COVID-19 Part 2 (18 May - 5 July 2020 ) Turning Point: Transition back to school & the COVID Treadmill

After 6 weeks of Home Learning, it was time to prepare to welcome back our community

The Victorian Government announced that Monday May 25 would be a staff closure day where all staff are expected to return to work onsite. Initially, the Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 students would recommence school on Tuesday May 26 followed two weeks later, by the Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students. After 6 weeks of working full time onsite at school, with a supportive team of staff, whilst most staff and students were based at home, it was time to welcome back all of the staff and the junior students.

It was during that final week, the sixth week of remote home learning, that Mary Wilson, Schools That Deliver Network facilitator contacted me from New Zealand.
We set up a Zoom meeting on Friday 22 May. My meeting with Mary, gave me a chance to reflect on how to make the most of the staff closure day and prepare for the transition back to school.

19 May 2020

Dear Jenny

....The world has certainly changed in the last two months and life will be changed going forward.  Hopefully we can put all the great things we learned during lockdown into our ’new normal’.

How are you going in Melbourne?  Are schools back as yet?  Our NZ schools went back for all children yesterday and there was about an 80% attendance across the country.

What have you learned about yourself as a person and as a leader during this unique experience?  What has each of your staff learned about themselves?  What about the students?  The families?  What are you planning to do with all that learning? ........

Ngā mihi mahana

Mary Wilson 

21 May 2020

Hi Mary,

......Yes, what an experience we are having ! Thank goodness for our core values. I started a blog piece weeks ago but not much time at the moment to finish it.....

Finally on Monday, all staff will come together onsite for a closure day (we haven't seen 80% of staff face to face since March) and then our Foundation, 1 & 2 children officially return on Tuesday. Yeah !!

Are you free to Zoom tomorrow Mary ?

Thanks

Jenny

Following the Zoom meeting with Mary, I went on to prepare for the closure day and ensured that I maximised our staff time together. 

Here are the slides from the day.



Staff reflections

What are you most proud of ? Summary of key responses from staff:

• The way we (staff and students) adapted to change and kept on top of all of the work
• Focussing on the positives especially the positive feedback from students and parents
• Ability to up skill as needed and use technology as a great learning tool
• The calm reassuring and supportive atmosphere we created for our families 

What have you learned about yourself during this time ? Summary of key responses from staff:

• I value relationships with family and friends
• Persevering with challenges is rewarding
• Change can be stressful but by keeping calm we can adapt 
• Positivity, perseverance, patience and confidence are valuable life skills

What do you want to hold onto going forward ? Summary of key responses from staff:

• keep a more balanced lifestyle, switch off and prioritise exercise and walks
• being flexible and creative with technology as a teaching tool
• maintaining calm under pressure and letting unimportant tasks go
• keep the team spirit alive and continue to support one another

Staff working in the school hall to maintain social distancing

Bringing the whole staff back together for the first time in 8 weeks called for a celebration. We organised a delicious morning tea and lunch to show our appreciation for the staff. Due to social distancing and hygiene practises, we set up the hall as our meeting room for the day as sadly we could no longer use the staffroom as a gathering place.

Sandra and Kellie used gloves and tongs to serve staff for health and safety

COVID -19 Staff Wellbeing Bags

How do you show your staff how much you appreciate them, especially when there are about 40 of them ? This called for some staff well being bags, in fact extra special COVID -19 wellbeing bags. Inside the bags were:

a face mask; hand sanitiser; hand cream; Coffee voucher ; lollies ; chips ; rubber gloves and a beautiful sunflower to brighten their day

After I presented the staff with their bags, the staff presented me with a beautiful card and gift too. It certainly wasn't necessary but gave me time to stop and reflect.

COVID Treadmill Reflection
I can liken the past few months to exercising on a treadmill with very little control of the speed. Let's call it the COVID treadmill.

Once you turn on the treadmill, you choose the walking speed. Generally, you gradually increase  your pace and gain momentum whilst balancing on the running belt.

