It’s a new term and I am excited for the new opportunities that are in store for us all. We may have our regular events and most activities cancelled, but learning, love and life will continue at Claremont. We look forward to creating different ways for connecting with each other and for making new discoveries in classrooms (virtual or face to face), and creating a new and better ‘normal’. The Kindy back-yard ZOOM excursion yesterday, online Chapel, today’s ANZAC message presented by our Year 6 student leaders, the Year 4 egg protection STEM activity, and having parents involved in the daily PE activities, are fabulous examples of this. I would also like to thank Amos Wibowo (Year 6) for our lead image for this newsletter.

I am so thankful for the passion and dedication of the teachers and my entire staff team. Each member of my team, whether a teacher, classroom support, administration, property or cleaning is working incredibly hard to provide support to the students, families and one another and to ‘add value’ in their area of expertise and responsibility. As a team, we are unified in our determination to do everything possible to help our community, and to ensure that we remain strong, optimistic, positive and full of faith. From the feedback we are consistently receiving, we have delivered ‘beyond expectations’. We acknowledge we have not got it right all of the time, but we are sincere in our desire to receive feedback and to improve. We are not yet through these unprecedented times yet, but I am full of confidence in the strength of our community. We will get through this together and I believe that our school will be recognised as a place of authenticity and excellence. 

When we are out of this COVID-19 crisis, we must have a special occasion to thank and honour the entire staff team, to acknowledge the achievements of all of our students and families and to celebrate our Claremont community. Perhaps we should do Speech Day differently this year and have one big party! This will give us something to look forward to.

• ‘Off Campus Learning’ will continue just as it did this week. Only children of emergency and essential workers may come to campus next week. If you fit this category, or have a special circumstance and require 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.

This week we have heard continual news items about what schools should be doing, in what has been yet another confusing week. It is not easy when schools and sectors (Independent, Catholic and State) are compared against each other. We must remember that all schools have different contexts, layouts, sizes and diversity of needs. Therefore there is no ‘one size fits all’ transition plan for all schools. 

Most schools, like Claremont College will commence their Transition Plans from Monday 11 May. Many schools are working toward having students attend school for ‘face to face’ lessons initially for one day a week. Some schools are actually not providing any form of lesson/work for the other 4 days. Unless the COVID-19 data and situation changes prior to 11 May, I am confident that our Transition Plan will provide for full time attendance at school ‘on campus’, for those parents who require this for their children.

Thank you to the parents who responded to our survey. We received responses from 92% of parents within 48 hours, which is fantastic and the data was incredibly helpful. 

What we have learned from this data

• 70% of parents would like their child/ren to attend school 5 days a week
• 30% of parents would like their children to attend school for none or some days (ie. not the full week). From this group, 4% of all parents indicated that their children will not yet attend school and remain at home for their learning, 5 days a week. 

Some broad themes have emerged from the data, as well as from other correspondence and conversations we have had with a number of parents this week.  These are;

• The majority of parents would like/need to have their child/ren return to school as soon as possible on a full time basis.
• It is clear that many parents wish to exercise a level of ongoing caution regarding their children returning to school. They have therefore indicated that they will not send their children to school, or if they do, for only part of a week.
• Whilst expressing caution and concern, some parents have indicated the need to have their children at school due to pressing work, business and related financial demands.
• There are some members of our school community (or members of their extended family) who are particularly vulnerable due an existing immune-compromised condition, chemotherapy treatments and other high-risk health concerns. They require either medical clearance, or further precautions and reassurances until COVID-19 infections in our community are completely reduced. 

As a school community, so much of our strength comes from empathy, respect and understanding. I would like to take this opportunity to reinforce the important message that your individual circumstances, fears and feelings, and the decision you make for what you believe is best for your child/ren and family is fully respected. Our prayers are with those who are dealing with some especially difficult challenges at  this very uncertain time.

Therefore, with this data and information from both the Federal and State Government, including the current recommendations from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) advice on reducing the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools, our Transition Plan seeks to balance the following;

• the need to support parents to return and transition back to their own work
• to cautiously respond to COVID-19 health issues for those who are vulnerable
• minimise risk of transmission of the virus to staff and others, here on campus
• provide for optimal student learning and their ongoing academic development
• provide opportunities for social connections to promote student wellbeing, and maintain self-confidence, minimise anxiety and importantly for the children to have face to face time with friends and teachers.

From this date we will provide three options for returning and transitioning back to school.

