Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School Newborough eNewsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome once again to Remote Learning! I have been so impressed by the way families are accepting and engaging in this new way of learning. The children have stepped back into Remote Learning with a renewed understanding and confidence. The computer skills and the independence they developed through our last Remote Learning have been maintained, which was evident through the learning they did when they returned to school. I have every confidence in our children that they will make a success of Remote Learning again, further enhancing their skills and ability to direct their own learning.

As you are aware, the cases of COVID – 19 are closer to home this time than they were when we last went into Remote Learning. As a result, we have been advised that the wellbeing, safety and health of our children and families must be our number one priority. Of course, for our staff, your child’s wellbeing and safety have always been our primary focus, however the emphasis on learning has shifted this time, formally advising us that the wellbeing of your child is to be our priority. As a result, we have needed to ensure that the only children who are coming to school are those who do not have an alternative. This does not mean that your child’s learning is less important to us, it simply means that we will continue to create ways to support your child and your family while the children learn from home. Your child’s teacher is at home throughout the day, ready and willing to support, guide, encourage and provide feedback to your child. If you or your child has a question, a concern or needs feedback on learning your child is engaged in, your teacher will be available to message you, call you or send you clarifying information to ensure you are receiving the support you need.

One of the ways we are providing support to you and your family is our Specialist Wednesdays. This means that the structured learning from your child’s teacher will be given on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays your child’s teacher will not be providing learning, the learning opportunities will come from our specialist teachers. You are free to choose what Wednesdays will look like for your family. Your child may choose to engage in all, or some of the specialist activities, alternately you may decide that Wednesdays are going to be your day to complete work you need to do and you feel it is best for your child to have a complete day away from schoolwork. Whatever you decide is completely acceptable and hopefully enables your family to work together so that the needs of everyone can be met. Some families have found that by telling their child that if they complete their work on Mondays and Tuesdays they can have a day to do whatever they want on a Wednesday, that their child is keen to ensure they do whatever it takes to have their day off! This also enables you, as a family, to have the opportunity to support your child’s wellbeing during this challenging and unique time in their lives. If you feel at any time that engaging with the learning is becoming a challenge, please step away from the learning for a while and spend some time together doing something that you and your child enjoy…this is perfect weather for a movie, some baking, reading a book together…the list is endless!

We are so grateful that our new Chromebooks arrived in time for our return to Remote Learning. One hundred new Chromebooks has ensured that we can provide your family with a laptop for each child should you require this support. Please let us know if you need any more laptops as we still have some available.

Rest assured that our staff are doing all they can to provide the support your child needs for their wellbeing and to enable them to achieve success with their learning during this time. Our staff are working together both at home and at school to ensure every child is able to feel connected to our school community and to engage with their learning.

While we miss seeing the friendly, happy faces of the children and hearing the excitement and chatter of a school filled with the joy children bring, we are grateful that during this time we are able to provide a supportive, connected learning environment for all children.

I wish you all the very best during this time and pray that you will all be safe and well, sharing cherished time with your family.

Take care and look after yourselves and each other.

Lisa Breoeren

Principal