave immediately.
Buses:
The DoE continues to work closely with the Department of State Growth and Department of Health regarding safety precautions on school buses. School bus timetables will not change even if schools change their start and finish times. Please see the attached letter regarding buses received from Department of State Growth.
Daily Timetable:
Bell at 8.40am – Students to move to Grade Areas and wait to be signalled in via our staggered “coloured dot locker” system to allow for staggered entry to small locker areas.
Class Teacher - 9.00am - 9.30am (for the first week and to be revised after this)
Block 1- 9.30am -10.20am
Block 2 - 10.20am - 11.10am
Recess
Block 3 - 11.30am - 12.20pm
Block 4 - 12.20pm -1.10pm
Lunch
Block 5 - 1.50pm -2.40pm
Hygiene Routines:
- Hand washing routines before breaks will continue as per Term 1. Students are expected to wash their hands on returning to class after breaks.
- All classrooms and grade areas have hand sanitiser available for student use.
- All classrooms have mobile cleaning kits for equipment to be wiped after use (e.g. computer keyboards).
- Cleaning staff will continue to regularly clean high touch point and hard surfaces (e.g. door handles and flat surfaces).
- Sport equipment will be required to be cleaned after use and students undertake a strict hand washing routine.
- Students are very welcome to bring their own sanitiser if they choose but there are plenty of supplies across the school.
- Students are not to be sharing equipment such as pens and pencils and need to be prepared for their own learning requirements. Grade Teams will assist if needed.
Physical Distancing:
- Whilst school are not required to physically distance students in classrooms and playgrounds, we are certainly encouraged to maintain physical distance where practicable. This means we will continue with our staggered entry and exit system (“coloured dots”) in our corridors and locker bays.
- Students will be strongly encouraged to remain physically distanced with others whilst in the playground and in activities where it is possible.
- HPE and Dance classes are not permitted to undertake activities that are deliberate contact activities.
Canteen:
- Students will be allowed to access the canteen daily as always but will be required to enter in limited numbers and in one line in and out, adhering to physical distance rules.
- They are not permitted to remain in the canteen to eat their food.
- We strongly encourage students to utilise the new QKR ordering APP to ensure easy and quick access to food.
Learning:
- Students will return to our “new normal” on 9th June and engage back with their teachers in a face to face manner.
- We will continue to embrace the positives from our time learning online and continue to share curriculum materials and learning opportunities in a blended learning manner. Students will be able to access their learning through Canvas as per normal.
- The priority will be to re-establish students' connection with school and learning and support them in areas that are needed. Families will receive communication regarding student wellbeing and level of learning achievement by the end of July.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all families and carers for your continued support of your child’s learning at home. We know that it has no doubt presented many challenges for you and your family, but we certainly are appreciative of your ongoing support.
I would also like to pay particular thanks to the amazing team of staff here at Kings Meadows High School for their wonderful work in continuing to support our learners. The hours of planning and preparation to ensure that the units of work are conducive to online learning and engaging and rigorous that staff have been doing is testament to their outstanding commitment to our students. To be able to stay connected with our learners and their learning has been wonderful and we certainly can’t wait to see them return on 9th June.
Warm regards
Maree
As part of our Positive Behaviour Support Program at Kings Meadows we will be acknowledging students who have been contributing positively to our learning environment. This means that they have been supporting our school wide expectations.
Respect for others, self and environment
Organisation
Commitment to learning
Keeping safe
Sensible behaviour
We would like to acknowledge the following students:
Grade 7:
Abbigale Midson - for her outstanding commitment to learning online.
Jawed Abdul Hakeem - for his commitment to learning English in addition to actively engaging with all subject areas.
Grade 8:
Jaslyn Freestone - for completing her work on time and being an active participant in online tutorials.
Seth Bassett - for fully engaging in online learning and putting in his best efforts.
William Webb - for his determination and positive attitude with his online learning.
Grade 9:
Taylah Weldon & Alex Airey - for consistent dedication to their online learning.
Grade 10:
Kiarna Parish, Evan Harrop & Aaron Rice - for their commitment and motivation to their online learning.
We are excited that we finally have a date for our Grade 7 students to return to school. We are looking forward to seeing them on Tuesday 9th June!