Option One

All students (K-6) may return for the full 5 days a week. Based on the parent survey responses, we are anticipating that up to 75% of our students will attend school full time. Students may wear either summer or winter uniform (depending on the weather).

Option Two

Students may attend school for some days. These days will be based on the information received from the parent survey with daily attendance distributed evenly across Monday to Friday. We will allocate days and be in touch with you next week to confirm which specific days.

Option Three

Students will stay at home for the full 5 days.

Our Off Campus Learning model will continue across Weeks 3 and 4, for each of the above three options. Nearly all staff will be working at school (on site), working in their grade teams with their students in their normal grade learning spaces, teaching, assisting, assessing, supervising their normal classes ‘face to face’. Lessons, however will be delivered online to ensure equity for all students whether they are ‘on’ or ‘off’ campus. Students who are working at home will continue to be able to have constant access to their teachers, as they have done in previous weeks, whilst working and learning on their iPads.

Week 5 onwards (from 25th May)

It will be the expectation for all students to return to school for 'face to face' lessons, although we understand a small number of students and staff with specific vulnerabilities and needs may still be off campus. Students will only wear winter uniform from Week 5 onwards.

Changes to this plan may be necessary

We recognise that the COVID-19 crisis has been unpredictable and a constantly changing space. So, should the circumstances change, we may have to change these arrangements for student attendance. 

We will continue to monitor this situation closely, aligning our school’s context and needs with health data, government directions to schools, the easing of social distancing regulations, and will make adjustments if they are necessary.

We are certainly well prepared to respond to notification of either a positive test of COVID in the school (staff, student or family member) OR a community spike or second wave of infections OR new data and research findings. In this situation, Off Campus Learning will occur remotely and immediately, and you of course, will be informed.

With students transitioning back to school, we will continue to implement stringent health and safety measures, and risk management, particularly with the social distancing of adults on campus and responding to students who present as unwell. The government has made it clear that while the need for the social distancing of children is minimal, we must be vigilant in our care of staff and other adults who might be onsite.  At this point it is important to reinforce:

• We will be 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.
• Please contact the school immediately, should someone in your family or household be tested positive with the COVID-19 virus. 

A ‘Health and Safety Plan and Guidelines’ for student transitioning will be published next week.

You should have received your School Fees from the Anglican Schools Corporation on Wednesday. Please note that the Arts, Crafts, Class Resources, and the Sports levies have not been charged for Term 2. These will not be reinstated for Term 2 even with the students transitioning back to school. We have also refunded or credited charges collected in advance for school services and co-curricular activities that were cancelled in Term 1. I acknowledge that for some people the uncertainty of this crisis comes with many challenges that seem to change rapidly, especially with our work and businesses. Please contact me via my PA Mrs Kathy-Clare Rochester, should you require support through the deferral of payments, a payment plan or other form of assistance.

It is so great to hear that many families have been watching Chapel@Claremont. I have been told that it is becoming a family routine to watch the service on a Friday evening or weekend, on the big screen of their television, and to even sing along and pray together. I love today’s message, that Jesus says that “I will be with you always.” This is such a good reminder if we are feeling like we are stuck at home, isolated, and would love to be with our friends at school. You can click this link to go to today’s Chapel Service.

Given that we have been unable to meet up at the Coogee Diggers for one of our Fathering Project gatherings, I am keen to offer the opportunity to have a Zoom chat with any dad who would like to join on Monday 4 May from 7:00pm-8:00pm. Please contact the school office via office@claremontl.nsw.edu.au if you are interested in participating so we can send you a link to the Zoom chat. I thought it would be good to talk about family life during this time of Covid.

Congratulations Miss Rees

I would like to congratulate Miss Rees (Year 4 teacher) who was married recently. Miss Rees will now be known as Mrs Herborn. We wish Bianca and her husband, all the very best.

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). This program commences at 2:45pm and runs 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. The regular TeamKids Aftercare Program will then continue in Week 3 onwards.

Be blessed and have a great weekend in this chilly Autumn weather.

Doug Thomas   
Principal

  Follow me @DougJThomas

This week and next OCL is business as usual. The students have settled back into routines and are learning so much, but most are missing their friends and school. Yesterday the Sydney Morning Herald invited students to write to them to share their OCL experience from the students' point of view. Mr Thomas asked the Year 5 & 6 students if they would like to write about their OCL experiences. They have certainly come up with insightful responses relating to the OCL and social distancing experiences for each of them personally. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we have.

