Dear Parents,

What a wet start to the school term after the beautiful weather of the Easter break. It is good to see the much-needed rain.

Since school resumed on Wednesday, we have seen a significant number of students attending both at the ELC and in the primary classes. In primary, we have been getting approximately 17% of our school population attending and 38% of our ELC students on some days. I expect these numbers to increase next week as many families have contacted staff saying they are struggling with remote learning.  If this is the case, we are more than happy to have the children back at school so their learning does not suffer.

Kindergarten has the greatest number of students with two teachers on deck every day. The students, like all students at school, are still following the lessons planned for remote learning however due to the inability of the students to work on the technology individually, they are being taught using a mixture of whole class and small group instruction. This is problematic for the teachers, as they still have to support students engaged in remote leaning from home.

With more and more students returning to schools across the ACT, the question being pondered is at what stage do we move from remote learning to our normal school routine.

I have a video conference with Catholic Education on Monday, which may provide some guidance. I will keep parents updated on any developments.

This week I have had the pleasure of sitting in on Zoom meetings with several classes. It was wonderful to see the students and made me appreciate the work staff have done in putting remote learning in place. There have been a number of hiccups as we get use to the new of learning.

As we move to Microsoft Teams next week, I expect there to be more confusion. I ask all parents to read the notes sent to them recently, either on email by Catholic Education or via Szapp by the school. If you have any issues with Teams you need to contact the help desk or visit the website set up by Catholic Education. The contact number you should call is 1300 232 448. If you want to contact your child’s teacher, please do so by email.

Teachers have been working very hard to understand what the new platform can do and are also frustrated by some of its limitations.

The office staff have borne the brunt of frustrated parents experiencing difficulties. Please bear in mind the office staff are not involved with remote learning to any degree and while they can pass on messages, they usually cannot resolve your issues. I ask they be treated with respect and spoken to in a calm and polite manner.

Video Conferencing for Students

A reminder that parents are not to be involved in whole class video conferences. These sessions are for students only.  Most classes have scheduled times for parents to attend a Zoom meeting with their child’s teacher to answer any questions.  As stated above an email is the best way to correspond with a teacher.

ELC Temperature Testing

From Monday, all students entering the ELC will have their temperature taken with a hand held thermometer. This is to be done in the ELC office by the child’s parent and the temperature will be recorded.

Should a child’s temperature exceed 38° they will need to go home.

Catholic Education does not intend to introduce this measure to primary schools. However, I reiterate the need for children who are feeling unwell or have cold or flu symptoms to please stay home.

Parent Drop off & Pick Ups

Could I please remind ALL parents and carers to remain outside the school buildings at all times. 

The class teacher will release students for the day when the bell has gone.  If you do not wish to use car line, there is shelter in the courtyard area, near the entry to the hall plus the shade structure on the oval. 

At this point in time we are not allowing parents or visitors in to the school buildings.  Any students collecting items or visiting the library must present via the front office and use the hand sanitiser before entry to the school.  

We ask that you please adhere to this request so that we can do our best to safely protect the staff and students who are on site.  Please also observe social distancing at all times.

School Times

There are a number of students arriving at school at approximately 10am. Children coming to school are required to be there at 8.45am for the start of the school day.  With the reduced traffic, it is easy to move through the drop off zone.

Some of these children are missing their video conference with their teacher and this means they miss instructions on the day’s tasks, which in turn affects their learning.

Enrolment Period for 2021 

Enrolments for 2021 are now being accepted. All enrolments are online and the links can be found on our website or by clicking here.

The online enrolment form must be completed and submitted with all supporting documentation by the 22nd May.  Applications received after the enrolment period can only be considered if vacancies exist in the year level sought.  The enrolment process must be followed for all new students intending to attend Mother Teresa School next year, including siblings and students in the ELC.

Clothing Pool

As students begin to return to school and parents are sorting out winter uniforms, I ask that you consider donating any unwanted uniforms to the clothing pool. We currently have very little stock in the clothing pool and a lot of need.

Maths Problem

Each week I will place three problems in the newsletter. They will also be emailed to teachers so they can be added as an option into the student’s weekly work. I will draw out three winners every week and their prizes will be waiting for them when they return to school. Answers can be emailed to Mr Hughes at peter.hughes@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Kindergarten to Year Two - Ants on a bun

Carlos was at a picnic. He saw some ants crawling on a hot dog bun.

A minute later 4 more ants came, and there were 11 ants on the bun.

How many ants did Carlos see before the 4 ants came?

Year Three and Four - a box of cubes

Either draw a rectangular prism (box) or imagine it in your mind. It is 8cm x 3cm x 7cm. How many cubes that are 1 cm x 1 cm x 1cm would fit inside?

How many different boxes could you design that would hold forty-eight 1 cm cubes? Try to draw the solution you come up with.

Year Five and Six - Gardening Puzzle

When planting a garden of flowers and vegetables in Boorowa, you must surround it with a fence to protect it from the sheep. Last summer I planted a long, skinny garden all the way along a 30 metre wooden fence, so that I would only need to put a netting fence up along three sides of it. Because my garden was so long, I only made the sides of the garden 1 metre wide.

This year I decided to move my garden to another spot in the yard where there isn't a permanent fence and I changed the shape. I made my garden 6 metres by 8 metres

Question 1: How much larger is the area of my garden this year?

My garden is larger, so I was thinking I had to go to the store to buy more netting. I did some calculations to figure out what I would need to buy.

Question 2: How does the amount of netting I'll need this year compare to what I needed last year?