A reminder to families that if your circumstances do change and students need to be attending on-site that the school requires 24 hours notice. This is to ensure the adequate supervision and preparation for students on-site. It is important to note that even though there are some students learning on-site that they are participating in class the same way as those at home; meaning they are seeing their teachers through online tutorials once a week and accessing their learning through CANVAS.
Celebrations
We are continuously receiving feedback from Grade 7 teachers who have been highlighting a number of students who are consistently completing all tasks set by teachers, respectfully and politely contacting their teachers using the CANVAS inbox and producing work of a high standard. You may have seen some of these students are ROCKS Stars in our recent newsletters. We are encouraging our teachers to contact home and provide feedback on all of our students' online learning successes.
Grade Focus
As the winter months are upon us we are focusing on ensuring our Grade 7s are in full school uniform. As part of our winter uniform, students are allowed to wear a winter skirt with navy stockings and a blue shirt. In addition to this grey trousers or shorts may also be worn. Students are encouraged to wear their spray jackets, woollen or rugby jumpers in order to keep warm. It should be noted that beanies and hoodies are not part of our school uniform and are not to be worn to school. Students are able to layer, for example singlets underneath their uniform as extra layers, however these should not be visible from the outside.
Another one of our Grade foci at the moment is sensible behaviour which is one of our ROCKS expectations. Our students have been well-behaved with their learning however, sensible behaviour is particularly important at break times, before and after school. Sensible behaviour is one of our most important ROCKS expectations. This is because it encompasses respect and also ensures that our students are making positive decisions about the way they conduct themselves. This helps them to remain safe and healthy.
Grade Assemblies
On Monday, Miss Males and Mrs Hume held the weekly Grade assembly via teams. Items discussed were:
- School Uniform
- Joke Throwdown- Inter Class Competition
We are excited to share that we had 180 participants in our online assembly!
7G interacting through class teacher with Mr Chatwin in 'Bring your Pets to School Day'.
Celebrations
It has been another busy fortnight in Grade 8, both at school and in the online space! Students have continued to impress us with their adaptability and creativity. We are so impressed with how well students are engaging with their online classes through Microsoft Teams. We have also seen an improvement in student ‘netiquette’. Our chat feature in Microsoft Teams has been used to enhance learning and improve collaboration.
We have been loving our weekly grade assembly; Mr Stokes has been creating fun ‘Kahoot’ quizzes for us to participate in! Last week, students were required to match Grade 8 staff members with their baby photos! This week, our Kahoot will feature staff pets. Students have also participated in some music quizzes, featuring tunes from both the 20th and the 21st century (staff have been quite taken aback to discover that some students have never even heard of the likes of Elton John, Jimmy Barnes and Alanis Morissette! We are feeling very old!).
We are grateful for Mr Pinnington, who has joined us each day in Grade 8 to help supervise students who are working here at school. Thanks Mr Pinnington for your positivity, your sense of humour and your patience!
Grade Focus
In the coming weeks, it will be very important for us to maintain our continued focus on hand-washing and physical distancing. We all must do our part to keep our school, our families and our community safe!
Celebrations
This week marks the third week completed of online learning for our school. It has been business as usual in Grade 9 with a major focus on completing and uploading work in Canvas, attending online tutorials, staying healthy and using healthy habits.
Our tutorial lessons have had a strong focus on learning outcomes and our teachers have been working tirelessly to ensure that our students are receiving the best face to face experience possible.
Our grade assemblies have been well attended and students have had the opportunity to represent their class teacher in our regular competition each week. These competitions have been centred on keeping a connectedness with the grade and improving mood and wellbeing. Activities have included guessing movies from a one line delivery, guess the teacher from their baby photo, jokes of the week from Grade 9 staff and guess the staff members in a photo morph. Mrs Watts' 9A are streaking ahead in this competition with Mr Wood’s 9E in second place.
Grade Focus
Over the next few weeks our focus will be around continuing to apply good learning behaviours and academic rigour, maintaining regular contact with subject teachers and beginning our transition back to school. Plans are currently being put in place by our school executive for what school will look like when we return and the school will brief all parents and students once they have been completed.
To start this week’s report, I would like to remind students of some good practices for online etiquette.