Janelle Ford Deputy Principal

To be honest with you I’ve really liked working from home and not having any distractions from other kids, I have liked working at my pace and having time to put in a little more effort to get better grades. Spending time at home doing my school remotely has actually helped I’m more relaxed and I seem to fly through the work faster than at school. I actually feel like doing school work at home and I’ve been feeling a lot more free and healthy. The only thing I hope goes back soon is sport. I am a swimmer and used to swim every single day of the week and without it, life isn’t the same. My advice for the experts about remote learning is this: maybe we can consider working remote for one term a year. 
 Jai Cavenagh

Adults talk a lot about how they are feeling about the Coronavirus crisis: working from home, running out of toilet paper, blah blah. Yawn.  No one is asking the kids what THEY think. Adults say schools are “closed”, but they’re wrong - we have just moved “off campus”. My teachers and I are working hard. I have learned to learn from home. I see my friends and teachers on ZOOM. I use my iPad to organise my day and submit my work. Instead of raising my hand in class, I raise a “virtual hand” during Zoom sessions. I have completed choir, clarinet, piano and ballet lessons all on Zoom! It’s busy with other siblings at home too. Sometimes I have to help them because mum and dad are working. Off campus learning is different, but it will give me new skills as a learner that I will use later in life. I look forward to going back to school, seeing smiling faces, friendly teachers and this is what keeps me going. But right now I’m really thankful for all the effort my teachers have put in. I am thankful that COVID 19 hasn’t stopped me learning!
Georgia Breakspear

In our school, we moved to remote learning. It’s preferable because at school there are friends that can distract you and for someone who is very fidgety, and with a short attention span, it’s a good thing that I can take small breaks. The work is easy to do in a quiet area and it’s the same as what we do at school. I would like to eventually stop because I haven’t seen my friends in a while. It’s easy to take lunch when I want, and I’m feeling happy as I have been texting my friend Luke and I have a lot of free space. I want to go back to school because sometimes I procrastinate. I still really like staying at home, but I get distracted by my cat Honeybear. I still have to practise my saxophone at home and there is no real silent place in my house. My dad is working from home so I can't use that room, my siblings are homeschooling too. Recently the sidewalk near my house was in need of destruction, which also made loud noise so nowhere is really silent. I’m happy at home although I am looking forward to going back to school. 
Nathaniel Gibson

I am very excited to go back to school, see my friends and my Kindy buddy. Online learning is actually pretty tricky sometimes, you get the wrong website or you can’t find the right project and it can get really stressful sometimes. That's why I’m really excited to go back to school because the teachers are really nice and they make everything easier for us. And now that I’ve been at home for a few weeks and been doing lots of online learning, I have realised how much the teachers work to make everything easier and more fun for us. I definitely like being at school more than at home. The only thing that I will miss from online learning is being able to eat whenever I want. But from doing this online learning I have definitely increased my technology skills, I can type faster, find the right websites quicker, and learnt about a lot more apps and how useful they can be.  
Holly Hughes

Off-Campus Learning or OCL, has been a different journey for all of us, but personally, I think that it has been a great experience to have.

I live an hour away from my school, so to get there every morning I had to drive for what felt like FOREVER! Whereas, with OCL, the only commute I have to make is to my desk in my room. This has made my life and my mum’s a lot easier and more manageable. To be able to commute I used to have to get up rather early at about 6:30 on a normal day, and even earlier when I had before school activities like the school band. Now, I can sleep in and relax just a little bit more. It also means that in the evening, I have waaay more time to go for a walk or read a book.

Another great thing about OCL is that it's fully independent learning. I really dislike collaborative learning, so this is like heaven to me. I get to use my own ideas, for myself, by myself. This may sound a bit lonely, but I’m just fine with it.

I also get my work done FASTER at home with OCL because, to be honest, at school you’re often chatting with friends or getting distracted looking around the classroom to see what everyone else is doing. So, all in all, I think the standard of work for me, is a lot better and less rushed. 

When I have spare time in the lunch breaks, I am able to cook with my mum. It's super fun and I have learnt so much by doing this. The best thing about cooking food is that you get to eat it after you’re done.

But I think what makes this experience the best is the fact that my school is super organised and supportive with all of us. If we ask a question on google classroom, they will answer straight away, and there are always 2 teachers on zoom all day to help us if we have any questions we want to ask them. They have also made sure that for people who need help with a task or are finding it hard, they can just look at the blue task on our timetable and if we have finished the task a bit early or we have found it easy, there is an extension task for us if we want to push ourselves.

