Supporting ACPS students through COVID-19

Throughout this uncertain time, we aim to provide regular updates to parents and carers of students at Armidale City Public School.  

Remote learning options are no longer required as students have returned to full time face to face learning at Armidale City Public School. Links to learning materials that have been provided for the student’s educational use during the COVID-19 outbreak have been disabled to ensure that we are not breaching copyright.  The Peaceful Kids at Home links will continue to be active as our school purchased the right to use these resources with our community

Seesaw access will continue to be used by some teachers to ensure that  we have a platform ready for use in the event we need to return to remote learning at any time in the future.  Information will be provided around this by individual teachers.  We appreciate the dedication of parents and staff in using this platform to upload work during remote learning.  

As COVID-19 is still of concern, visitors are restricted on school sites.  We are asking that parents of students continue to only enter the school via the front entrance (Gate 3) when essential and not enter buildings without a scheduled appointment or contacting the front office.  All visitors to the school need to  check-in using the QR code and are strongly urged to wear a mask.  

Parents are asked to drop off or pick up students from outside the school grounds.  All adults are asked to maintain distance from students and other adults and to leave the area as soon as students are dropped off or collected.   

If your child is unwell, we ask that they stay at home until free of symptoms and have tested negative on a PCR or rapid antigen test. If there are even the mildest of cold or flu symptoms, children will need to be tested prior to their return.  Parents are asked to contact the school as soon as possible via phone or through the Absentee Form on School Stream.  Rapid antigen tests have been supplied to families each term.

It is important that adults maintain a physical distance of 1.5m, even when outside the school fence and especially when inside the front office and foyer area.  Hand sanitiser is available at two locations at the front of the school.  If you are unwell, please do not enter the school grounds or office.

Dear parents and carers

A big thank you for your continuing efforts in supporting our school and students during the pandemic – especially prioritising safety and learning.

The Premier and Minister for Education have announced changes to school settings for the remainder of Term 1. These updated settings were developed in close consultation with NSW Health and key stakeholders to ensure we continue to keep our schools open for learning, while keeping up with changing community settings.

The updated settings include:

·       We will continue the use of rapid antigen tests (RATs) for twice-weekly testing of students and staff until Friday 25 February.

·       From Monday 28 February, we will move to symptomatic testing. Tests are to be used at your discretion such as if your child is symptomatic or there are cases in their class. Our school will provide each student and staff member with 8 tests per student and staff in schools.

·       Beyond that, students and staff can access PCR tests or buy their own rapid antigen tests as these are now freely available and accessible in the community.

·       FOR SECONDARY – Masks will continue to be required indoors for all school staff, volunteers and visitors including parents and carers, and students in secondary schools until Friday 25 February. From Monday 28 February, masks will no longer be mandatory for students in Year 7 and above or staff. However, those who wish to continue to use them will be supported to do so.

·       FOR PRIMARY – Masks will continue to be required indoors for all school staff, volunteers and visitors including parents and carers in primary schools until Friday 4 March. This means that from Monday 7 March, masks will no longer be mandatory for all staff. However, those who wish to continue to use them will be supported to do so.

·       FOR WORKERS SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY – In line with community settings, workers who support our students with disability in SSPs, support units and some mainstream classrooms will be required to wear masks while working with students.

·       From Monday 28 February, visitors can be allowed back on school sites regardless of their vaccination status. Our school will consider activities such as assemblies, parent-teacher meetings and other gatherings in the coming days. We will let you know if these can proceed with our school in a COVID-smart way. All visitors are asked to follow our usual sign-in and sign-out process.

Our school will continue to ensure our layered COVID-smart measures are in place, including vaccinations, maximising natural ventilation in learning spaces, continued good hand hygiene practices and enhanced cleaning.

A reminder that your child may receive a nasal swab or saliva rapid antigen testing kits in the coming weeks. Instructions are included in the kits detailing how to use the tests, check the results and dispose of the tests safely. You can also download the instructions through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)  website. The user guides will also contain a contact number for the suppliers if you need additional support.

