As we get to the end of another interesting week of social distancing, have you noticed how confusing everything is? I am getting my daily dose of exercise by creating home work-outs early in the morning and then taking a long walk most evenings. It has been nice to see many Claremont parents out and about, even if it’s just a quick wave as we both jog by. As a Coogee local, I have never seen the place so busy. The walking track, the beach promenade, and Coogee Oval are a flurry of activity. It’s so nice to experience a sense of community with so many people out and about. Most people seem to be respecting social distancing recommendations - but aren’t we meant to be in a crisis? It’s confusing. 

As I take my walks, I am reminded of the beauty of our city and coastline. I have enjoyed some spectacular sunsets this week. Once again I have been blown away by expansive views from the cliffs and Dolphin Point Headland that I would often take for granted. The ocean and sky have never been clearer. The beach is beautiful. I am reminded that I live in a place that is a top tourist destination and I understand why thousands of people from around the world come to visit Coogee - it’s breathtaking. I am also reminded that while I am enjoying all of this, people are suffering with loss of employment and for some so sadly, the loss of loved ones. We are in a crisis - it’s confusing.

For my family, we have ‘mostly’ enjoyed spending more time together. We’ve had a lovely time watching a good number of Netflix series together, playing cards (Canasta) and board games. I have done so much cooking and we have reclaimed (again mostly) good habits of eating together as a family around the table. I can’t believe how much food we seem to go through and we are spending more money than ever at the supermarket - not panic buying for stocking up, rather we just seem to eat a lot more. With these lovely family moments, I need to reassure you that we still have plenty of fusses, arguments (especially over cleaning up after yourself), the kids annoy each other (I’m sure that I annoy them), and at times my wife and I lose our patience with each other. I am thankful for the joys of family life, and sometimes this feels like an extended summer holiday. But it’s confusing. I am reminded that we are in a crisis.

At a personal level, I am getting confused what day it is. I feel like I am doing all of these lovely things at home but my work, as I am sure you would appreciate, has been very demanding, and stressful. This week’s round of latest COVID-19 related announcements have been confusing too. As an educator I find much of the news and commentary confusing. If you too are finding things confusing and contradictory, I want to reassure you that it’s not just you. To be honest I think that much of the news we are getting now is unhelpful rubbish. 

It’s certainly confusing when: 

• We are told to socially distance but the Bunnings checkout area is congested with dozens of people.
• We can’t have more than 5 people at a wedding but the Prime Minister’s Press conference has a dozen people sitting side by side.
• Parents are told that you should keep your child at home, but schools are open “for all”.
• We should be working remotely from home and we cannot have visitors in our homes, yet teachers and other essential workers should be at work.
• We are told that we are flattening the curve (which is great news) but also told that there are ‘hidden dangers’ with a flattened curve.
• We are told that the crisis is easing but we should be prepared for a spike, especially here in the Eastern Suburbs.
• The NRL has a restart date, but not the AFL - that’s not fair!

It’s doubly confusing when the so-called experts disagree with each other, and when the Prime Minister appears to say something contrary to the Premier, and when the ‘Herald’ reports on the same issue opposite to the ‘Telegraph’.

I am attempting to segue to an important point here; that I expect that you too may be confused by this week’s many media conversations regarding what is best for the education and schooling of your children. It is now confusing when we are told children should come to school one day a week for ‘face-to-face’ teaching because this is better than online learning. Face to face is certainly better in regards to the learning for my 2 nieces (aged 10 and 12) whose schools are giving them the equivalent of only 15 minutes of online school work each day. 

So what is best during this crisis when we are balancing not only student educational outcomes, but also, WHS, public health, financial, economic, and broader community and societal issues? What is best? Is it ‘home learning’, ‘off campus learning’, ‘on-line learning’, ‘face-to-face teaching’, coming to school for part of a day, all day, one day a week, every day of the week, or just for some time in between? You might ask what is the difference between these things. Furthermore, ‘experts’, politicians and educators use these terms interchangeably. It’s doubly confusing and unhelpful when you do not know the full context of the situation.

Please do not ever think that a teacher talking to a group of students by teaching face-to-face at the ‘blackboard’ for 30 minutes, or giving two hours of Maths worksheets, or allocating ten pages of an English text book is necessarily quality teaching or what is best for them at this time. These things may be useful and certainly have their place and purpose according to context, but often they are lazy teaching strategies, and do not align with the research that describes what excellent teaching and learning looks like. It’s confusing and most unhelpful when we read that this is what schools should be doing during these days of COVID-19. Please do not believe a politician who thinks that he or she knows what is best for student learning.

I seek to reassure you that we have developed a model of teaching that is based on sound educational and wellbeing research. Our ‘Off Campus Learning’ model aligns with the following priorities:

• Ensuring for the academic foundations of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics;
• Continuing our thinking and learning dispositions program where we are developing student independence, flexibility, initiative, persistence and moving into Term 2 - ‘focus’ (concentration);
• Students having access and support to teachers across the entire school day;
• Designing lessons and learning experiences that are structured and pitched at different student abilities and needs;
• Maintaining specialist subjects, and reinforcing important school structures and routines (for example Chapel);
• Provide opportunities for some fun, creativity and discovery in lessons and other broader, more open-ended tasks and activities;
• Wellbeing support, and moving into Term 2, we are seeking to go further to develop the social connectedness of our students;
• Being flexible to respond to and accommodate for the different contexts, needs and circumstances for each of our families - many who are going through significant personal challenges;
• Being available to parents who need help and support;
• Growing school community connectedness and support of each other;
• Adapting to the COVID-19 crisis and being flexible as we respond to the ever changing circumstances and directives that come with this;
• Safety at school and at home (on and off campus); and
• Review and improvement based on our professional evaluations and parent feedback.

In all of this, I want you to have full confidence in what we are doing. Your child/ren are in very good hands with their teachers and with all we are offering at Claremont College. The significant amount of constant positive feedback that we have been receiving from the parent community has been incredibly affirming and helpful. Thank you!

Mrs Ford has provided (yet another) excellent overview of Term 2 Off Campus Learning, later in this Newsletter.

Week 1 and Week 2 

• Monday 27 April is a Pupil Free Day, designated for teacher training. For your interest, our staff will be participating in a Child Protection seminar, and a PD in relation to a new online teaching resource for us (Clickview), and they will have time for collaborative team lesson planning. Free Vacation Care for Monday as this is available to those who register through the TeamKids website.
• The first day of Term 2 for students and our delivery of ‘Off Campus Learning’ will commence this Tuesday 28 April. Only children of emergency and essential workers may come to campus for these two weeks. If you fit this category and should you require for your child to be at school, please email my PA, Mrs Kathy-Clare Rochester kc.rochester@claremont.nsw.edu.au This arrangement will continue until Friday 8 May.
• For those students who are onsite, the summer uniform is to be worn for the first 2 weeks of Term 2.

A Special ‘TeamKids’ After School Program for Week 1 and 2

I have arranged for TeamKids to provide a special daily afternoon program for any Claremont student (whether they have been at home or at school for the day). Starting Tuesday, this program will commence at 2:45pm and run through to 5:45pm. It is designed to support parents who may need a break from the kids, to get on with work and errands, and to provide the children with an opportunity to play and socialise, while being cared for by the amazing TeamKids staff. This structured program is free of charge (thanks to a Federal government subsidy) and is available for a maximum of 60 children. Parents must register here.

Onwards from 11 May - Week 3

• We anticipate that students will begin to transition back to school attending for what might be approximately one day (or more) a week
• Parents would be still encouraged to keep their children at home unless they are unable to be supervised at home. 
• The transition phase, with increased daily attendance is anticipated to be for much of, if not all of Term 2. Let me emphasise, however, how much we all want the children to be back at school as soon as possible.
• Arrangements for how this transitioning process will be communicated to parents by the end of next week.
• My team will develop a transition schedule which will be determined by a number of variables including health, safety and social distancing issues for students and staff, the practicalities of our teaching spaces, Claremont family structures and work needs. As well as managing the sheer practicalities and logistics of this, we must balance individual needs with the good of the school community as a whole (in other words, we will not necessarily please everyone).
• To assist us, it would be helpful to understand your family needs and circumstances. A short survey will be sent to you next week which seeks to know the following;

     * your preference for your children to remain socially distanced at home, OR
     * your preference for your children to be at school, and if so;
     * your preference of day(s) for to attending school (to best suit your work needs and family circumstances);
     * the urgency of your need for support and supervision. Note that children of emergency and essential workers        will still be permitted to attend school 5 days a week;

• The Claremont ‘Off Campus Learning’ Model will continue to be delivered during the transitioning phase;
• For those students who are onsite, either the summer or winter uniform is to be worn for Weeks 3 and 4.

My team and I are constantly reviewing and evaluating these arrangements. I am intentionally only providing details for every 2 weeks in advance. This is because circumstances and Government COVID-19 related decisions are highly likely to change rapidly and in ways that none of us can anticipate. We must also expect that if there is ever a positive COVID-19 case in our school community or a localised/community spike in infections, the NSW Health Department may require the campus to implement increased social distancing or lock-down measures.

From the commencement of Term 2 we will be adopting some new practical measures to reduce the spread of viruses or germs at our campus. This includes:

• Rearranging our cleaner’s rosters for enhanced and regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces such as desks, doorknobs, handrails, play equipment, toilets, etc.
• Taking the temperature of students, staff and visitors as they arrive on campus. A small hand-held thermometer will be used which measures the body temperature on the forehead.
• We will continue to have the expectation that parents will not send their child/ren to school if they display cold or flu symptoms. Students will be sent home should they display a fever or cold/flu symptoms.
• Keeping the doors in main thoroughfares open as much as possible to avoid constant touching of handles.
• Requiring children to bring a full water bottle to school, rather than using the drink bubbler.
• Staff will be required to bring their own coffee cups and utensils.
• Staff and other adults visiting the school will continue to not gather and will follow social distancing guidelines.

Please do not hesitate to reach out for clarity on any of the above, using the communication channels we have set up for our school community. Parent Communication Guide

My prayers are with you in these days of confusion. May you find peace and security in the steadfast love of God. The Bible describes God as a mystery, but He is not confusing or inconsistent. Through Jesus, God’s presence, His goodness, His help in times of trouble, and His blessings are reliable, certain and assured. Seek Him and He will be found. Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you and your family.

Happy ANZAC Day as well. Congratulations and thank you to our Year 6 School Leaders; Joey Acland, Scarlett Osler, Nicholas Hickman and Akanksha Mohan, for their excellent contribution in today’s Newsletter. I appreciate your leadership and for keeping the ANZAC spirit alive in our school.

With love

Doug Thomas   
Principal

  Follow me @DougJThomas

We are ready and excited to recommence Off Campus Learning (OCL) on Tuesday 28 April 2020. Our staff have prepared quality curriculum-based programs to ensure that student learning continues regardless of whether the students are offsite or onsite.

Our routines that will remain the same:

As we began in Term 1, the students who are working from home and the students who will be coming into school will be following the same online programs set by their teachers. The students who come into school will not be following a separate face-to-face program. They will not necessarily be supervised by their own teachers, but are supervised by willing staff volunteers who are there to support the students and/or ensure they are contacting their teacher who is online waiting to support them.

During the day the students should…

• Try to be on time for all Zoom Meetings.
• Try to join all lessons as planned by all of your teachers.
• Go onto Zoom to ask for help when needed, as some activities are designed for students to be independent and some will require more teacher direction.
• Carefully read the teachers’ instructions.
• Morning Tea and Lunch will be at the same time for everyone, students and teachers.
• Enjoy learning to be more independent, resilient, and persistent and enjoy using your increased IT skills.

NOTE: A Teacher will be available throughout the day to help you (9am to 3:10pm), except during Morning Tea and Lunch times.

What’s new in Term 2?

During the beginning of this term we are going to focus on online etiquette. A program that should stand the students in good stead beyond OCL. For example, we will begin by paying particular attention to the skill of ‘focus’ itself. What behaviours do we need to display to show that we are focussed? Why is being focussed a little bit harder during OCL? What can each of us do to improve our focus? Why is focus important?