There are also some downsides to OCL. One of these is the fact that I can’t see my friends, buddy, and my teachers. These are people that I’m used to seeing every day, so not seeing them in person is very different. I can’t wait for school to go back so I can talk with all of them face to face again.

I also am unable to do band and debating in the morning as we haven’t done a zoom session for them and I miss being able to play in the school band and debate with my friends. 

And finally, I miss being in the school environment. I can’t run around with my friends at lunch, sit in the classroom and participate in chapel band. This is definitely hard for me and I can't wait to see my wonderful school again.

In conclusion, I think that OCL has been a great experience for me and I am happy with how it has been going so far. 
Eliza Le Marne-Court

My alarm clock wakes me at 8:45am and I roll out of bed! No scrambling for diaries, uniforms or lunchboxes...

Off campus learning here I come!

Our morning zoom session is filled with sleepy faces and bad hair days! I’m not going to lie, it's been a transition for us all. Sometimes filled with laughter, sometimes tears. We are missing our friends, our teachers and of course our little school on the hill in Coogee!

We’ve all taken the opportunity to spend quality time with our family, reflect on what really matters and of course self-isolate for the ‘greater good’ of our community.

Our Off Campus Learning has been a labour of love by our devoted teachers! We always feel connected to them even though they are not here with us!

As restrictions ease and the virus slows its spread, we will hopefully be able to return to our classrooms at school safely...

We pray everyday for our community and all our frontline workers that are out there fighting! Our faith in Jesus has kept us strong and hopefully we will all be able to pray together at Claremont Chapel!

Until then, wash your hands, social distance and stay connected with friends...
Asimina Chorafitis

Hi, my name is Thomas Lord, and I am thoroughly enjoying home learning. I am able to have more time with my family, build my models and go biking. Of course, there are some things that aren’t as good… like how my siblings are blowing my head off, and I can’t actually see my friends. But my school has set up the wonderful app “Zoom”. There, we mark the roll, have specialist lessons and answer questions. We also have “Seesaw,” where we receive activities and are able to see the day plan. The last main app is “Google Classroom” and we can see our work assignments, hand in our work and get feedback. One of my teachers, a funny one, told us that Zoom is like the walkie-talkie, Seesaw is like the map, and Google Classroom is like the notepad. Another thing I like is that we have time to build my model planes, have fun biking and love being able to see my family. Well, sometimes… I am very grateful for all the work that my school has put in to make this a pleasant experience.

Thank you so much, 
Thomas Lord

I am not really enjoying online school. The thing is I much rather go to school, see my friends and have face to face learning. I’m missing all my friends, especially my silly ones (I'm pretty sure my friends miss me as well, one of them sent me emails all through the holidays). Right now my favourite part of the day is seeing my friends through Zoom. I’m not sure if there is such a thing as SCHOOLSICK (like homesick except for school) but if there is, I have it. There are good things though like getting up later, eating breakfast later and seeing my dad (now my dad is working from home, like most people). My greatest wish right now would be for COVID-19 to go away and for life to go back to normal. If I had to state the worst thing about this, it would probably be social distancing. I am glad that we have technology right now, if we didn’t what would we do? Sit around and do nothing, probably.  This is what I think of COVID-19. 
Caitlyn Lee

This year has been different so far, because of the Coronavirus we have had to do Off Campus Learning. I have enjoyed it, it is something different, something I have never done before. This year I had my birthday in self isolation.

I enjoy zooming and that I can work at my own pace. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of things, but our teachers will help us out whenever we need it. It is quite annoying when we lose our internet or it cuts out. It is great that we can screen share and have zoom to communicate.

The Teachers have been amazing and helped us out all the time. There are two teachers on zoom all day, so if we ever need help it is there for us. They explain everything clearly and give us YouTube videos to watch. If we need more feedback, they help us to expand our knowledge of the subject. They provide us with fun activities to do when we need a break or to just get off the iPad.

Overall, I love home-schooling, but I miss my friends. I hope everyone is safe and healthy.
Kaiya Harapin

Hi, my name is Oliver Webster. I am 10 years and I am sharing my experience of homeschooling with you. The past few weeks of homeschooling has been a real experience not only for me but for my teachers and peers.

When the school first said that we would be doing homeschool I think everyone was like ‘YES’, no coming to school, this will be fun we get to work on our iPads. At first that was what I was thinking then I started to realise that not being at school was not cool or fun it is actually not great. I think this because I don’t get to work with others, I don’t get to hangout with my friends and I don’t get to be in a classroom with other kids. But there are some good things like we don’t have to wear a school uniform.