Students using saliva testing kits must not eat or drink for 30 minutes before taking the saliva RAT, to give more accurate results.

Cohorting no longer required

As of Monday 28 February, students will no longer be required to be kept in year groups or other cohorts and we will no longer be required to use staggered start or finish times. [insert any changes to highlight for your school] We will continue to use the core layered COVID-smart measures for minimising risk when planning activities and events.

We strongly encourage our students and their families to consider vaccination including boosters when eligible. Find a vaccination clinic to book an appointment near you.

Thank you again for your continued support during this school term.

Yours sincerely,

Deborah Nay

Principal

The following information can be found in the departments Advice for families.  With a number of students testing positive across Stages 1 and 3 in the last week these points may be useful:

Testing

For the first 4 weeks of Term 1, we recommend students take a RAT twice a week on mornings before attending school.

If your child has even mild COVID-19 symptoms, get them tested with a RAT or PCR (nose and throat swab) test.

They must isolate until they receive a negative test result, in line with health protocols.

If symptoms continue, they should stay at home and take another RAT in 24 hours or have a PCR test. If the second RAT or initial PCR test result is negative, or another diagnosis is confirmed such as hay fever, they can return to school.

It is recommended that staff and students that return to school after recovering from COVID-19 do not participate in rapid antigen test surveillance for 28 days (four weeks after recovery) following release from self-isolation. This is due to NSW Health advice that people who have recovered from COVID-19 have a low risk of contracting it again in the following 28 days. After 28 days (from week five after recovery) staff and students may resume participation in RAT surveillance

For positive COVID-19 cases

If there is a positive case in your child’s class, year or other grouping, your child can continue to attend school in line with NSW Health advice.

If a student or staff member receives a positive RAT test, they need to:

• record the positive RAT result through the Service NSW website or Service NSW app
• notify the school of the positive RAT or PCR test result as soon as possible
  
• follow NSW Health advice to isolate for 7 days.

Negative results do not need to be reported to Service NSW or to the school.

Schools will inform their community when there is a positive case in the school and guide families on NSW Health advice, including monitoring for symptoms. Parents should expect regular communication with details of any impacted year groups or cohorts.

Visitors on school grounds

No parents, carers or visitors will be allowed on school sites until further notice with the following exceptions:

Up to two parents or carers will be allowed to accompany their child into school on their first day of Kindergarten, Year 7 or students starting at a new school.

Parents and carers are able to attend school when:

• picking up a sick child
• attending the front office when required (e.g. to drop off materials or to conduct financial transactions)
• making a purchase at the uniform shop
• attending a critical meeting with the principal or other staff member when invited.

Note that parents and carers do not need to be vaccinated to visit a school for the reasons mentioned above.

Families are reminded that students and parents who are close contacts MUST stay in isolation for the full seven days from when the family member test positive and not attend school unless otherwise advised by NSW Health.  If you are a close contact or unwell, you MUST stay away from school.

We also ask that all parents needing to attend school come to Gate 3 and call the office on 6772 3420 to be attended to.

Thank you for you assistance in helping keep our students, staff and community as safe as possible during this outbreak of COVID-19 in Armidale.

Armidale City PS Presentation Day has been recorded for families to view after the event due to restrictions with COVID-19 in 2021. We have broken the event into two sections with separate videos.

The first video introduces us to the 2022 student leaders, shows the students in Stages 2 and 3 receiving their Class and Special Awards and celebrates our Year 6 students as they are presented with their Completion Certificates. 

The second of these recordings, with improved sound quality, shows the Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students receiving their Class and Special Awards .

To help navigate these videos and to locate specific parts of the proceedings more quickly, chapters have been added to each video.

Congratulations to award winners and the newly announgced 2022 school leaders.   All students, staff and parents are to be recognised for their efforts throughout 2021.

Dear Parent / Carer,

The end of Term 3 has been a busy one for our school and others throughout the state. We’re happy to say that together we made it through what has been a constantly-changing and sometimes difficult term. We could not have done it without the commitment from all of our families who supported learning from home, and from our fantastic teaching and school staff. I want to thank you all for your efforts to continue to keep our school community safe – I know everyone has faced different challenges at different times through the term.