Now that we have experienced two weeks of OCL, we are now looking for realistic and sustainable ways to go deeper with curriculum-based learning in Term 2 while still scaffolding the learning when the tasks are challenging. This means that each activity will have 2 ‘additional’ options to the specific task set by the teacher/s:

OPTION 1: To break each task into smaller chunks for understanding (scaffolding); and

OPTION 2: A challenge option for fast finishers and/or for those who find challenge ‘interesting’ (Nottingham).

The teachers online will be able to help the students to determine if they should try OPTION 1 or OPTION 2, or in some cases, depending on the task, both options. The students will be encouraged to come into Zoom to ask their teachers if they should take up the BLUE or PINK options.

This term, we will also be assessing student learning, so it will be essential that students complete their own work, and if they do have support from a parent, this is perfectly ok but we will need to know this. Afterall, assessments are not just to find out what a child knows at a particular point in time, they are about understanding where a child is in their learning so teachers know what to plan next, and how to help students get to their next stage of learning. Parents will be encouraged to let the teachers know if their child required some or significant support to complete a task.

During OCL, each day at least one task will be noted with a STAR, so that students know this must be completed and submitted and that it is an assessment task.

Finally

If you, your child or your family, are finding OCL challenging, please be reassured that we understand. Our staff have got this, they have been trained to teach and they will know how to help your child fill any gaps as they become evident. In fact, we believe there are many skills our students have learnt over recent weeks that will take, perhaps have already taken them, beyond developmental expectations in some curriculum areas and some aspects of dispositional thinking and learning. We have been amazed at how students have been able to show their initiative, creativity and flexibility, as well as their speedy uptake of IT skills while completing the OCL program.

I would like to share a reassuring article written by John Hattie, a leading educator and Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) chairman.  He says, ‘when we get back to the old normal the recovery will be reasonably quick’. At Claremont, we share his views that ultimately student learning will not suffer because of the programs we have in place. Student learning will be better than ever, so going back to the ‘old normal’, like so many things around the world, will not be the best option, there will be a new normal, ‘we are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment’. (Brene Brown)

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal

Hi everyone, we hope you’ve had a relaxing Easter break. ANZAC Day is tomorrow and as you know and it is a very special day in our community to celebrate those who we have lost and those who serve in the armed forces. This year we will be doing ANZAC Day a bit differently, because of Covid-19. We have some suggestions for the Claremont families, about how we can all recognise ANZAC Day. 

This year you can…

• Light candles in your driveways at dawn
• Make ANZAC biscuits
• Make a card to send to your local RSL
• Watch the ANZAC service on TV
• Listen to the Dawn Service while you light your candles
• Create a red poppy to wear all day
• Talk to your parents or grandparents about family members who have served in the armed forces
• Pick and wear Rosemary to wear all day (to help you remember)
• Do chalk drawings in front of your house to honor the ANZACS
• Hang up an Australian flag and/or the New Zealand flag, or if you don’t have one you can create a flag.

Please take photos of any of these activities and send these to us (via office@claremont.nsw.edu.au) so we can create a collage of how our school community celebrated ANZAC Day this year. We will share your photos in next week’s newsletter. 

Joseph Acland, Scarlett Osler, Nicholas Hickman & Akanksha Mohan
Year 6 School Leaders

In line with the recent developments and measures undertaken by the Australian Government, NSW Health and the Department of Education to control the spread of the Coronavirus in our community, all upcoming school events and activities have been cancelled or postponed until further notice.

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal

Welcomeasy are continuing to deliver recess and lunch orders to school.

Orders must be placed by 10:59pm the night before for delivery on the next school day.

If you are ordering a snack item, please specify in the notes area whether the snack is for Recess or Lunch.

Go to www.welcomeasy.com.au  to place your order.

If you need to purchase any items, please place your order online via Flexischools.

All new uniform items can be purchased from ‘Wylies’ at

3/17 Green St, Banksmeadow (02) 9344 5796.

Please note that all communication should be through the email address: clothingpool@claremont.nsw.edu.au