4 key survival tips for a school community forced into Covid quarantine ; survive or thrive ?

Believe in yourself, your team and your networks of support. Know that others will look to you for clarity and guidance. Be decisive and stay focused on a clear pathway forward. Then you will ensure that you will not only survive but support you community to thrive during the toughest of challenges.

During 2020, Melbournians more than any other Australians became experts at living, adapting and working through lockdowns. 

Little did we know that those lockdown experiences would pale into insignificance when our school community was unexpectedly forced into 14 days of quarantine.

On the 15 July 2021, four days into a new 10 week school term, a call from the Department of Health informed us that a trip to the MCG to watch a football game, caused one innocent St Pat's student to test positive to the highly contagious Delta variant.

We were advised to close the school immediately.

At 10:40am, we sent an urgent notification to parents and carers to collect all children. The school was classified as a Tier 1 exposure site and all children and staff were instructed to be tested for Covid 19 and to isolate in their homes for 14 days.

That was 9 weeks ago. 

Fourteen days of quarantine was an extremely challenging time for every one of our families and staff members. Some families were forced into longer quarantine periods as further positive cases emerged.

Fortunately, we all survived and we are currently teaching, learning and living in lockdown.

As we approach the final week of an exceedingly long term, our leadership team have resorted to transforming into Star Wars and Toy Story characters, hoping to lift the spirits of children, parents and colleagues.

This poem by one of our Year 3 students, sums up how all children currently in lockdown are feeling.

What are 4 tips from our experience that would help others survive a similar situation ?

1. Support each other. Offer support to others and be willing to take support yourself. 

Our wider community were outstanding. Support included :

• Deliveries of food parcels (many from ex St Pat's families) to our families
• Offers to walk pet dogs as families were housebound
• Local cafe & supermarket offered free deliveries
• Glen Eira Council set up a special St Patrick's TV guide with interactive links to online activities  in the afternoons eg. magic shows, endangered animals, play groups for younger siblings
• Carnegie Library couriered books to our families
• Local gym set up online exercise classes for families
• An uplifting video from Australian singer and songwriter, ex St Pat's student Vance Joy.

Some of our staff separated from their families and went to live on their own so that their families didn't have to quarantine. Support for colleagues and their wellbeing was vital. Half way through the quarantine period, our social committee organised a staff team building evening to give everyone a much needed boost.

2. Daily open and honest communication. 

Be available and willing to listen to everyone and follow up answers for every question (we were able to forward many questions directly to DH contacts). My wonderful Deputy Principal and I encouraged our whole community to email or ring us at any time with their questions, worries or concerns.

I sent out a total of twenty Covid Update Comms to the school families during the 14 days.  Most of these comms are blog posts and are accessible via our school newsblog.  Maximum views for regular posts across the year average 300 views. One of the Covid Update posts had 886 views ( You can access Covid Update #6 on the Parent as Partners Tab of this blog). Community engagement was strong. Families felt connected and informed during isolation. They focussed on every word in every message. Clear, succinct and timely comms were vital.

I sent separate staff comms before the community comms and held online briefings with staff to keep them informed and connected too.  During our first staff briefing, I clarified the dedicated roles that we all held and our responsibilities during  isolation. This was a timely reminder to put our energy into the areas that we could control (teaching and learning, connecting with the kids and families, checking on each other) instead of worrying about everything else beyond our control (covid, quarantine, limited resources, no opportunities to leave our homes ). 

I reminded our staff that we are all leaders at every level across the school and that we will help our community and each other to get through together.

The Regional General Manager and Leadership Consultant from (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic schools MACS ) were in touch with us from the very beginning and provided media advice, sample comms and contacts for the school's deep clean. We were advised to ensure important comms were cleared through MACS.

3. Be guided by the professionals

Expert communication from the Department of Health (DH), provided step by step daily advice and guidance for the community. 

Recommendations for community testing were advised; four Covid tests for each member of the community across the 14 days. Contact tracers were thorough and professional and reported to me that our community were positive and respectful despite the challenges that many families faced.

The Monash Health Team offered to run two online parent forums which were well received by our community. Every question was answered. We found that a separate google doc for parent's questions worked better than a live chat box during the forum. We averaged 300 participants per forum.

During the quarantine period, some families required exemptions for a number of reasons. Every one of their requests was legitimate. The Monash health team encouraged us to forward all requests and that every query would be dealt with.

The DH advised us around the safest way for the children to return onsite ( See the post on Parent as Partners Tab  Covid Update #13 of this blog). Naturally, parents were anxious and needed reassurance that everybody was cleared to return to school following their final Covid test.

4. Stay positive

Despite the challenging circumstances, the thank you messages from the community came through incessantly.
The positive messages of support helped all of us to get through and gave us the energy as leaders and teachers to forge on.

Hi Jenny

We wanted to say a big thank you for the coffee today! What a lovely surprise to order a coffee and it was paid for.
It’s such a difficult time for many including yourself and we appreciate the constant communication, support and updates
It was so wonderful to see the teachers ready to do remote learning today with their students with a smile and ready to take on the next couple of weeks with enthusiasm.
The out pouring of support from the local community has been heart warming also. What a great community to be part of.
Take care and if there is anything we can do to help under these circumstances don’t hesitate to ask.
Thank you and take care.
(School parents)

Local Heroes
As a local resident I just wish to thank the school community, staff, parents and children of St Patricks.

Thanks to you all for the sacrifices made to keep everyone safe. I am sure it was not easy. Your efforts are appreciated. And we are happy to hear so many have emerged from isolation and are now back at school and work, and children are once again out and about in our neighbourhood.

I heard high praise from parents for the support offered by the school (“They were wonderful”).

I also heard IGA provided free deliveries to families and friends of St Patrick’s did coffee runs. What a terrific community!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for those who are still ill and again, gratitude for and thanks to our local heroes!

You can read further messages of community support on the Parent as Partners Tab of this blog ( Community Update # 3.3 Local Heroes)

I am proud to be part of a caring and supportive community at St Pat's.