I hope everyone enjoys a break over the holidays and is looking forward to the COVID-safe return to school sites that we are planning for in Term 4. Please read through the following updates before the start of the school holidays and don’t hesitate to reach out for support or with any questions.

Return to face-to-face learning in many regional schools

This week we saw many schools across regional NSW, where there had not been recent transmissions of COVID-19, released from stay-at-home rules. This meant a return to school sites under our COVID-safe level 3 plan. Staff, students and parents/carers have been very excited to see a full return to on site learning and teaching at these schools and we will take the opportunity to learn from their experience in welcoming back staff and students as we plan for our own return.

Vaccinations for students aged 12 years and over

Young people aged 12 years and over are now also eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. You can book in your children for Pfizer now, or Moderna from Monday 20 September.

Vaccination appointments are available at more than 3,000 locations across NSW, including GPs and pharmacies. More appointments will become available as supply increases, so keep checking for new appointments in coming weeks.

Learning from Home

For families who are continuing to learn from home, the learning from home page has a wide range of curriculum-based activities to further support your child’s learning, if needed.

Thank you again for your understanding and support. We hope you and your family enjoy a safe and very well-deserved break over the holidays. Please take some time over the break to check out our wellbeing resources for students and families. You’ll find useful tools for mental health and Term 4 preparation. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can do anything to help you and your children to prepare for Term 4 or if you have any concerns about the return to school. I will be in touch again soon with further information and any updates for you and your children.

Yours sincerely,

Deborah Nay

Principal

We are looking forward to seeing all students and staff return to face-to-face learning from Monday, 13 September.  You may be able to make use of some helpful tips when preparing to return, particularly if you or your child is feeling a bit worried.

The teachers and support staff at Armidale City Public School will make sure that all students are safe at school and are all keen to return to normal classes as soon as possible. As the school is now open all students, the zoom lesson/book pack learning will end today, Friday 10 September.

Our staff be wearing masks inside and outdoors.  Primary students are not required to wear masks, but may do so if they choose.  It is strongly recommended that children wear masks when catching a bus.

To ensure everyone's safety when dropping off or collecting children, parents are reminded of the need to:

• wear a mask
• maintain a distance of 1.5m between themselves and other adults
•  not enter the school grounds, unless you have been asked to collect a sick child.

To celebrate our return to school, all students will be able to participate in Wellbeing Wednesday by wearing free clothes/mufti on Wednesday, 15 September.

Enjoy your first weekend out of lock down.  Please ensure that you continue to stay safe by following all of the recommendations.

Later this week we will know if the stay-at-home rules that had been extended for regional NSW (including Central Coast and Shellharbour) until at least 11:59 pm 10 September will be lifted or further extended for the Armidale local government area. 

Parents can monitor the updated advice from the Department of Education at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families.html

Students at Armidale City Public School will continue to learn from home this week.  Only students who cannot be educated from home or whose parents are essential workers should be on site as only minimal supervision will be provided. All other children should be learning from home as directed by the NSW Health Public Health Order.

You can access learning activities for your children by clicking on the links below:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

EAL/D - Mrs Cornall

EAL/D - Mrs Close 

Printed copies of the 'one unit of work' for the week and Picture Plate items will be available for collection from the front of the school at Gate 3 after 8.45am each morning this week.  When collecting work for students or plates and mugs, parents are reminded that they must:

• maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from others
• wear a mask
• use hand sanitiser.

Children will be marked as attending flexibly when engaging in the learning activities provided and evidence is provided to the classroom teacher.  Teachers will make contact with students this week and will respond to your emails or messages when they can. 

As we head into another week following the stay at home orders, you may wish to make use of some Peaceful Kids activities to help reduce anxiety for your children.  More can be found further down this page.

Please follow the health advice and get tested if you show even the mildest of symptoms.  Working together to ensure that our local government area remains free of COVID-19, we may find ourselves with a full return to learning on site at Level 3 well before 25 October.  