The speed of our COVID treadmill increased rapidly. We had to support each other to stay on the running belt as we quickly learnt to adapt to new and unfamiliar online teaching expectations. Some of us were fitter than others and could maintain a fast walk or a jog but none of us could sustain a running pace. We were coached by colleagues and learnt to create videos and improvise when Zoom meetings failed due to poor internet connections. When gentle inclines became hills, we had to learn to pace ourselves.

As time went on we became fitter than we had ever been. Our new found fitness will hold us in good stead for any future treadmill challenges.

The principal on the Covid treadmill !

I can't express how excited I was to have all of the staff back together at school.  Reconnecting with each other and being physically present after a couple of months of communicating online was energising. Planning the get together, ensuring there was the right balance of showering staff with appreciation and gently preparing for the safe transition back to school for the children as well as
providing reflection time by slowing down and pausing the treadmill of change.
Student Reflections
Survival Tips #4 Home Learning Reflections After  6 Weeks (29 May)

SRC share the ways that they have improved with their learning and organisational skills during Home Learning. How have you improved ?

SRC Survival Tips #5 Coming back to School (5 June)

Remote learning has come to an end. In this video, the SRC students share what they are looking forward to when they return to school.

SRC #6 Safety Tips at School (4 June)

The SRC students onsite prepared this video with some helpful safety tips for all of the children at school.

Our children were very happy to return to school. Staggered start and finish times and different entry points all contributed to the COVID -19 safety protocols.

St Patrick's Murrumbeena Virtual Assembly #6

It's the beginning of Term 3 2020. Find out about the weekly awards, nude food and the special guest award presenter !

Virtual assembly #6 was prepared at the end of Term 2 in readiness for Term 3. Our assembly videos improved over time and the whole school watched the videos on a Monday morning. I enjoyed dropping into classes to present the awards.

During the last week of Term 2 Victorian coronavirus cases began to increase and 50 to 60 of our students were absent each day.

7 weeks later (July 5)
As I write this post during the school holidays, Victoria is labelled as a "Covid hotpsot" 38 Melbourne suburbs are in lockdown including 9 public housing towers with the potential of more suburbs being closed. Other states are on alert across Australia. It looks like there might need to be a COVID -19 Part 3 post. This time we will be fit and ready to step back onto the COVID treadmill.

Acknowledgements:

• To Mary Wilson from the Schools That Deliver Team for an uplifting coaching conversation just before the 8 weeks came to an end
• To our SRC students and Year 6 leaders for their contribution to the SRC and assembly videos
• To Sandra and Kellie in the front office who helped to source and prepare the staff well being bags
• To our wonderful staff who presented me with a beautiful card and gift
• To our students and parents who keenly supported the transition back to school 

COVID-19 Part 1 (22 March - 17 May 2020) Fallen bicycles, Shortness of Breath & Remote Learning

It's about 8 weeks to the day on the 22 March when:

• the Victorian premier announced that schools will finish Term 1 earlier than expected due to coronavirus State of Emergency restrictions
• I lifted a fallen bicycle in the bike shed at school and sprained my chest. This action resulted in shortness of breath. With the growing anxiety around coronavirus, caring colleagues advised me to take a trip to the doctor. Fortunately the shortness of breath was only an outcome of the sprain and a reaction to some very strong hand sanitizer.

Corona virus scare in the bike shed

8 weeks later:

• Victorians can emerge from their isolation cocoon to visit friends and family – with a maximum gathering of up to ten outdoors and up to five visitors in homes.
• Our school families have completed 5 weeks of remote "home" learning from our school Learning Community Site. Here is an extract from Community Update #1

Remote Schooling / Home Learning Frequently Asked Questions 
Term 2 Community Update #1 ; Preparing for Home Learning - 5 Key Messages
As mentioned in previous updates, the staff have been working hard to support parents and families to make the transition to Home Learning for Term 2. All updates will be published here as newsletters this term. This means you can go back and access them easily. 
Go to this link and read Brooke's story - Home Learning ; One Parent Shares their Story
Frequently Asked Questions and Supervised Onsite Expectations
I have prepared a list of 15 Frequently Asked Questions FAQ in response to parent questions.
You can open the Shamrock update newsletters on any device.