Part of our school vision says:

 ..A healthy mindset, coupled with resilience and well-developed social skills ensures all learners are equipped to deal with life’s challenges...

Staying positive and supporting each other, helps to hold us in good stead as we - leaders, parents and teachers, model resilience for our children.

Acknowledgements:

• To our staff, students and parents who all went the extra mile to get though quarantine
  
• To all members of our wider community who reached out and supported us 
• To the Monash Health Team: I have a deep admiration for the contact tracing teams, leadership and staff from the South East Public Health Unit at Monash. Their advice and guidance for our school was swift and clear and they continue to support our community
• To the MACS staff for their support
• To Charlotte from 3L for her poem
• To our own family members for their love and support

Believe in yourself, your team and your networks of support. Know that others will look to you for clarity and guidance. Be decisive and stay focused on a clear pathway forward. Then you will ensure that you will not only survive but support you community to thrive during the toughest of challenges.

Addendum:

Little did we believe that we would end up with another positive student case onsite only 10 weeks later. Fortunately, everyone is safe and well after 42 of our families including 15 staff members isolated for a 2nd time during the school holidays. This was a huge challenge for everyone involved and we thank the families and staff who suffered a 2nd quarantine period during their holidays. We continue to hope and pray that as vaccination rates increase, we will all experience and appreciate the joy of reuniting and reconnecting with each other, our families and friends in the coming months.

COVID -19 (Part 4) From Home Learning to Flexible Learning

In light of increasing pandemic cases due to community transmission, the Victorian premier gifted all school staff with five student free days to prepare for Phase 2 of remote learning. Each and every staff member at #stpatsmbna fully participated in reviewing feedback (see previous post) and redesigning a Flexible Learning program with a number of key changes for our community. 

At our school, we are committed to teaching a consistent high-quality and engaging curriculum with one to one and small group student support, a focused wellbeing program, opportunities for enrichment and extension and access to specialist expertise. 

Every student is unique. In the coming weeks, we believe we will support every student to flourish during this next phase of remote learning.

Staff maintain social distance and work in triads to review practices

All staff presented and shared their knowledge, research and tips for improving remote learning practise

Key Changes to Home Learning
"We value rich, regular and quality feedback.." St Pat's Shared Vision
Teachers have a reputation for actively seeking feedback on their practices and making adjustments for continual improvement. Some of the key changes that we have made include:

• Home Learning will now be referred to as Flexible Learning

We will now refer to the learning that takes place as Flexible Learning. Based on feedback, we have made a number of changes to our Flexible Learning program and this time around we will all be more flexible.  Flexible Learning can take place in your homes or at school. Either way, the staff, students and families are making adjustments to learning and in doing so are being extremely flexible. The ability to make adjustments and be flexible is a valuable life skill.
The Home Learning tabs on the #stpatsmbna Learning Community Site have been renamed to Flexible Learning.

• Children will be expected to wear their school uniform both at school and at home for Flexible Learning.

This time, we wish to ensure we treat everyone fairly and show that we are all serious about learning onsite at school or offsite at home. All children will wear their school uniform for Flexible Learning.

• Specialist classes have been moved to one full day to allow for continuity of class teaching on other days.

Specialist teachers will be available on that day. However, class teachers will still take the daily Zoom roll call. The children can wear their sports uniform on the Specialist day.

• Times removed from the Flexible Learning planner to accommodate flexibility for families. 

The suggested maximum time will be listed for each Flexible Learning activity instead of expecting families to complete an activity at a set time. The two 40 minute morning and lunchtime breaks will reflect the timing of breaks onsite at school.

• Teachers availability has increased (see the Expectations of Teachers below)
• Extra small group sessions and 1:1 or 1:2 sessions will take place (see below)
• Wellbeing and Catholic Identity times have been prioritised

Dedicated wellbeing teaching focus sessions are planned into the Flexible Learning program along with opportunities to develop our Catholic identity.

Core Values

Our school Core Values guide our behaviours. In order to be open and honest about how we can all support our children fairly, the following expectations for teachers, students and parents will contribute to the success of Flexible Learning @stpatsmbna

Flexible Learning Guidelines & Expectations for staff, students and parents

Expectations of teachers
Face to face interactions and availability

• Classroom teacher is accessible 9 -1.30 every day (except student/teacher break times - 2 x 40 mins). Afternoons will be for teachers to ring parents / respond to emails / provide feedback to students.
• Every child is involved in a whole class Zoom every day and a small group instructional session at least once a week.
• Needs based 1: 1 or 2: 1 sessions will occur with the teacher (parents will be notified in line with child safe requirements)
• Zoom sessions on the Specialist day will be limited to a 10 minute roll call.
• Emails to teachers will be responded to between 8am and 5pm Monday-Friday.

Teaching Instructions

• Teachers will upload the weekly Flexible Learning plan to the Learning Community Site by 2pm every Friday
• Teachers will upload at least one spelling video each week, plus one teacher directed maths and one literacy/reading/writing video or Screencastify each week.
• Instructional time will be kept short and concise (7-10 mins).
• Where possible, teachers will use slides to break down tasks. Students can reference videos or slides multiple times to reinforce strategies, concepts or skills.
• One day each week will be a specialist focus day

Feedback to students

• Timely and specific feedback will be provided to every student twice a week. This will be specific to success criteria. One for literacy, one for maths.
• Fortnightly specific feedback to students around specialist areas from specialist teachers
• Link to assessment rubric provided prior to teaching where applicable.

Expectations of students
At Home and Onsite
Students will:

• Wear their school uniforms each school day unless it is their birthday or have won a casual clothes award
• Be expected to be “in class” and present at roll call or parents will be notified immediately.
• Be notified when their weekly group and 1:1 or 1:2 meetings will be and are expected to participate.
• Have their videos on and their full name displayed when in Zoom sessions.
• Wear headphones whenever possible to minimise background noise, as appropriate.
• Follow the ICT User Agreement.
• Only engage in the chat or drawing functions on Zoom when directed.
• Follow year level guidelines of work to be submitted each day.
• Contact specialist teachers via email for any questions regarding those subject areas.

Onsite
As well as the above points, onsite students will:

• Bring resources needed for onsite learning, such as headphones, pencil cases, sheets from take-home packs, chromebooks fully charged (Years 4-6).
• Stay at home if they are unwell.

 Expectations of Parents
Parents will:

• Arrange for students' names to appear when logging into Zoom meetings.
• Arrange a learning space that is suitable for learning (minimal background noise).
• Ensure children are wearing school uniforms and are ready for learning.
• Support our Core Values of being respectful and positive in their interactions with children, school staff and other parents. Any concerns should be raised directly with the school.
• Understand that emails to teachers will be responded in a timely manner between 8am and 5pm Monday-Friday. At times, teachers will be involved in Zoom meetings or onsite Flexible Learning and planning sessions.
• Check emails and Flexischools announcements daily to ensure you are receiving necessary communications.
• Understand that the learning program delivered onsite will be the same as the learning program delivered to students undertaking remote learning.
• Keep their children home from onsite Flexible Learning if they are unwell.

"The knowledge is in the room"
We are truly blessed at St Pat's with a talented and dedicated team of staff.
During the week, the staff shared presentations around the programs we currently provide and will continue to offer during Term 3. These include:

• Fine motor skill program
• Oral language program
• Innovations in IT eg Screencastify, video modelling
• Supporting students with language disorders
• Extending tasks for our highly able students
• Differentiated spelling programs
• Personalised Learning Plans and adjustments for students for Term 3
• Assisting parents to read with their child 
• Classroom Feedback 
• To Know, Worship and Love online RE resource
• Wellbeing practices to alleviate student anxiety
• F-2 Maths - Place Value research and findings to support multiplicative thinking and the importance of place value in the early years

"Our teachers are excellent, dedicated teachers and our children benefit from the interaction with them...  My hope is that what was untried, but has now been tested, may be improved for everyone’s benefit. We are all in this together, as the sign on the front fence says, and it is my sincere hope that we can learn from the trial of Term 2 to make Term 3 a more positive experience for ALL our children and families " St Pat's Parent

At our school, we are committed to teaching a consistent high-quality and engaging curriculum with one to one and small group student support, a focused wellbeing program, opportunities for enrichment and extension and access to specialist expertise. 

Every student is unique. 

In the coming weeks, we believe we will support every student to flourish as we transition from Home Learning to Flexible Learning.

Acknowledgements:
To the staff from #stpatsmbna for their commitment to developing a Flexible Learning program and a willingness to share their gifts and talents with each other and our children

COVID -19 (Part 3) Responding to Feedback and Rising to the Challenge of the Second Wave

On July 8, a second phase of Stage 3 lockdown restrictions were implemented for 6 weeks in Melbourne. School holidays due to finish on July 13 were extended for our primary school students until July 20. During this time, all staff were expected to return to school for five student free days to review teaching plans and prepare for the potential of remote learning for Term 3.

On July 10, Victoria recorded 288 coronavirus cases, its highest number of cases to date.

Just as the daily coronavirus cases have risen, the staff of St Pat's will rise to the challenge and support our students and community to flourish during this second wave of coronavirus.

Time for Action
The day after the new restrictions were announced, I met with two of my school leaders at school for several hours to begin to draft plans for our student free week. We had to prepare for the potential of remote learning (as I write this post on the eve of our return to school, the Victorian premier has confirmed home learning will commence from July 20). This time, we have the opportunity to learn through our experiences during Term 2 and make positive changes based on feedback from staff, students and parents. Two days later, on the last day of the school holidays, we met again for several hours to ensure that we were fully prepared for the student free week.

"We value rich, regular and quality feedback.." St Pat's Shared Vision
Teachers have a reputation for actively seeking feedback on their practices and making adjustments for continual improvement.

Whilst running up a sharp incline on the COVID treadmill (see previous post) we responded to feedback, adapted and improved our home learning practices last term. This time we have the benefit of learning from our experiences and making the most of five student free days to refine and improve our practices further.

If any of our students or parents expected our teachers to automatically follow the Term 2 pattern of remote learning practices, then they will be pleasantly surprised. Naturally, some aspects will remain the same but other elements will be adjusted so that we can offer a better programme.

Why? Because that's exactly what expert teachers do with their teaching all the time.

"We identify needs ... and build professional capacity and capability... to ensure our students will be engaged and motivated." (St Pat's Shared Vision).
Based on the feedback from students and parents (see below), some of the adjustments will include a review of:

• the frequency of small group and whole group Zoom meetings and teacher interactions
• the modelling of explicit teaching concepts and strategies
• the presentation of the learning template and access on the Community Learning Site
• the inclusion of extra wellbeing opportunities 
• the focus on our Catholic identity and opportunities for social justice connections
• the gathering of assessment data to inform further teaching. 

Ultimately, we wish to develop guidelines to ensure consistent home learning practices for all year levels across the school. The improvements we make will be utilised for both offsite and onsite learning practices going forward.

Student Feedback
Fortunately, at the end of Term 2, I met with some of our students to capture their responses to the pros and cons of Home Learning.

SRC # 7 End of Term 2 Feedback
In this video, the #stpatsmbna SRC reps share their views on the pros and cons of Home Learning and the best part about being back at school.

Parent Feedback. 
Do you wish to offer any further feedback ? 
During the Term 2 home learning phase, we continually invited parents to share their feedback via telephone conversations and email. Here is some of the feedback. If parents wish to offer further feedback, please email principal@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au

Positive
Just wanted to send a note to say thank you for the time you take to send ...a recorded message on Seesaw for his work completed. It’s really appreciated during these times which I’m sure you are extra busy (Year 3 parent).
I'm sure you are both super busy today preparing for a return to onsite learning but I just wanted to send you both a quick email to say thank you for all your hard work over the last month and a half.
The take home packs you prepared were so organised and well thought out, it certainly made for a more efficient and smoother at home learning experience for all involved. The class zooms were a real highlight -the boys looked forward to seeing you and their friends each morning .
We always talk about what a fab choice we made in selecting St Pats as our school and our experience over the last few weeks has only served to reinforce that! (Year 1 parent)

I just wanted to drop a quick email so say a huge thank you for all the support, encouragement and patience given to the students (and parents!) whilst learning from home. The continued all round support and guidance especially from the teachers has been outstanding, a credit to their teaching skills (Year 3, Year 6 parent)

I was just watching the video from the SRC reps. They did a great job. Well done.

We have been very impressed with .. during these challenging times. I've been listening into the zoom calls and ... been brilliant. Very pleased overall with the home learning. For two full time workers it's actually worked better than we expected. (Year 1 parent)

Constructive

Thanks for your email and reaching out. This weeks (W2) more structured home-learning has been working well for ... He’s definitely found it more challenging and there is more work for him to complete. A big improvement from last week. I think next weeks detailed planner will also work well for him. Is it possible to email the planners out when they become available? We don’t have Google chrome so it’s not easy to print out and format from the Home Learning site (Year 6 parent).

Given the stage 3 restrictions announced today I was hoping you could give some thought to having the teachers at St Pats available more often throughout the school day in Term 3 in a more structured way ( Year 2, Year 6 parent)

I would hope to see more interaction throughout the day from the teachers. A morning check in to set up the day is great, but I know that further check-ins, group learning or email contact with required response in a limited time frame would be extremely beneficial... perhaps a solution to this problem is for the teachers to be checking in more frequently with the students. Our teachers are excellent, dedicated teachers and our children benefit from the interaction with them. (Year 4, Year 6 parent)

What will the staff do during the 5 student free days ?

During the week, the staff will reflect and respond to feedback (see above), review and redesign learning plans, film instructional teaching videos, prepare resource packs, arrange the distribution of resources and readjust teaching plans to prepare for the potential of remote learning. We will also prepare to loan chrome book devices if required, issue the expression of interest forms for onsite learning for families of essential workers and vulnerable children.

Amidst all of this, we will continue to hold tight to our  St Pat's Core Values, in particular, these two:

We are all in this together and will continue to work to meet the needs of each of our students to provide the best opportunity for everyone to improve both with their learning and with their wellbeing during these challenging times. We understand that each and every one of our families has their own unique set of challenges and we will do our utmost to support all of you as we rise to the challenge of this second wave.

Home Learning ; One Parent Shares their Story

Faith, hope and innovation at our school were key themes of my previous post. Please place your faith and hope in our innovative staff as we are assure all families that our children will flourish with Home Learning this term. Let's focus on the core values our children live out at school as we support each other with a positive mindset at home.

On Sunday 22nd March, the Victorian Premier announced that schools would close early, almost a week before Term 1 was officially due to end. The global COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding. Every few days new restrictions were introduced until home isolation became the norm for most of us.

Fortunately, at the end of Term 1, our teachers had prepared and uploaded Term 2 Home Learning resources on our Learning Community Site. We wanted to be ready in case school wouldn't resume. At that stage, little did we comprehend the full meaning of the national "Stay Home and Stay Safe" slogan.

On Tuesday 7th April, just before Easter, we were officially told that schools would remain closed for Term 2. Immediately our staff responded. We held a Zoom leadership meeting and began to review and prepare detailed plans to ensure a smooth and supportive transition for our community to Home Learning.

In the interim, I received a number of emails from parents with questions, concerns and worries over and above the COVID-19 challenges already impacting families. To support parents and hopefully allay any anxiety, I responded with a Frequently Asked Questions FAQ tab on the Learning Community Site. Our staff have indeed been working hard behind the scenes. 

Amidst these communications, I received an Easter blessing. It was an encouraging message of hope in the form of an email from a parent, Brooke, who trialled our Home Learning resources with her children during the holidays. Brooke was happy for me to share her story to help encourage and support other parents. Brooke is a mother of two children, Evie in Year 3 and Chloe in Prep. Just as Brooke said to her daughters.. "this will look and feel different to school", we cannot and do not intend for you to replicate school learning at home but together we can create a supportive Home Learning environment that works for your family.

Here is Brooke's story..

I made sure that the girls are aware that we are continuing to do their schoolwork daily, but that it will look and feel different to their classrooms. It’s sub-structured, so I ensure that we still go for a walk or a quick bike ride. I utilise Cosmic Kids for yoga classes, and I know there are other resources to keep the kids active inside when its wet and cold. I also incorporate learning, so they aren’t even aware they are learning i.e. cooking, getting them to get the specific ingredients, use their maths skills etc…… or I may make up a scavenger hunt out in the backyard and they need to tick off their items from their list.

The night prior, I set all of us up for the following day. I will go through what they have completed and what needs to be actioned and make an outline for the next day. I make sure that Evie incorporates reading every day and she completes her daily diary after she has read. She will spend 20-30 mins reading and may do this over 2 parts of the day.  She is organised. We have her weekly spelling words so each day she writes these into her book and practices and on Friday I do a spelling and dictation test with her. Evie is also attentive and makes time each day for her writing. I normally get Evie to complete these tasks when I am working one on one with Chloe, as I know she is more than capable and completes these successfully. Chloe, who obviously in Prep needs support, especially in terms of reading and understanding words, phonics and pronunciation.

We have been working on the year level documents provided on the school Learning Community Site which provide good guidance. As Evie is self-sufficient and motivated she can complete her maths tasks, and when Chloe is working on something independently, I will then sit with Evie and we go through this. We identify if she didn’t understand anything, work through and then correct her work. Besides writing and maths, some days we allocate the other tasks such as narrative writing which Evie did a great job on. She drafted this, we discussed it and when she was happy, she wrote it into her book.

