In this issue

• Tournament Of Minds
• Nim’s Island Day
• Term 4 Update
• Nat Amoore Virtual Visit

Grammarian Issue 14, 18 September 2020

Traralgon Junior School

From the Head of Traralgon Junior School,
Ms Tracey King.

It’s a wrap!
As we wrap up Term 3, it is an opportunity to reflect on a busy and challenging time and to stop and take a few moments to consider what we are grateful for in our lives. Heading back into round two of online learning, due to COVID-19 restrictions, was met with a range of responses from our students, teachers and parents. We have however, as a community, again stepped up and provided support to each other and have all done the very best we can. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment amongst us of a job well done and also a sense of relief that we belong to a school that is well organised and resourced and really cares about their students.

I am very grateful for our amazing teaching team at St Paul’s and for their dedication and determination to provide quality online learning for our students. I would like to acknowledge and thank our teachers for their extraordinary efforts and the intense and extended hours of work they have completed. Huge congratulations to our wonderful students who have again shown resilience and a desire to learn regardless of whether they enjoyed the online learning mode or not! Lockdown and online learning has certainly provided an opportunity for us as parents and teachers to model to our children how to manage our emotions and behaviours in times of stress and how to demonstrate empathy, kindness, resilience, discipline and grit!

I take my hat off to the outstanding team of educators in our Early Learning Centre who have remained on-site working with our little people daily. Each time I have visited, our educators have been fully engaged with children and focused on their development. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching children engage in explorations and imaginative play in their new natural play space. Their smiles and squeals of laughter have been welcomed in an otherwise quiet and empty school.

Whilst the majority of teachers and students have been at home learning and working, we have had a number of students onsite for supervision each week. For this supervision to be provided we have had teachers rostered on daily and our Education Support staff have played a key role in setting up routines, processes and supporting students. These women have been absolutely essential in caring for students and have gone above and beyond in their efforts to ensure that the admin offices have been attended to and that students have felt safe, organised and noticed during this time.

PSTIs were held last week and were well attended by parents. These interviews were an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss student learning during Term 3 and to identify areas of focus moving into Term 4. The use of Zoom seems to have been well accommodated by everyone involved. A survey requesting some feedback about PSTIs was emailed to families earlier this week and I ask if you have not yet responded to do so, as the more information we receive the better informed we are when making decisions. Many thanks to everyone involved for their patience and engagement.

Return to School Dates
Recent news reports brought a lot of excitement this week the easing of restrictions was announced. Earlier this week the Hon James Merlino also announced that Prep to Year 6 students in regional Victoria may now return to school from Monday 5 October. This concession is for ‘standalone’ primary schools, which are defined as those who do not have VCE students sitting the General Achievement Test (GAT) on campus in the first week of Term 4. Accordingly, I am delighted to confirm that our Traralgon Junior School will be allowed to resume all Prep to Year 6 classes on Monday 5 October.

The following dates and arrangements for our Traralgon Junior School and Traralgon Secondary School students now apply:

Monday 21 September to Friday 2 October: Normal school holiday break
Monday 5 October: Traralgon Junior School (ELC to Year 6) resume on-site learning; online learning ceases for these year levels.
Monday 5 October to Friday 9 October: Online learning continues for Traralgon Secondary School Years 7 to 10 students. On-site supervision remains available for secondary students.
Monday 12 October: Traralgon Years 7 to 10 students resume on-site learning; online learning ceases for these year levels.

I am sure this news will be welcomed by all families and teachers.

I will be in touch with the details of return to school protocols which will be very similar to those from the last return to school period. Of course, more changes may yet be sent through and we will communicate with you during the holiday break if that occurs.

Reflecting on the end of term
Being at home for learning did not stop us from celebrating some special events and having some fun together as a school.

Jump Off Day last week was a hit with many students engaging in the skipping challenge. After spending the term developing skipping skills and building fitness and coordination students were involved in a number of activities to demonstrate their improved skills. Congratulations to everyone who participated and a special shout out to Ms Rachael Geerts for her organisation of the event. Together we raised just over $3000 for the Heart Foundation which is a significant contribution.

Footy Days have also been celebrated by the Junior School and the ELC with students wearing their favourite footy code jumpers and scarves and enjoying some footy drills and activities.

School holidays are only a sleep away and we are all looking forward to switching off and relaxing. I wish everyone a restful and safe term break and hope that you are able to rest and recharge. Teachers and staff have really missed students and are very excited to be returning in Term 4 to face to face teaching and being able to interact with each other, smile together and enjoy a giggle. Stay safe everyone.

Tracey King
Head of Traralgon Junior School

WHAT’S ON

SEPTEMBER
18 September End of Term 3, 2:30 pm finish

RECEPTION – HOLIDAY OFFICE HOURS

Monday 21 September, open 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Tuesday 22 to Wednesday 30 September, closed
Thursday 1 October, open 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Friday 2 October, open 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

IMPORTANT FINANCE NOTICES FOR PARENTS

1) Students who may be leaving St Paul’s
As per the Business Notice/Enrolment Agreement, it is a requirement at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School that a term’s notice in advance is given before any student withdraws. The School remains committed to supporting families who are experiencing changed financial circumstances due to COVID-19 and we encourage you to contact our Finance Officer, Mr Peter Lees, via email at plees@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au to discuss options that may assist your child/ren to continue. If you are planning to withdraw your child/ren, please confirm your intention in writing to our Principal, Mr Cameron Herbert, prior to the end of Term 3.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact our Enrolments Office: Mrs Jen Christensen (Warragul) on 5623 5833 or Ms Rachael Langley (Traralgon) on 5175 0133 or by emailing enrolments@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

2) Extended Payment Dates
Families have been receiving monthly statements via email to keep them informed of fee balances. If you have any queries in relation to your annual fee account, please contact Mr Peter Lees on 5623 5833.

We are committed to the continuation of your children’s education at St Paul’s. If you are experiencing financial difficulties due to the impacts of COVID-19, please contact our Finance Officer, Mr Peter Lees, via email at plees@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au who will then contact you for a confidential discussion.

Extended Instalment Payment Date: Instalment 4 is due 5 October 2020

If you are paying fees by direct debit or have an agreed alternative arrangement in place please disregard the above instalment date.

3) Department of Education and Training (Vic DET) The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) – Extension of due date to 27 November
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments directly to the school for the benefit of the eligible student to attend camps, sports and excursions. Applications received during this extension will receive fifty per cent of the normal payment. $62.50 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students and $112.50 per year paid for eligible secondary school students. Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student. For more information and to download the application form please go to https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx

To qualify for CSEF, a student’s family must meet the following eligibility criteria:
∗1 The student is of school age and attends a registered Victorian school

∗2 The family meets one of the eligibility categories below:
a – The parent/carer of the student is, on an eligible date:
i. an eligible beneficiary of a Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card; or
ii. an eligible beneficiary of a Veterans Affairs Gold Card; or
iii. a temporary foster carer; or
iv. the parent/carer of a student who is 16 years or older and who holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card or Disability Support Pension Card).
b – The family is, on an eligible date, on a bridging visa, temporary protection visa, is in community detention or is an asylum seeker family.
c – The student is, on an eligible date, in out-of-home care.
d – The student is, on an eligible date, in statutory kinship care.

∗3 The student has not been deemed eligible to receive CSEF at another Victorian school for 2020.

Any student who meets one of the above eligibility categories on any day up to and including Monday 5 October 2020 will be eligible to apply for CSEF. Funding applications for newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers will still be accepted until the end of Term 4, as normal.

Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form immediately. The CSEF program for 2020 now closes on 27 November 2020.

DOBSONS UNIFORM SHOP

Get ready, the Dobsons annual ‘Buy Early & Save‘ sale is about to begin! Save on selected uniform items when you shop with Dobsons from 1 September to 31 October 2020. Beat the back to school rush and save on a range of selected items, including:
• Blazers
• Pullovers
• Summer Dresses
• Summer Shirts
• Bags
• Sportswear
With a pain free returns policy, now is the time to plan ahead. Whether your child finds a few extra centimetres over the holiday break or not as many as you would have thought, Dobsons has you covered with a quick and simple returns policy*.
Once Dobsons stores re-open they would love to welcome you instore but until then they look forward to servicing your uniform needs online.
*Terms and Conditions apply. Sale available online and instore once store services resume.

Purchase uniforms from the Dobsons website here, Dobsons School Uniforms Online

CLASS UPDATES

Prep
One of the highlights of Prep online learning has been Fun Fridays and Special Days.

On Wednesday this week, we celebrated Playdough Day. The children could choose from a range of challenges to create things from playdough. The activities had a focus on developing fine motor skills, Maths and Literacy concepts.

As you can see from the photos, everyone had a great day at home.

Year 1
Year 1 students have been very active during their online learning this term. Dressing up for Footy Day and participating in Jump Off Day were some of the highlights. Students participated in STEM sessions, including making Zip Lines out of Lego and making a basketball stand using newspapers. They have enjoyed studying Geography in HASS and Creatures and Habitats in Science. They finished off the term with a week of fun, having themed days including Magic Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday and Technology Thursday.

Year 2
In Year 2 Science activities, we have been exploring the forces of ‘push and pull’. We have enjoyed designing, constructing and testing parachutes, zip lines and boats. In Humanities, we completed a project about the seven continents of the world and planned our dream holiday. We celebrated Roald Dahl Day and went on a virtual excursion to Healesville Sanctuary.

Year 3
Learning online for Year 3 was a mixture of interesting characters who read to us or did other tasks, serious work, enjoyable science, experiments, inventing, dancing to ‘Can’t touch this’ on our Teams session, regular mental Maths and English skill development, cooking, drawing, a daily ‘hat’ briefing and much more. We even wrote letters to the elderly in a nursing home during the first wave. They wrote back and told us all about themselves.

It is important at this stage to thank the parents for their efforts. We all know that life changed suddenly, for all of us, and we really could not have done this alone. But congratulations really do go to the students in this year level. They embraced the challenge, took one step after another, struggled, missed their friends, had some difficult days, but with support made it to the end of Term 3. Some students enjoyed the experience and have become far more independent as a result. I thank them and their parents for being part of our team and look forward to seeing the smiling faces of Year 3 students as we create even more memories during Term 4.

Year 4
Term 3 has certainly been a challenging time for us all but the Year 4 students have embraced online learning and made their teachers so proud. We began the term at school, ready to take on a STEM challenge to support our history learning about The First Fleet. When we returned to online learning, students were able to adjust and continue their STEM project from home, sharing their learning on Teams Meetings. Our learning in the key areas continued as per usual, and the students enjoyed continuing our class novel, ‘Unschooled’. They were very excited to receive a special video greeting from the author Allan Woodrow as part of one of our morning messages. The highlight of our online learning experience has been our regular Teams Meetings where we have enjoyed participating in quizzes and scavenger hunts as we interact socially through the screen. We are all bursting at the seams to return to the classroom in Term 4 where we hope to provide some amazing opportunities for our wonderful students.

Year 5
What a term, what a life experience for all. 5BV turned into 5BVV as we welcomed Mrs Vercoe into our class while Mr B took some time off. We loved having her around and cannot thank her enough for all her work. The students learnt about space, civic and citizenship and to top it off, had an author ‘visit’ to help them prepare for the annual writing challenge. As expected, the students adjusted like champions and impressed us all with their work, effort and attitude towards Remote Learning 2.0. We had a big focus on wellbeing this term and to help with this, the students participated in a ‘Mega Shake’ competition. As we all know, fun and ice cream always help brighten the day! We cannot wait to see everyone back safe and healthy next term.

Year 6
We thought we would give Year 6 a little brain break in the last week by giving them access to many years of science lectures for children which are broadcast from The Royal Institute in London every Christmas. For the mechanically minded we let them watch, ‘Guy Martin Builds a Spitfire’, which was a two-year project to recreate the iconic WWII plane. The students were then asked to write two sentences to explain why someone else should watch the film. As you can see, some of them got too excited to limit themselves to two sentences.

Royal Institute Christmas Lectures.

Pragnya: I am watching ‘Meet your brain.’ It is really engaging and the longer you listen to it the more you want to learn more about this topic (trust me). It really makes you think about what wonders your brain can do and all the things a human brain is capable of, more than you can imagine.

Asmi: I watched the Math one (although I am not a big fan of Maths). It was really cool because it was talking about the patterns in prime, triangular and other types of numbers and how to find a special type of number. I learnt that insects discovered prime numbers and a lot of other interesting stuff!

