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Dear Parents and Carers
Have you ever found yourself talking back at the TV? I found myself doing it yesterday out of frustration as the reporter suggested the importance of Secondary School children receiving a vaccine so they can return to school. My response was, what about Primary children? I’m not advocating vaccinating Primary children but I am suggesting that Remote Learning for Primary-aged children is much more problematic than for Secondary children. Right now you know full well just how problematic!
At St Matthew’s we endeavoured to tread the middle ground to make Remote Learning manageable for parents and children alike. You may have noticed on our website that our survey results at the outbreak of the Lockdown last year showed a marked divide between our families who have a spare (or any!) device for their children at home, and those that don’t. As it turns out, many families have only one device, and that’s used by the adults for their own work. We also discovered that we have a number of families who don’t have unlimited data. For that reason, we’ve chosen asynchronous or staggered learning with daily, short check-ins. As we all become more confident, and get to know which households are able to participate and which aren’t, teachers are likely to run small group sessions. Like you, we are learning as we go.
Could I ask your help with a simple issue the staff have mentioned? Some of our children appear unprepared for their On Line Meetings. The children are sometimes just out of their bed, wearing unsuitable clothing and not in the right head space for learning. Some schools have toyed with the idea of making children wear their school uniform to give them a sense that they are “at school ready to learn”. We decided that this might become one more burden for parents, especially as the meetings only go for half an hour. However it is most important that you encourage your child to participate as though they are at school.
Please do not hesitate to make contact with the school if you have a concern. I have attached some documents below for your information regarding how best to access the School Counsellor.
Graham Pollard
Principal
