Learning from home

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The Premier and Education Minister spoke this morning and recommended that students not attend school for health and safety reasons.

It is important to know that schools will remain open and we will not turn students away.

All school systems are trying to keep schools open in the best ways they can. Not just now but in the many months to come.

There is going to be a movement towards learning from home and away from learning at school.

Last Monday the state wide student absentee rate was 17% - today it is 41% and this is before the effect of the Premier's announcement.

Social distancing will be easier as less students attend school. Learning will be more challenging as we provide learning for students in every setting

Teaching and Learning will continue to take place in both the classroom and at home. Our teachers are going to provide all students with a single body of work that is identical whether they are at school or at home

A single unit of learning

This will be provided in a digital or online environment but also in a written, usb drive or mailed out version. This applies to every teacher and every class.

We will address the inequities of access so that all students have the opportunity to learn.

Our staff will communicate clearly with our students and parents what work is to be done, when it is to be completed and when it is to be collected and marked

The DoE website below provides advice to parents and carers about learning from home

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-from-home

For students who are going to attend Murrumbidgee Regional HS, I do not envisage normal classroom teaching.  

Students will be supervised to complete their work at school.

I envisage a flexible staff timetable where we rotate our staff onto supervision and then out to preparation and marking.

We will be able to call in students for assessment tasks or to complete major works.

There will be flexibility for students as a group when we organise to come in to pick up and hand in work.

The senior executive will need some time to develop new structures so we will follow our usual timetable for the next 48 hours.

NESA will be meeting tomorrow to provide further advice to our HSC and senior students.

School transport will continue to operate as normal.

The bottom line is that students need to be able to continue to learn. Our school will be flexible and come up with innovative solutions to provide that learning.

I will be continue to keep you informed as further changes take place

I am mindful of the impact these changes have on your lives and routines. I sincerely apologise for this and I want to thank you for your support of our school. 

We are certainly living in unprecedented times

All the best,

Peter King 
Executive Principal 
Murrumbidgee Regional High School