Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope that you are all safe and well. We are very aware that so many in our community are juggling both work and home scenarios and have been met with a number of challenges in recent weeks. Rest assured that we are all thinking of you in this uncertain time and that we appreciate your patience and understanding as your child’s education has begun to look very different in a short space of time.

Expectations of Online Learning

Our current scenario around COVID-19 is completely unprecedented and changing from day to day, and week to week. This has been a challenging time for both teachers and parents and it is safe to say that everyone in society, including teachers and parents, are finding their feet. 

The teachers at Sacred Heart have been working extremely hard to move from a face-to-face, intensive learning environment to a brand new scenario where ideally each activity can be completed by students at their own pace and for the most part, independently of their teacher. Our primary goal has been to create effective, accessible content derived from the curriculum that was initially planned for the end of Term 1 (based on the relevant NSW syllabus documents for each stage) for both students working from home and school via our Online Learning platforms Google Classroom and Seesaw.

While we have made leaps and bounds so far, we are still working to explore our options and tools at our disposal to ensure the best outcomes for students. While the teachers have worked hard to create, update and maintain this content, we wanted to remind our parent community of our expectations. Our expectation is that no family is placed under pressure by the work we have set. As the parent, you can make the decision about how often your digital devices are used, and how much work you expect your child to complete. While we value your child’s education just as much as you do, the wellbeing of your family is a priority too. If you need to prioritise work it should be english and mathematics.

As we edge closer to the end of Term 1 and we inevitably begin planning for Term 2, the teaching staff will be looking at new opportunities that seek to enhance the learning of students. We will be sure to provide more information for parents and students as time moves on. We have started planning with the thought that online learning and children at home will continue to be the new norm.

Video conferencing

Some parents (and students) have been asking questions about the possibility of using video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. As a system, Sydney Catholic Schools are still in the early stages of investigating the use of video conferencing to connect with students.  Sydney Catholic Schools secondary schools have strict measures and protocols for both teachers and students and are trialling some solutions. For students currently engaging in HSC or Preliminary HSC courses for students aged 16-18, we understand this is a necessity. The current advice for primary schools is that we should not engage in video conferencing across the school to ensure the safety of teachers and students. SCS’s Child protection team are working on this at the moment.

We are however currently planning to trial video conferencing with Year 6 and will evaluate the appropriateness of moving forward selectively. To be clear, our current intention is not to begin teaching full lessons via video conference platforms.  Sydney Catholic Schools is currently completing a detailed risk assessment in the use of Zoom in teaching and learning.   We have been informed of some particularly precarious situations that pose a serious child protection risk. Before we make any changes we need to prepare for all eventualities and ensure we have the correct guidelines in place.

Communication

If there is a need to communicate with a teacher, the preferred method of communication is their school email address. If you are unsure of the email address for your child’s teacher, please contact the school at info@shmosman.catholic.edu.au. The maximum 72-hour turnaround time for emails is still in place.

If a student needs to communicate with their teacher, the preferred method of communication is via the platform that each class has chosen - it will be either Google Classroom or Seesaw. Parents must not use their child’s account to contact teachers.

The school will continue to communicate with the community via Compass.

As a community we will continue to ensure and commit to, that all communication is respectful and appropriate.

READ THE DIGITAL EDITION OF THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY

While it has brought challenges, we have adapted extremely well and are continuing to produce the paper in a digital form making it available to everyone online at www.catholicweekly.com.au

What is a digital edition?

It is the current paper delivered on our website and which is formatted identically to the print edition.  This means that anyone who visits our website can find the latest edition online by clicking the tile and can read through the paper flicking through page by page.

COMPASS: