We have
prepared this information to help you think about, frame and operationalise
learning@home over the coming weeks as we stay home to stay safe. We know that
you value education and we know that this time presents us with many
challenges, as well as opportunities, for our staff and students, and
community. We are also mindful that everyone’s
home circumstances are very diverse, and we do not believe that there is any
“right” way for your child to learn while at home.
Let us
start by being clear ... this is not “home-schooling”. Home-schooling is,
usually, a long-term choice that a family makes to be their child’s teacher and
they are provided with step-by-step lesson plans to do this in all learning
areas of the Australian Curriculum. We
do not expect that you will replace your child’s teacher, but rather that you
will create an environment and encouragement to help them learn for part of each
weekday and create opportunities to learn by having fun together.
They
still have their regular classroom teacher, with whom they have established a
strong relationship, and with whom they will maintain contact, even while all
of this will look very different. Most
of our staff are working from school from their own classrooms and there will
be a couple of teachers working from their home doing the same work from a
different location. All teachers will be
teaching their classes/students online, whether they are located at home or at
school. Children who need to attend the school site, as parents are all working
outside home, will be grouped into small clusters and work in a large classroom
space. They will be supervised by a specialist teacher and teaching assistant
who will guide and support the students in accessing these materials and
resources.
As you know, at Nundah we focus
our teaching and learning around our Nundah Gifts, and never before have they been so important. Students will remember how they felt
during this time more than they will remember the details of what they did or
didn’t do. Our hope is that they recall
feeling safe, connected and playful. And a reminder for us adults: “When
your hair’s on fire in the morning, you’re toast before the end of the day.” So, let us go gently into this space together
shall we….?