In light of this week’s announcement of School Closures beginning Monday 30 March, I wanted to provide as much information to parents as possible before the Pupil Free Days begin.   

I met with all staff groups this morning to thank them for their ongoing commitment to their students and to acknowledge the many parent well-wishers who have sent their support to us.  I outlined a draft plan of next week’s program for the Pupil Free Days.  

This is a time to care for self and family and colleagues, as well as doing our best to continue to deliver a professional curriculum to our students and families.  These are unprecedented times, but it is also an opportunity to learn new skills and new ways of working.   

Uncertainly often brings stress as our regular structures and routines are in flux.  For some, life without routine is highly difficult but I can assure you that staff are working hard to ensure students will have learning resources available to them from home.   

Below are some key points of clarification from parent emails and phone queries over the past couple of days.  I will also continue to provide information to you all as it develops. 

School Closure Update 

The Queensland Government announced that an additional five (5) Student Free Days will be in place next week, from Monday 30 March to Friday 3 April inclusive. 
 
This means that while schools will remain open, the Term 1 break will start early for students and they will not attend school next week, unless they are children of essential workers or vulnerable children. 

Our understanding of both the Prime Minister’s and Premier’s messages is that essential workers may include (but not be limited to) people in the following industries: 

• Food – production, distribution and retail 
• Health – in addition to medical staff, this includes the manufacture, distribution and retail of health and hygiene products 
• Emergency services – police, ambulance and fire services 
• Schools 

• Utilities – electricity, communications, water, sewerage and garbage 
• Public transport 

For COVID-19 arrangements, vulnerable students could include students who: 

• are currently receiving services from Child Safety including children who are subject to a child protection order 
• are subject to a youth justice order 

Wherever possible, it is best for children to remain with their families and for families to have access to timely, appropriately targeted support services. If you need further family support please contact the Principal, Deputy Principal or Guidance Office at admin@newfarmss.eq.edu.au to discuss options. 

 
State schools will be formally closed for the Term 1 break from the end of Friday, 3 April. Staff will return to work on Monday 20 April unless health advice determines otherwise. 
 
We are well advanced in our contingency preparations to respond to the evolving nature of COVID-19 and the department has developed a comprehensive suite of paper-based and electronic teaching and learning resources to support school communities. 
 
Nick Fenton our STEAM Coach has been working tirelessly with our staff already to develop our own learning contingency plan, based on our existing curriculum planning and our unique knowledge of our learners, communities and context.  
 
This has included ensuring our materials align to the curriculum and take into account our students’ capacity and capability to undertake schoolwork from home (i.e. where internet access is limited or restricted).  Thank you to parents for responding so promptly to the survey about home access, it is providing Nick the information needed to coordinate dissemination of home-use devices where necessary. 
 
The five Student Free Days allow additional time to plan and develop student resources in the event of the schooling sector transitioning to a period of more flexible learning in the future.  We appreciate our proactive parent support and patience as we work in this area next week. 
 

Learning@home 

learning@home is a new website, accessible via the Queensland Education website, that is open to the public. It provides a range of activities to support students to continue their learning, as well as general advice and links to a range of high-quality public learning sites. 
 
Don’t forget to include opportunities for play-based learning like family board games, jigsaws, construction activities, use of garden/environmental items for art projects, self-directed research assignments and other curriculum resources from the DoE website. For secondary students, opportunities for enquiry and extension of learning could also be considered using a “big enquiry question.” This is just a starting point. More information and materials will emerge in the planning next week.  

Possum Magic – Our Possum’s name is Lily Lemon  

I was impressed with the ways so many students embraced the ‘possum colouring in and naming competition’.  Congratulations to the following students: