Senior Secondary letter to parents and carers

Senior Schooling at Cooktown P-12 State School

Dear Parents and Carers,

The Queensland Government has decided that, in order to reinforce social distancing across the community and slow the spread of COVID-19, state school students will move to a home-based learning model from 20 April 2020 until at least 22 May 2020.  

During this period, all students who are able to be supervised and learn from home are to stay home, except for vulnerable students, children of essential workers and students in designated Indigenous communities.

School staff will attend work on-site to support continuity of learning for students and to ensure adequate supervision of students who attend school.

Condensed Learning Hub:

Senior Schooling students who would benefit from face-to face support are invited to attend Cooktown SS P-12 Campus, please refer to the Condensed learning HUB for more details (page 2).All students are welcome to attend.        

Students who attend school will participate in the same home-based learning activities that have been set by their regular classroom teachers.
 
Should I send my child to school?   If you are confused or concerned, please contact me to discuss what is the best option for your child during this Learning from Home Period (cperr86@eq.edu.au or 07 4082 0222). 

My child refuses to complete his/her work tasks. Please inform your child's case manager or contact me directly to support your family.

Additional Work Requested Please contact your child's subject teacher for further information or extension work.

Contact Details
It is vital that we have the correct contact details (postal address, email, mobile/home phone); staff will be making contact on a weekly basis to support Learning From Home, please contact Cooktown SS P-12 (07 4082 022) to update your contact details.

Concentrated Learning HUB
In response to parents/caregivers feedback and ensuring continuity of senior schooling we have created a Concentrated Learning HUB.  The Concentrated Learning HUB purpose is to provide students face-to face learning at Cooktown SS for students in year 10-12.  Attendance face-to face is NOT compulsory; subject teachers will be using a range of communications during their allocation session.

The HUB will adhere to COVID-19 recommended hygienic practices including school desks/computers allocated to one student for the entire day, regular hand washing and social distancing within the classroom.  Students are welcome to for the whole day of chosen elective subject classes, students must sign-in with the front office.

Year 10
Year 10 students are invited to attend school each Tuesday and will be timetabled to meet with their subject teacher. See Below. Students are to bring their work packages and any questions/concerns that may have.

Year 11-12
Senior Schooling students are invited to attend school each Wednesday & Thursday and will be timetabled to meet with their subject teacher. See Below. Students are requested to bring their work packages and any questions/concerns that may have.   

CASE Manager & Attendance Monitoring

Each student in year 10-12 are assigned a Case manager to support students through this alternative schooling period. The role of the Case Manager is to provide a weekly check-in with the student/parent through a telephone call, and discuss with them any issues regarding their learning.  The Case Manager also acts as a liaison if you require extra support or advice.  Your child's Case Manager will contact you in Week 1 of the term.

In accordance with Education Queensland guidelines, Case Managers will be checking in once per week and as part of your child's management plan.

Staff will be asking if your child has completed his/her learning from home tasks.

Families are able to register sick days or other reasonable explanations for not completing work on a school day. Please speak to your case manager for further details.

REPORT CARDS – Email and Hard Copy

Term 1 Report Cards will be emailed on Wednesday 22^nd April 2020.  Please take the opportunity to discuss your child's results with them, and contact the relevant teacher for further information.  A copy of the Report Card will be included in Week 3 Student Work Program or parents can collect form the office from Thursday 23^rd April 2020.

Learning From Home

Year 10 Supplementary Learning: Education Queensland has also provided resources to supplement student learning.  These resources can be located at the learning@home website at https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning-at-home

Parent TV has filmed 10-minute videos walking parents through how to best set up their children for learning at home. https://parenttv.com/blog/supporting-your-childs-online-learning-from-home/

Senior Schooling Learning

Year 11 and 12 student's subject enrolments have not differed, however, teachers will be providing in some subjects alternative unit plans to support Learning from Home.

In year 10, in alignment with Education Queensland recommendations teachers have prepared work for students to complete for the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Certificate II Visual Arts and Certificate II FSK.

It is vital that students return completed subject work so teachers can provide feedback and continue the learning cycle.

Our current plan is to send out workbooks to students each fortnight.  It is the expectation that students will complete the work sent out, and return it for marking and feedback, reflecting the in-school teaching and learning cycle.

Term 2 2020 Weeks 1-5

Work Packs will be available in Weeks 1, 3 and 5 on a TUESDAY.

Student Work Packages – Pick-Up

• Cooktown – Collect from Office on Tuesday  : 8.30am – 3.30 pm
• Hopevale:  TBA  - updated collection time and place  will be posted on Facebook
• Rossville SS  : Tuesday 9.30am – 10 am 
  

Postage: Upon parent request, student curriculum packages will be mailed home.   

Students at School: Students who are learning at school will be given their work packages at school.

Completed Student Work Packages – Drop-Off
The work can be returned to specific Cooktown P-12 State School Student 'Work Drop Boxes' located at

• Cooktown P-12 State School
• Cooktown IGA 
• Cooktown Post Office
• Hopevale : TBA – update on drop off time and place will be posted on Facebook
• Rossville State School – Collection Tuesday 9.30am – 10 am
  
  If you are unable to return the work to these locations, please contact your child's Case Manager (see section below).

For the first fortnight, all work is due by Friday May the 1^st.  Please ensure the student's full name is at the top of each workbook that you are handing in.  You are welcome to return the work in the envelope that given to your child, but please ensure the student's full name is written on each workbook.

Students and parents can contact their subject teachers or attend the Condensed Learning HUB. On the front of each package is your son/daughter's timetable; if you have a subject specific question please email the teacher or call the teacher; if the teacher is unavailable, they will call or email back. 

If the student does not understand the work, it is important that they explain to their case manager so we can provide a range of supports.

CONTACTING THE SCHOOL
Cooktown SS P-12 will regularly provide updates via the School Website, Notice Board, and Facebook.

A reminder of our protocol regarding contacting the school and teachers.  We appreciate this is an extremely stressful time for parents and students, but please be understanding that our staff are also dealing with these new work conditions, in addition to also dealing with families, social distancing, and inability to connect with loved ones.  We thank you for your understanding.

Staff are committed to your child succeeding, and are committed to making you a partner in their learning and social and emotional well-being. 

Methods of communication from Senior Schooling staff may include:

• Phone Calls
• Emails
• Letters sent home

Please note that staff will be unable to contact you through social media.

It is also important that you feel comfortable in contacting the school if you have any questions, concerns, compliments, ideas or suggestions.

Please ensure that when you contact the school that you are respectful, and refrain from derogatory, slanderous or defamatory statements, coarse language, personal attacks, or threatening behaviour.  Failure to comply with this request can lead to action being taken by the Principal under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld).  Teachers have the right to a safe, respectful workplace and will kindly terminate any contact that does not reflect this.  Remember as adults we are models for how we want our children to act, behave, and speak.  This ensures a level of respect for all parties involved.

We encourage our school community to continue to observe social distancing practices as per the Queensland Health information, and ensure that students who remain home are following all the Government requirements.

Please do not hesitate to call the school office if you have any questions or concerns or alternatively email me on cperr86@eq.edu.au.  

Kind regards

Cherryl Perry
Deputy Principal – Senior Schooling
cperr86@eq.edu.au
07 4082 0222