I think this journey of homeschool has made me appreciate school more because I don’t get to see my friends in person  so I can’t wait until I can get back to school and see my friends and teachers. But I will miss learning without a school uniform on. 
Oliver Webster

Our four Year 6 School Leaders have done an amazing job of ensuring that we as a community continued to recognise ANZAC Day this year. In last week’s newsletter they offered ideas as to how to be involved, they created a presentation for the students as today would have been our School ANZAC Day service, and today they are sharing their presentations and photos from our school community.

Thankyou Joey, Scarlett, Ananksha and Nicholas for your leadership.

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal 

A Note from Year 6 Leaders

On Anzac Day both of us spent Saturday with our families because of the coronavirus. 

On Saturday I (Scarlett) woke up at dawn to light a candle down at Coogee Beach and lay a wreath in honour of the soldiers that fought for us. I also made some Anzac cookies and did some art with my family.

I (Akanksha) also woke up at dawn and lit a candle in my front yard before listening to our neighbour play the bugle. Later I also did some art celebrating the ANZAC soldiers.

We pay our respects to the ANZACs and all soldiers that fought for us. We hope you have had an amazing ANZAC Day and are staying safe inside.

We hope you enjoy the ANZAC Day photos from the Claremont families and staff.

Scarlett Osler and Akanksha Mohan

Also attached is the ANZAC video by our 4 Year 6 leaders, created by Joseph Acland and Nicholas Hickman.

As many parents will remember we have been fortunate to have Judith Locke at our school in 2018 and 2019, working with staff and parents, to help us to raise resilient children. Dr Locke has some upcoming webinars about helping you and your family to thrive. We are sure you will be interested. Here are the details.

Helping your sensitive child through COVID-19 isolation
Webinar by Dr Judith Locke

Time - Sunday 3rd May at 11:00am

Dr Judith Locke, a clinical psychologist and child wellbeing expert, is running a 1-hour webinar (including Q and A) for parents of children, aged 3 to 10, to help their sensitive child cope with isolation and associated challenges of the times. Judith will discuss sensitivity in children, where it comes from and typical parenting approaches. Most importantly, she will offer practical strategies for parents to help your child and your family thrive in these tricky times. The cost is only $20 and you will get access to a recording, so you can watch it again.

Places are limited. Get in quick! Click here to get your spot. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7RI7lROwRA-1VY5zoUdW6A

How will students be provided with Learning Enrichment (formerly referred to as Learning Support) and related services whilst learning is off-campus/online?  

We understand that this is a time of huge change and uncertainty for all.  However, fundamentally the learning enrichment support provided by Claremont has not changed with the introduction of off-campus learning. Teaching teams continue to support all students to learn, at their point of need within a fully integrated, collaborative model which begins at the planning stage.

During the planning phase the entire team plans for the needs of students across their continuum of learning, including catering for High Potential Learners and students with additional learning needs. Learning Intentions are established with optional differentiated tasks provided. Whilst we may no longer have physical groupings, the various groupings are reflected in the differentiated tasks provided in the daily timetables. Students have the flexibility to push themselves and achieve beyond their perceived learning potential (pink tasks). Perhaps for some parents, this will be an opportunity to encourage your child to move out of their comfort zone and into ‘the pit’ (as they are encouraged to do in school, on a daily basis).

OTHER SUPPORTS include: Use of SOLO taxonomy – the verbs in SOLO (as explained in the April Newsletter) are used to simplify or enrich a task, providing students with options and different levels of difficulty, whilst still achieving the set goal.

Your child may use a range of equipment and technology at school, to access their learning tasks (such as speech-to-text, videos and photos, text-to-speech). These are also vital to support their learning at home. The school will assist with troubleshooting of any of these skills, as required.

Routine and familiarity helps children to feel safe and secure. Some children find changes in routine unsettling whilst others can become very upset by these changes.  If your child feels this way, he/she will need your help to establish new routines to signpost their day. Again, a visual timetable can be an important tool in supporting the establishment of these new routines.

Support via Zoom is available each day for students between 9.00 and 3.10, for student questions, clarification and support (except during set breaks – recess and lunch)

A variety of other supports are available for identified students:

• Individual Plans (IPs) for students identified with a disability of learning need
• MacqLit reading Program (online, small groups via Zoom),
• Zoom – opportunities for any student to ask 1:1 questions of the teacher/s
• Breakout Rooms via Zoom, for smaller group work, as identified by teachers

 We have also put together a variety of 'Off Campus Learning Tip Sheets':

• helping students who struggle to focus
• strategies for what to do when children refuse to work
• general tips on how to set up a safe off-campus learning environment at home

Additionally, Miss McKersie, our school counsellor is available online through wellbeing@claremont.nsw.edu.au and/or over the phone through the front office.