• Our staff have become digitally flexible and learnt to teach in ways they would never have imagined "pre COVID -19". They supported each other to create instructional videos like this one from our Foundation team.

Prep Making Words Instructional Video
The #stpatsmbna Prep teachers prepared this video for the children during remote learning. Look out for special guest appearances from Tia and our principal Jenny Hawkins.

• Myself and 5 other staff have been working full time for 5 weeks onsite at school with the support of part time staff, supervising the 25-30 children of essential workers at school whilst 80% of families and our staff have taught and learnt in their homes.
• Zoom, the online video conference platform became the main form of communication for staff and student meetings, including staff wellbeing groups
• ZOOM IMAGE
• staff regularly telephoned parents and responded to emails. The home learning parent partnership was strengthened. Parents and carers developed a deeper understanding of the impact of dedicated teaching staff . This became evident through parent responses to the staff video "We're all in this together".

Staff Video (7 May)"We're all in this together" at St Pat's Murrrumbeena
St Pat's school staff and local community members (guest appearances include Citizen & 3 Little Bakers celebrities! ) come together to let school families know - "We miss you and can't wait until we are all back together soon @ #stpatsmbna "

• The SRC (Student Representative Council) videos provided an opportunity for our students to support the school community during the pandemic lockdown. The SRC students elected from Year 1 through to Year 6 provide a student voice and take on the role for a semester. I met with the students on a weekly bases via Zoom during their Home Learning lunch break and we began to create a series of videos. Here are some of the videos.

SRC Survival Tips #1 

The SRC focus in their first video is on our school core value - We are positive. The students offer our community survival tips for Home Learning and positive ways to survive these challenging times.

                                          Tips for the SRC as we prepare our second video

SRC Survival Tips #2 Stay fit and healthy

The SRC share some tips for staying fit and healthy with your family during Home Learning.

SRC Survival Tips #3 Indoor Activities 

SRC share some tips for fun games to play with your family. Stay safe and keep well.

• We developed our first Virtual Assembly #1 to share weekly awards and connect with the children and families. Here is the first one. I received a lovely message from a grandparent after an award recipient shared the video with them. Something to think about for the future, especially as a way to include family members who aren't able to attend assemblies

Virtual Assembly #1

We are all proud of the way our children, staff, parents and carers have flourished during #stpatsmbna Home Learning. Find out who received awards for demonstrating the core value of being positive. Listen to the SRC students share the ways that they have improved while learning at home.

Reflection on COVID -19 imposed change
For the first time, everyone across the world had to adjust their lives and change their way of living to stay safe from  COVID -19. We were all in a similar position and nobody had experienced these particular challenges before.
Our default is to avoid change. We feel safe when we are in control of the known; familiar routines and environment.
Images of patients on respirators overseas and increasing deaths with no vaccine are confronting.
When we lose control, it can lead to anxiety and fear, especially when the health and well being of loved ones is compromised.
COVID -19 is an example of a necessary change imposed on each and every one of us.
Imposed change is extremely challenging. We have very little warning, not much time to prepare for what seems like the relinquishing of control.

Change2flourish is and always will be a constant reminder that we have to believe there is a silver lining associated with all change.

When the going gets tough, our core values and beliefs, the essence of a familiar way of being can help us get through.

As a school leader and teacher, others are looking to us to help them navigate the choppy seas. I had to dig deep during this period to focus on two of our school core values in particular - we are positive and we support each other.

Every minute of every day in those 8 weeks, revealed new challenges. My motto was to take one day at a time. Meeting via Zoom with the SRC students and creating positive video messages to share with the community, the support of a tremendous team of staff and the love and care of family and friends contributed to not only surviving these 8 weeks but learning to change2flourish during this "unprecedented time".

Acknowledgements:

• To the staff of St Patrick's who rose to the challenge and showed that teaching is truly a vocation and that no mountains are too high
• To the parents and carers of our children who despite hardship and challenges within their only work and family lives, supported their children with the home learning activities on the Learning Community Site
• To Bill Martin and John Edwards from the Schools That Deliver Team for emailing a thought provoking article on dealing with thunderbolts with a reminder to hold tight to our vision and our core values.