Sienna: I really recommend ‘How to Survive in Space: Lift Off,’ because the presenter Kevin who is a doctor, helps kids understand how rocket fuel works, how the rocket gets out of the earth’s atmosphere and how the space station orbits around the earth, by doing a demonstration with volunteers from the audience. He also introduces his colleagues who have either climbed to the summit of Mount Everest or who have been to the Rocket Launch or even if they have been into space. He has a mission clock to inform you of the time/how long it has been since launch and the different obstacles they have to face to get to the space station. It was really good!

Liana: I looked at Biology, it was extremely interesting to find out where we are from and how closely related we are to different animals. It shocked me when I found out that we are related to worms and fruit flies.

Kenna: I watched ‘How to get Lucky’. It was all about the Maths behind how epidemics spread, how volcanos erupt and how you can tell when they are going to erupt, and also the Maths in a game of soccer. I enjoyed watching it and it was extremely interesting. I definitely recommend it.

Guy Martin Builds a Spitfire.

Mitchell: They built the rarest Spitfire ever and it was amazing to learn all about the history of this plane. I recommend this video because it had so many cool things and showed how hard people had to work in the war.

Angad: The Spitfire was one of the best planes in the RAF. The place where most of the planes for the Battle of Britain are still remembered and are now (in 2012) a Jaguar Dealership but there are still models of the Spitfire near the front. It is an interesting video of how the Spitfire was made and a bit of history behind it.

Angus: I loved learning about how they had to do it in very specific ways and all the history around the guy who flew the plane and how the US ship did not take him in because they were not in the war yet which surprises me. And I can’t believe that it took two years for Guy to build but only a couple of months for the workers in the factory. I would totally recommend this to someone if they love learning about war or like engineering.

NAT AMOORE VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT TO START WRITING CHALLENGE

You may remember that last year, students in Years 5 and 6, took part in a writing challenge and their stories were published in a real book that is now in not only our homes and library but others across our region.

The great news is that the challenge is on again and to help the students get started on their writing we invited Nat Amoore the author of ‘Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire’ and ‘The Power of Positive Pranking’ to inspire students to find some ideas and begin writing. Nat spoke energetically and humorously about finding an idea, growing it, asking it “what if?” and putting in some “uh-ohs”. She also helped students think about events, settings and characters that help to build stories.

Angus said she was energetic and funny. Declan said she was funny which helped engage him so that he wanted to do the writing. Finlay said Nat gave some good pointers for her writing. Will felt special because someone famous was talking to him. Claudia found it helpful because Nat set out the steps to take in order to write. Liana said she found the bits where Nat said exaggerate big time, helpful in being dramatic. Ben and Maya also agreed that her humour and energy kept them interested in what Nat was saying.

Grammarian Issue 14, 18 September 2020

From the Principal

SUMMARY REPORT ON SURVEY RESULTS REGARDING POSSIBLE SCHOOL EXPANSION

Thank you to all parents, staff and students who completed our survey as part of our feasibility study into the possibility of a St Paul’s VCE at Traralgon and a new Junior School at Drouin. We received 49 responses to the Drouin survey and 224 responses to the Traralgon survey, with a high proportion in both also providing detailed comments to the open-ended questions.

1. Drouin
The results of the Drouin survey were highly positive, with 67% agreeing that St Paul’s should offer Early Learning/Primary in Drouin and 8% disagreeing. Almost a quarter of respondents were unsure.

There was a stronger response to enrolling their child/ren for Primary (23%) than for ELC (14%) and this may reflect the greater number of respondents who have children older than ELC level.

65% of respondents indicated the Drouin Junior School offering should be similar to Warragul. Only 10% considered that it should not, with 24% Unsure.

Respondents were united in their view that Quality of Teaching (98%) ranked highest when choosing a school, followed by Individual Care and Attention (98% but with a lesser split of Extremely Important). Specialist Teachers (95%) and STEM (82%) programs were rated higher than both Performance/Art (74%) and Sport (67%).

Beyond essential classrooms, respondents most want to see Outdoor Play Equipment (5.69 out of 7), a Gymnasium/MPA (5.16), a Library (5.14) and Outdoor Hard Courts (3.51). A Performing Arts Facility (3.96) was deemed of lesser importance, along with a Chapel (1.88). Long Day Care (2.65) was considered important to only some respondents and this response will be considered in the context of its applicability to families completing the survey.