If you have any questions, big or small please contact a member of the Learning Enrichment Team: 

Miss Lisa Tyson - Learning Enrichment Teacher - working in Kindergarten and Year 1 teams
Miss Sinéad Kelly - Learning Enrichment Teacher - working in Years 3, 4 and 5 teams
Mrs Nicola Breakspear - Learning Enrichment Teacher - working in Year 2 and Year 6 teams
Mrs Anna Robinson - Learning Enrichment Administration
Miss Catherine McKersie (School Counsellor)
Mrs Brenda Dalheim - Head of Learning Enrichment – supporting K-6 Teaching Teams

Mrs Brenda Dalheim
Head of Learning Enrichment

iPad passwords

• Ask your child for their iPad password;
• Do not let your child reset their password.
• Should your child forget their iPad password, please contact Mr Nield immediately. He will then be able to remotely reset the password while you are at home.
• Do not try to enter various passwords as this will ‘lock’ the iPad.
• If the iPad is ‘locked’ please DO NOT restart the iPad as this disables the WiFi connection.
• Should this happen, you will need to bring the iPad to school and leave the iPad with Mr Nield for approximately 1 hour while it is reset. 

Connect with Others: Facetime, Skype or call a friend. Show an interest in how they are going and share with them something that you are recently proud of.

Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

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.

This term we would like to share samples of learning from each grade and specialist lessons.

Welcome back to Term Two from the Library Staff. This is just a friendly reminder for students to keep going with the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Due to Covid-19 there have been some changes made to the rules. The Challenge is equipped to support student participation from home and adjustments have been made. The main change being that students on all Challenge levels are able to read 10 choice books which is an increase from five. 

Please check out the new rules at

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/rules

Happy reading to everyone!

Mrs Susan Kesur
Library Assistant

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to Term 2. Thanks to all those of you that took the option to get into Percussion People this week. Your bins are looking great and sound awesome. If you don’t know what I am talking about, think… wow this quarantine has really messed with Mrs Barr’s head... it has! NOT! 

Just pop into Seesaw and have a go at Percussion people. An optional Music activity to get us all moving and making music each week. Get the whole family involved. Just make sure you choose bins or items to hit (like drum kits) that can’t be damaged. If you have a request for a song choice for next week, pop it in and I’ll see what I can do. Even better can you create a video for me to send out to the school community?

Tara Barr
Head of Music

Welcomeasy are delivering 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.

Please note that orders are to be placed on the ‘Welcomeasy’ website and NOT Flexischools. You must firstly create an account by following some simple steps. Go to www.welcomeasy.com.au

Message from Commonwealth Bank

The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people remains our highest priority. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, the School Banking program will remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with any updates including how we will be managing Dollarmite tokens for students.

In the meantime, here are some handy online resources for parents who wish to maintain momentum with their child’s financial education:

• Start Smart: these resources have been created to improve children’s money management skills, and is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer Financial Literacy Framework.
• The Beanstalk: offers videos and fun activities for children to learn about money.

Jeff Morton and Betty Preshaw
School Banking Coordinators

The Uniform Shop is closed however, 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  

Is your kid bored and just playing games at home? Ready for another term of coding?

Coding classes resume next week! Join us for 1 hour every Monday, starting from next week, 4 May. Our classes are taught by the same experienced mentors who taught our after-school coding classes.

What's different?

• Our classes will be held in virtual classrooms, hosted on Zoom. All calls are password-protected and moderated by certified mentors to ensure the safety and privacy of kids.
• Each class is held in smaller groups. Choose to learn either individually, in pairs, or groups of 4. This ensures every student gets the attention they need from our mentors.
• For parents needing help with setup or any other challenges, we have on-call and email support. This will ensure your kid makes the most of every class.

Important Details

When: 4-5pm every Monday for 8 weeks.

Where: Online! Join us from the safety of your home. We will email you the link to join the call, along with instructions on how to set up before your first class.

What: This term, choose what your kid wants to learn:

• Modding in Minecraft
• Making arcade games in Makecode
• Making 2D games with Python.

To enrol, please use the following link: https://bit.ly/20t2ccps.

For more information, visit our website, codecreate.com.au, or email us via info@codecreate.com.au.