I am also allowing them time to be creative. They make up stories together and they both love drawing and colouring so I give them that opportunity and it breaks up the day for all of us. I have been using FUSE and they have good resources. I think keeping the children involved too is important as they can then take ownership. I know Evie would specify if there was something, she wanted to work on i.e. history work etc. For the Youtube clips they both watched these together and again it's just making the time to do this.  I ask them questions afterwards to gauge their understanding.

In terms of Chloe, Reading Eggs has been fantastic, she is really doing well on that. I am encouraging her to continue with this. She completes Reading Eggs and Sunshine Online daily for 30-60 mins per day and she is very keen which is positive. We have utilised Top Marks for her maths and again I follow up in everyday discussions to get her thinking. For me, the biggest concern with a Prep is ensuring they can read, so I am working hard on this, and trying to put things in place to help such as Reading Eggs. I am working on Chloe's understanding of phonic and the chunking of words, so we break them apart. I have printed Oxford wordlists and specific words that I have turned into my own cue cards/flash cards and daily I focus on 5-10 words and we go through these, pronouncing them, sounding them out so she actually understands them and then do a mini test at the end of it to gauge where she is at.

We read daily, and I was hoping we may be able to get some readers from school. She finished her scrapbook and loved this. I have other similar worksheets and books that she also completes. I encourage writing, she writes the alphabet fully for me, and is learning how to space out her letters and put them on a line. Chloe also writes the days of the week and she practices her name. I am just getting her to feel confident with her writing and again understanding her letters and words.

Other adhoc things I incorporate – puzzles, they love memory games, play – using their imagination, keeping them active, helping around the house, cooking etc.

Personally, I have found knowing what you want to achieve for the day makes it easier, as I then know what one child can do whilst I am focussing on the other. I break up the work spaces too giving them variety. Some days we are all on the dining table, other days they are working on the kitchen bench or I have one in the other lounge room where I can see reading and then focussing on the other so that both get the attention they need.

What do the girls think of Home Learning ?

Evie shares, “Despite missing being at school and seeing all of my friends I am enjoying being at home and learning with my Mum & sister. It’s a different type of learning, but we are making the most of it and Mum is making it enjoyable for us both”.
Chloe said, “I miss my friends, but I am trying to learn how to read and keep doing my work. Mum helps me with writing, and I love Reading Eggs and Sunshine Online!” 

Brooke said to me, "I can understand that there are many parents feeling anxious about the term, it’s not always easy juggling it, but having the guidance we have been given via yourself and the teachers, and so many great resources out there it alleviates some of the stress."

Here is a link to a few extra resources Brooke accesses with her family.

Thanks to Brooke for sharing her story and photos of her family in action.

Every home setting will naturally be unique to the family living there. You will be able to support your children's learning in a way that works for your family. Please understand that our experienced and approachable staff will be with you all of the way and we know that a strong parent school partnership supported by our core values will enable all of us to adapt to this new way of learning and change2flourish.

Archaeological Dig Unearths Invaluable Treasures

After returning from a trip to Rome, a city known for it's archaeological treasures,  I was astonished to discover that our school review would mirror an "archaeological dig". The"dig" was an authentic, hands on experience, where open ended questions generated rich, deep dialogue and the unearthing of layer upon layer of invaluable treasures.

An archaeological "dig" in Rome.

In April 2019, our leadership team began gathering evidence of student, staff and parent voice to inform our Specific Focus School Review (this link provides background information about the review). The evidence reflected our core value focus around respect and positivity and included records of conversations, emails, See saw posts and notes from meetings with the Student Representative Council. Preparation for the review involved completing a self-assessment of the Leadership and Management, Student Well Being and Religious School Improvement Framework (SIF) Rubrics from Catholic Education Melbourne. We also revisited our Enhancing Catholic Identity survey data and RE surveys in light of the Horizons of Hope education framework for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

The review led by Mary Wilson (renowned international, executive coach ) took place towards the end of August 2019. The agreed focus question that drove the review was:

How could our research and inquiry culture be further developed to maximise impact for the learner?

Striving to remain loyal to the voice of staff explicitly articulated in a vision narrative developed with the Schools That Deliver Network early in 2018, meant making sure our review specifically aligned with the vision. You can read about the vision process at this link.

In the shared vision it states:

“The whole staff are involved in decisions regarding Action Research. Any research is relevant to the needs of our learners and is used to strengthen outcomes, ensuring the curriculum has a positive and meaningful impact.”

The agreed review methodology was:

1. Staff action research will inform the review and the future focus.
2. The action learning process will be utilised throughout the review period as the data is used to design action, perform the action, gather more data and design new action, perform that action and so on.
3. The review will involve all staff, students and wider community.
4. The review will be led by the leadership team.

On the second day of the review, Mary invited the leadership team to carry out an archaeological dig of the evidence. We worked in pairs to examine the evidence in depth, leading to the revelation of treasures; affirmations, commendations and recommendations. Here were some of the questions that guided the archaeological dig:

How has our research inquiry process maximised impact for our learners ?
What are the things we need to develop further ?
What are the key impacts of our action research based culture ? and What have we done really well ?

Commendations -  Based on the data, what are the key things we have embedded with great quality ?
Affirmations - What are we doing well and need to keep working on ?
Recommendations -What are the next steps going forward ?

At the end of the "dig", we met with staff and shared the process but not the treasures with them. Staff were given time to work in pairs and record their commendations, affirmations and recommendations.

SNAP !! When we matched the leadership treasures to the staff treasures - they aligned perfectly.

What are the treasures ? What are the affirmations, commendations and recommendations ?
Once we receive the formal report from Mary, we will proudly share our treasures and our next steps forward.

Rest assured, feedback about the experience of the review was resoundingly positive.
Some of the words and phrases used by staff to describe the review included :
ownership, transparency, collaboration, explicit, supportive, energising, exciting, trust in the process and the facilitator, the archeological dig, the time for rich dialogue and reflection with leadership and staff, triads gave everyone a voice.
One leader said, "In the past, reviews have been academic centred. This was more about the social and emotional well being of the students"

Another leader stated, "I am proud of the progress we have made. We now have a positive staff culture where everyone is committed to our vision and the well being of all learners ".

An archaeological dig unearthed invaluable school treasures. 

The treasures align with our vision.

We can be assured that:

Learners leave St Patrick’s self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world.

A recent student led Daffodil Day

Special thanks to Mary Wilson, Maree Holmes (Principal Consultant, CEM), our St Patrick's leadership team and all staff, students and community members who contributed to the review. Thanks to Catholic Education Melbourne for allowing our school to take ownership of the process and enable the review to be an authentic, organic, energising and engaging action research project.

Interruption & Hope ; Purposefully wading into deeper waters

                                                                                                        "Do not be afraid" Mt. 14:27

A personal reflective response to THCT605 Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI): Introducing the Leuven Project
This is my early understanding in relation to the Leuven Project. It is a personal interpretation, a way for me to recontextualise my learning so that it will be meaningful for the local school community. In sharing this reflection, I welcome interruption to my thoughts through dialogue as we purposefully wade into deeper waters together.

 Jesus Walking On Water by Gloria Ssali Fine Art America

1. Interruption
How can a school leader abandon their school for five days after an emergency closure due to water damage ? This was the question I grappled with when an unexpected event, interrupted and displaced some of our school community from their regular teaching and learning spaces in the days leading up to this course.

2. Hope
Three valid reasons enabled the interruption to provide a space for new learning and formation:
a) I implicitly trust the capabilities of our very able staff. Emails and phone calls are reassuring. b) Prior enrolment in the Australian Catholic University (ACU) paper generously sponsored by Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) meant that I was committed. c) A duty as a school leader to fully understand the ECSI Project in light of our school report and a personal challenge to further support and enhance Catholic school identity in the hope that it will flourish.

3. Interruption

Professor Didier Polleyfet and Jan Bouwens presenting the ECSI Project to Catholic school leaders, August 2017

After our first full day of learning, my head was spinning with theological terms, words and phrases associated with the ECSI Project. Like all learning, we have to be brave enough to fall into the pit (Butler & Edwards, 1994 cited in Nottingham, 2003) before we can truly rise to the challenge of new learning.
On my second morning, after alighting from a tram full of commuters staring at their mobile phone screens, my eyes were immediately drawn to the sun glistening on a large bronze crucifix outside the headquarters of CEM, James Goold House. This symbol was an interruption to the norm, an immovable presence amidst the hurrying passersby.

Image from Taiwan Today

4. Hope
Passersby appeared oblivious to the bronze crucifix, a striking symbol of Christianity. Yet, it was on the morning of our fifth and final day, when I finally believed my new learning was making sense, that my perception of the insignificance of the symbol to passersby changed. I noticed a single, white lily had been placed at the foot of the crucifix. Immediately, this simple gesture, had transformed a traditional symbol of Catholic identity into the present space where dialogue, personal encounter and hope could connect and flourish.

5. Interruption

The latest publication from Pollefeyt and Bouwens

As leaders and teachers in Catholic schools, we are called to enable space and place for personal encounters within the rich tapestry of Catholic symbols, prayer, scripture and tradition. Research from the Leuven Project (Pollefeyt & Bouwens, 2014), grounded in data from our Australian schools, suggests that Religious Education primarily based on Christian Values is not enough within the context of our secularising society. We have to challenge ourselves to dig more deeply, in order to purposefully connect the mystery and tradition of our Catholic faith, with the contemporary lives of our learners today.
To help explain this, I have likened this challenging interruption to an iceberg analogy.

Personal iceberg analogy to explain a way to enhance Catholic Identity in our schools today.

6. Hope
We can help our learners to engage in a sacred space, to enable a personal encounter with our loving God. Research from Pollefeyt and Bouwens (2014), indicates that the two main areas where we can make an impact are:
a) The creative use of scripture and
b) Engaging learners in prayer.

Let's support our learners to connect with and make sense of their personal life experiences in the contemporary world of today, by purposefully wading into deeper waters together.  "Do not be afraid" Mt. 14:27.

Through intentional interruption and by drawing deeply from Catholic sacraments, traditions, symbols and stories (Sharkey, 2015), we can enable a vibrant, living, contemporary Catholicity to flourish.

Footnote
This reflection is an attempt to recognise the following theological interpretations:
Interruption - Boeve (2016) argues that a productive tension between theology and religious studies interrupting each other is mutually beneficial.
Hope -  Sharkey (2017) challenges us to reflect on and celebrate the seeds of hope we can identify in our current practise.

References

Boeve, L. (2016). Theology at the crossroads of university, church and society: Dialogue, difference and Catholic identity. London, United Kingdom: Bloombsbury.

Nottingham, J. (2003). The Learning Challenge. Retrieved from http://www.jamesnottingham.co.uk/learning-pit/

Pollefeyt, D. & Bouwens, J. (2014). Identity in Dialogue. Assessing and enhancing Catholic school identity. Munster, Germany: Lit Verlag.

Sharkey, P. (2015). Educator's guide to Catholic identity. Victoria, Australia: Vaughan Publishing.

A renewed community vision emerges in the seventh week...

  Six weeks of collaboration followed by time for rest and reflection in the seventh week, contribute to a renewed community vision.
  When I came home and announced to my family that I had been at my new school for seven weeks, they reminded me that seven was a very special number. During my seventh week as principal of St Patrick's school in Murrumbeena, Melbourne, our renewed community vision began to emerge.
  During 2014, Lorraine Frances-Rees and I collaborated on an article for the Catholic Education New Zealand magazine, Aoraki (the article can be found on pages 9 - 16) or  Here is a link to the article. The article was in relation to change initiatives that began to evolve as an outcome of my sabbatical after seven years as a principal in New Zealand. It was then that I became enlightened about the number seven from a biblical perspective. Lorraine wrote about God resting on the seventh day in Genesis and the resting of fields every seven years in Leviticus. You can read the article by going to page 11 of this link.

The cover of the original Aoraki publication (left) and the new cover (right).

What has emerged in the seventh week at St Patrick's school ?
This is a summary of the visioning journey so far. The link to an earlier post, explains the initial process with staff: Individual culture and context drives the visioning process.

  Staff shared their thoughts and ideas in relation to four probe questions linked to the school's existing vision statements and other pertinent documents. Then staff followed the 10/4 voting process. A fifth probe question was later introduced in response to further discussions - If you had a magic wand to transform the school buildings, learning spaces and playground, what would you like to see change ?
  Interested parents who joined our newly formed POPE (Parents Open Partners in Education) group also reflected on the probe questions. Members of the Parish Education Board shared their thoughts and ideas too. Students contributed through meetings and surveys.

Staff voting during the visioning session.

All of the data was summarised and the outcomes shared with staff. Here is a link to the summary.

  During this time, we received the new Catholic Education Melbourne Learning and Teaching Framework, Horizons of Hope. It is a distinctive document, designed to support excellence in teaching and learning within the context of the central vision of Catholic education to carry on the mission of Jesus. I prepared a presentation, incorporating the key messages from Horizons of Hope, to guide staff as they formulate a succinct vision statement and future actions for our community. Here is the presentation. Slide 6 shows the link to Horizons of Hope.

Thanks go to Lorraine Frances-Rees for slides 8,10,11,13 adapted from our presentation at the
Catholic Education Convention, New Zealand, 2015.
You can access the presentation Authentic Catholic Leadership at this link.

  Below is a draft vision statement, a contribution from one group of staff as they began to plan actions going forward. This statement links very well with the existing school logo and encompasses the meaning of the five existing vision statements (Slide 7 above). We hope to have one succinct statement, easily articulated by the whole community. The statement could be the one that guides our future plans and actions.
Continual collaboration within a connected community allows a renewed vision to emerge in the seventh week...

                 

Our existing values will be revisited as we link them to our renewed vision for all learners.

        

United: ACPPA & NZCPPA candles, a Tokotoko and bullroarers

Danny Nicholls skilfully captured the combined ACPPA & NZCPPA executive members during the meeting day in Auckland

I was fortunate to be present during the inaugural combined Australian Catholic Primary Principals Association (ACPPA) and New Zealand Catholic Primary Principals Association (NZCPPA) meeting on Tuesday 31st May, 2016. Two days were planned for the Catholic executive members to collaborate, learn and share with one another before the commencement of the Trans-Tasman Primary Principal Conference in Auckland. You can read a reflection about our first day of school visits on an earlier blogpost here.  Below are reflections, links and slideshows from our meeting day. 

Special thanks to all of the contributors mentioned throughout this blogpost who shared their presentations. May our trans-tasman ties strengthen and grow as we unite to bring about the reign of God and keep alive the mission of Jesus Christ for our students and families in our Catholic schools across Australia and New Zealand.

Candles 
Two candles were presented from the ACPPA to the NZCPPA. Brad Gaynor explained that the ACPPA have also got the same two candles and will create a sacred space to light the candles at future meetings. The candles have logos representative of both countries, the wattle for Australia and the fern for New Zealand entwined within a cross as a mark of unity to Christ and each other through our Catholic faith.

ACPPA & NZCPPA special candles, bullroarers and tokotoko

Bullroarers
Mark Mowbray (New South Wales, ACPPA president) presented two bullroarers that were painted by a local pastor and tribal elder from the Biripi people. Bullroarers are a sacred wooden object used in Aboriginal religious ceremonies. They are attached to string and can be whirled round to produce a noise and communicate over great distances. Mark then shared a story written for him by an elder. It was called "Gulambara and the voice of Yuludarra" and was based around Catholic Aboriginal spirituality and the Trinity. Mark explained that together, the ACPPA and the NZCPPA will have the voice of the Holy Spirit at their meetings now and in the future.

ACPPA President Mark Mowbray 

Tokotoko
Michael Mokai (Hamilton Diocese, meeting chair and outgoing NZCPPA president) spoke about the New Zealand gift of a Tokotoko to the ACPPA. This is a Maori talking stick. When you hold it, it increases the prestige of the speaker and is a representation of the spirit world. Mike explained that our conversations can continue when we are not in each others presence.

Donaugh Shirley (Queensland) provided a synopsis of the Australian Catholic Education sector. Donaugh explained there were twenty-seven dioceses in Australia. Some were quite small and some were very large. In most dioceses a Director of Education acts as an agent for the Bishop. Principals have more autonomy than in New Zealand although this is changing in some parts of Australia. The majority of the funding comes through Federal Government to the diocese and then the rest is made up by school fees.
Special needs is a growing area in Catholic schools and schools are renowned for catering for the needs of learners. The number of special needs students has doubled in the last few years. Early years education is also a highlight and there is huge diversity across Australia. Some young children start at three years of age in Western Australia and advice sessions for parents are also available . In Queensland, organisations outside the school system organise the Early Years programmes. The ACPPA need to advocate for students, teachers and principals as an organisation. The Catholic Commission are trying to get equity over the funding across Australia.

Therese Coleman & Deb Daines (Christchurch Diocese) shared a presentation around the theme 'Managing our Patch' (see below). They explained that Catholic schools are an extension of the Parishes. The Board of trustees explanation plays a major governance role in New Zealand schools and the electing of parent trustees is the second largest election in New Zealand. Therese and Deb shared finance information and explained that 60% of the staff in Catholic schools must be Catholic. Catholic teaching positions are advertised as 'tag' positions. Tags are hard to fill in different parts of the country. There are five preference options for the enrolment of children into Catholic schools but the priest makes the final decision. Legally schools must not enrol any more than approximately 5% of their maximum role of non - Catholics. New Zealand schools have a Diocesan Catholic review every three years and state government review every three to five years.

You can click on the arrows and enlarge the slideshow below to view it.