- Remember that when you are on camera you are live. Your teacher and class members can see what you are wearing, where you are sitting and your facial expressions. Find a quiet place in your house. Dress appropriately, following the school dress codes. If possible, wear earphones with a microphone.
- Follow the school ROCKS expectations for learning and behaviour that you would follow if you are at school. Listen to the teacher, take turns to speak and be kind and considerate.
- Think before you type if you are using chat, choose your words carefully using appropriate spelling and grammar.
Grade assemblies are every Thursday after Class Teacher and I would like to remind students of some ongoing events for the remainder of Term 2.
- Curiosity Program - If you are interested in focussing your learning in a specialised area please see Mr Chamberlain or Mrs Williams for more information.
- Weekly Check in Survey is completed every Monday and Friday during Class Teacher and students are supported by their Class Teacher, Grade Leader and Grade AST if there are any concerns.
- Beacon Foundation have launched Be@Connected. It is a new series of online learning programs, available on YouTube throughout Term 2. Be@Connected will feature a range of prominent and inspiring speakers from a variety of fields covering topics including communication, resilience, wellbeing, problem solving and adaptability. The short series is specifically designed for students across Australia to support them through this period of uncertainty. Speakers include National Ambassador and Australian Test Captain Cricket Captain Tim Paine, Sarah Veale past player and present coach of the Launceston Tornadoes as well as Olympic Swimmer Ariane Titmus.
- Nurse Dani’s Health and Wellness Resources for KMHS. Dani’s support resources include Strong Physical Health, Positive Mental Health, Teenage Stuff and Coping with COVID 19.
As students move into week 5 of online learning, they are encouraged to continue to do the following
- Actively engage in Class Teacher and subject tutorials
- Respond to correspondence from teachers through CANVAS
- Regularly check school emails
- Adhere to due dates or contact teachers to arrange flexible submission times
- Take brain breaks, get outside and get active. (Check your HPE canvas page for workout ideas)
Student name: Charlotte McLennan
Student class: 7E
What can you tell us about this piece of work?
I actually think it’s interesting that I wrote this just before the current pandemic really started to affect us, seeing as the topic is about learning life skills. Right now, we’re all learning some of the most important life skills of all, like resilience, independence, and responsibility - both on an individual and community level. Whether or not schools teach these life skills is something that I’ve talked about with my family many times before, so I had lots of ideas for it, and the debate around it intrigues me.
I tried my best to cover the most important aspects of it from both perspectives, because I think it’s always more important to hear how other people think about it instead of just seeing your own view of an argument, no matter what the topic is.
What is your favourite thing about English?
I love that it encourages both critical thinking and creativity, which the other core subjects don’t usually do. I particularly enjoy writing narratives because it’s just such a great way to extend yourself in all areas. It’s so much fun to incorporate parts of yourself into the characters you create, and to let them do all sorts of things that I can only dream of doing myself.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently brainstorming ideas for the KMHS Short Story Competition, which I’m excited to enter. For me, brainstorming is the best part of writing, and I do it constantly, usually without even realising it. I love creating weird universes with bizarre characters that I usually base off of a person that I know, or experiences that I’ve had, but I also use it as a way to express myself in any way that I’d like.
What are you reading at the moment?
Right now, I’m reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It’s so much more interesting than the title suggests, and it’s actually about a young German girl during World War II. Liesel, the girl, goes to live with her new foster parents who she bonds with faster than she expected, and the book revolves around her life as war hurls problems through her front door which is always open to anyone, including Jews.
What is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book is actually The Book Thief. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I first picked it up, but I definitely didn’t expect it to be written in the way that it is. It’s in the perspective of Death, who’s portrayed as a gentle and poetic man, but he views things very honestly. Everything is described through colour and time, which I thought was really strange, and lots of metaphors as well. The book is based purely off of description, and it focuses less on the violence and terror of the war, and more on the guilt and sorrow that so many people would have felt.
What are some books that you would really like to read?
I’d really like to read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which I have sitting in my room. The Second World War is the most intriguing part of history for me, and most of the historical fiction books I’ve read have been about it. I like the fact that Anne Frank had no idea that her diary would become famous, and she just wrote things exactly as they were for her, because it must give a really good insight into what it was like as a teenager back then.