A wide range of suggestions were put forward for improving the Warragul Campus, with significant comment across the following areas:
– car parking
– specialist facilities
– class sizes
– staff matters

Additionally, many comments were received concerning a possible Drouin Campus. These are summarised in the following themes:
– travel for families who live close to Drouin
– impact on Warragul Junior School
– integration of campuses

2. Traralgon
The results of the Traralgon survey were extremely positive, with 90% agreeing that St Paul’s should offer a VCE program in Traralgon and 1% disagreeing. 9% of respondents were unsure.

Many respondents indicated that not having a current VCE program affects the decision to enrol for VCE (66%) and Secondary (51%) considerably more than Primary (18%) or ELC (16%). Likewise, it was believed that introducing a VCE program would increase enrolments for VCE (99%) and Secondary (98%) considerably more than Primary (75%) or ELC (54%).

41% of respondents indicated that they/their child would have stayed at Traralgon if VCE had been offered in the past, with just 3% disagreeing. 71% of respondents indicated that they/their child would remain at Traralgon if VCE was offered into the future, with just 4% disagreeing.

There was considerable comment to the open-ended question about VCE subject offerings. These preferences will be the subject of further consultation into the future should a decision be taken to go ahead. 55% of respondents considered it attractive that a small number of VCE subjects be offered online to expand the range of subjects initially offered, with 18% disagreeing.

Respondents were united in their view that Quality of Teaching (100%) ranked highest when choosing a school, followed by Individual Care and Attention (99%), Availability of VCE Program (98%) and Range of Subjects (98%). VCE Results (87%) were rated higher than both Sport (60%) and Performance/Art (58%).

Many comments were received in response to the open-ended questions with numerous themes emerging for the School to consider in its planning:
– VCE is something the community has long wished for
– problems with the time and cost of bus travel
– St Paul’s is not currently seen as a VCE competitor in the Latrobe Valley
– opportunity for enrolment gain in the area, and a larger market toward Sale
– should be a quality offering, eventually similar to Warragul
– prevents any problems, real or perceived, with transitioning to Warragul
– limited subject choices currently at Traralgon
– preference for quality teaching and offerings
– communication and reporting
– greater involvement in the community
– quality facilities for arts, technology and specialist areas – remove portables
– fee levels
– consider VCAL options
– disparity between offerings at Warragul and Traralgon Campuses
– positive comments about current teaching and offerings

Once again, I thank every person who provided us with feedback. Your willingness to engage with our School is greatly appreciated and I look forward to reporting back to you the outcome of our full feasibility study in Term 4.

Cameron Herbert
Principal

Grammarian Issue 14, 18 September 2020

Traralgon Secondary School

From the Head of Traralgon Secondary School,
Mr Brad McCabe.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

R U OK? Day
R U OK? Day held on 10 September, is a day dedicated to Mental Health awareness, reminding us to ask our family, friends, colleagues and our students, “Are you okay?” It reminds us to support one another by connecting and showing others we are there to listen to them if they need it. The teachers of the Traralgon Secondary School took the time to reflect on Mental Health Awareness throughout their staff meetings.

Mental Health First Aid Course
Our Heads of Year, Ms Witney and Ms Enders, attended a Youth Mental Health First Aid course last week. The course teaches adults how to assist adolescents with mental health concerns or in a mental health crisis. Course participants learnt about adolescent development, signs and symptoms of common and disabling mental health problems in young people, where and how to get help when a young person is developing a mental illness, what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective and how to provide first aid in a crisis situation. Facilitated by Latrobe Regional Hospital Mental Health Service, the course was a valuable tool we can use to help and support our students.

Dates and Information for Return to School
As we conclude Term 3, I would like to bring to your attention some information regarding Term 4:

• Term 4 commences on Monday 5 October through remote learning; there is no extension of school holidays. On Monday 12 October St Paul’s Years 7 to 10 students will return to on-site learning and online learning will cease.
• Detailed communication about the return to on-site learning on Monday 12 October will be communicated in the week of 5 October, as this will enable us to provide the most up-to-date and timely information.
• A ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ sheet will be provided to students and their families, outlining answers to questions about the return to face-to-face teaching and Term 4 logistics.
• The canteen will be in full operation on the return to on-site learning.

Please note these dates in your calendar:
Friday 23 October, ‘Thank You Day’ Public Holiday
Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November, Mid-term break (Melbourne Cup Day weekend)
Monday 23 November, Curriculum Day/Student Free Day

Brad McCabe
Head of Traralgon Secondary School