Deb Daines

Therese Coleman

Melanie Bolwell (Northern Territory) shared a beautiful prayer presentation entitled 'Dreaming Big'. Due to images of children from her school we are unable to share this with you.

Bruce Young, Daniel Pepper and Craig McKernan (Auckland Diocese) spoke about Indigenous Education in New Zealand.

Bruce explained the history going back to Bishop Pompellier and the missionaries evangelising the Maori people in 1840. He shared the importance of  The Treaty of Waitangi, the nations founding document and the fact that Roman Catholicism and spirituality are included in article 4 of The Treaty. The religious brothers and sisters were brought out to educate the early people. Then the Government developed native schools and Maori language started to get banned in schools and homes. From 1880's to 1950's Maori education was pushed aside. The language was lost and slowly it is returning. 

In the last fifteen years the government has focussed on Maori and Pasifika students ensuring success for all. The NZ Curriculum document was developed in 2007. You can access information about this at this link.  Daniel explained it has a very explicit vision stating that Maori and Pakeha must learn and grow together. There is also a Maori Curriculum document to ensure there is a focus on success for Maori including correct protocols. 

Craig's school does a powhiri (Maori welcoming ceremony) every term for new students coming into the school. Transiency and truancy are huge challenges but it comes back to the importance of building relationships with students and families. Craig's staff are all learning to speak TeReo (Maori language). The Maori Achievement Collaborative (MAC) for example, is ensuring there is representation and equity for educational outcomes for Maori by challenging all of us. ERO (Government Education Review) will not consider your school to be high performing unless Maori are feeling valued and progressing as Maori students. We have to change the perception of our staff. It starts at the top and then it filters down to the staff.

Bruce talking about the history of NZ education

Karen Pearce (Queensland) spoke about Indigenous Education in Australia. Karen believes Australia is far behind New Zealand in this area and they have a long way to go. Aboriginals only got the vote in 1967. Australians need to learn from us.

We all had a chance to share the Aboriginal Lord's prayer.

Karen focused on the Queensland and Townsville Diocese. 10% of students in the schools are indigenous. The Council of the Australian Government developed the 'Closing the Gap' initiative to help close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. Closing the Gap focuses on reading, writing and numeracy, however, one of the main problems is getting the children to school.

The Australian Curriculum include cross curriculum priorities and Torres Strait islander priorities.

All schools now acknowledge the traditional owners of the land. 

Karen's Torres Strait Islander Dance Troupe performs at different schools. It is mainly made up of non indigenous students.

Schools celebrate special days and build relationship bridges together. RAPS - Reconciliation Action Plans.

Most of the funding is used to employ staff as it is very hard to get staff in some schools.

High schools have more funding for scholarships eg. sporting opportunities

The Northern Territory has flexible learning centres for indigenous children who drop out of school.

Some of the challenges include: generations on welfare and substance abuse, school attendance and access to education.

Danny Nicholls (incoming NZCPPA president) and James Murray (Hamilton Diocese) spoke about Spiritual and Faith formation. Teachers and children encounter Christ each and every day. There are both challenges and opportunities to provide spiritual and faith formation for our students and staff.Parish priests have a role as a spiritual leader and they are on the board of trustees. Different diocese are exploring faith based clusters of communities of learning to strengthen their Catholicity. New Zealand Catholic schools receive the same operational funding as state schools but must use a substantial amount for special Catholic character resourcing and professional development.

James and Danny presenting

Brad Gaynor (Australian Capital Territory ACT)

Every diocese has some form of accreditation and there are many opportunities for professional learning. All school documents and strategic plans have a big push for spirituality and faith formation.

Brad Gaynor presenting

Siloam ('So I went and I washed and then I could see') is a 24 hour spiritual retreat for Catholic principals to take time out and connect with their colleagues and each other in a spiritual way. Principals meet three times a year in the ACT for this 24 hour retreat. It has a spiritual theme and is a process rather than a programme. Principals break into small groups and each group has a priest assigned to them. The priests are progressive and forward thinking. The second day is about leadership.

Some of the issues facing Catholic schools are: disengaged and disinterested teachers, lack of clergy, Parish priest restrictions, every diocese is different, the Catholic education curriculum is constantly changing and different across Australia, managing all of this and at the same time providing relevant and engaging Catholic education for students. As a result of accreditation, there are now more highly qualified knowledgeable Catholic teachers. The concern is that this is still not filtering from the teachers to children in learning to ensure schools are truly Catholic.

Sue Jury (Wellington dioceses) spoke about the positives and negatives of the Religious Education RE curriculum in New Zealand.

In 1996 a new RE curriculum was created by teachers for teachers. It is a National curriculum with six strands - Sacrament, Church, Holy Spirit, God, Jesus, Communion of Saints and three other learning areas which include prayer, liturgical year and myself and others. 

A major challenge is that the curriculum is year based and it needs to move with the times. It is difficult to teach it in composite classes. We are working towards a New Zealand Curriculum model with a programme levelled from 1-4. It  will need to be more easily adaptable to modern pedagogical practices. Many schools have moved to an integrated approach using a one page overview that provides, for example, everything a Year 4 student needs to know. Assessment is planned at the beginning of the unit around specific aspects of knowledge and experiences of faith. The knowledge only is assessed.

Not included at the meeting but an extra to share. At St Joseph's in Oamaru we have a DRS (Director of Religious Studies) blog. This is a record of our RE staff meetings and ongoing sharing around assessment and data gathering that led to an RE Curriculum target in 2016. This target aligns with our literacy and numeracy targets to action and support learning needs and gaps for our learners based on our data. 

Ros Oates (South Australia) shared a You Tube video about  the curriculum in Australia ACARA with Robert Randall CEO (see below). It is a very complex curriculum with much to cover and the goals is to refine it further. Ros' slideshow is available below.

Ros Oates presenting

                          You Tube video of Robert Randall talking about the Australian Curriculum

Special thanks to Mike Mokai for chairing this meeting and ensuring representatives from both ACPPA and NZCPPA had opportunities to share and collaborate during this valuable time together.