Take care and stay safe.

On Thursday, 26 August, the NSW Premier announced that stay-at-home rules are extended for regional NSW (including Central Coast and Shellharbour) until at least 11:59 pm 10 September. This replaces any existing orders in regional NSW.. On Friday, 27 August, a roadmap to return to face-to-face either through a ‘staged return’ or ‘full return’, depending on NSW Health conditions in their area.  

Parents can monitor the updated advice from the Department of Education at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families.html

Again this week, students at Armidale City Public School will continue to learn from home.  Only students who cannot be educated from home or whose parents are essential workers should be on site as only minimal supervision will be provided. All other children should be learning from home as directed by the NSW Health Public Health Order.

You can access learning activities for your children by clicking on the links below:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

EAL/D - Mrs Cornall

EAL/D - Mrs Close 

Printed copies of the 'one unit of work' for the week will be available from the front of the school at Gate 3 after 8.45am each morning this week.  When collecting work for students, parents are reminded that they must:

• maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from others
• wear a mask
• use hand sanitiser.

Children will be marked as attending flexibly when engaging in the work provided and evidence is provided to the classroom teacher.  Teachers will make contact with students this week and will respond to your emails or messages when they can. 

As we head into another week following the stay at home orders, you may wish to make use of some Peaceful Kids activities to help reduce anxiety for your children.  More can be found further down this page.

Please follow the health advice and get tested if you show even the mildest of symptoms.  Working together to ensure that our local government area remains free of COVID-19, we may find ourselves with a full return to learning on site at Level 3 well before 25 October.  

Take care and stay safe.

Whether you are wanting to find interesting mathematical activities to do at home to support your child's learning, or you are looking for work that can be completed from home because your child is in isolation due to COVID-19 testing or the school is not operational, you can find terrific online resources at:

• https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/learning-at-home
• https://education.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/mathematics/everyday-maths

This week will see our students celebrate Book Week virtually.  Mrs McGrath has arranged a number of optional activities that can be found within the list of learning activities  mentioned for 22 August on this site. 

• K-2 @ 12 - 12.30pm
• 3-6 @ 12.30pm

It is important to note that the Zoom links will be provided by teachers to students through their usual means prior to Thursday.

As we are mindful of the current stay at home orders, we ask that any costumes or construction suggested should be accommodated within what you have at home.  The suggested activities are optional.

In addition, students may wish to choose and join a session at https://edu.nsw.link/DARTLearning/JoinBookWeek.  For updates on Virtual CBCA Book week go to https://edu.nsw.link/DARTLearning/VirtualBookWeekLIVE

Students can watch from home by simply clicking the red “Join Session” button listed in the program.  You can attend all 10 sessions, or just your sessions of choice – they are all free and accessible via YouTube Live – all you need is internet access.

DART Learning are very pleased to be offering a virtual CBCA Book Week for 2021. This year’s theme for Book Week is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds – why don’t you join us in the DART world?

Virtual CBCA Book Week 2021 will run from Monday 23rd August to Friday 27th August.  A total of 10 live sessions will be held. Register and you will be emailed a confirmation with the link to join all the events.  Simply forward this one link to all your students so they can attend one event or join all the events!
Here is our timetable:

Session 1 – Mon 23 Aug
Years: K-2
Time: 10:00 – 10:30
Authors: Aura Parker, Yvette Poshoglian, Pip Harry, Mick Elliott

Session 2 – Mon 23 Aug
Years: K-2
Time: 2:00 – 2:30
Authors: Alexa Moses, Jacqueline Harvey, Jules Faber, Yvette Poshoglian

Session 3 – Tue 24 Aug
Years: 3-6
Time: 10:00 – 10:45
Authors: Matt Cosgrove, Max Hamilton, Nat Amoore, Nat Amoore

Session 4 – Tue 24 Aug
Years: 3-6
Time: 2:00 – 2:45
Authors: Sue Murray, Geoffrey McSkimming, Matt Cosgrove

Session 5 – Wed 25 Aug
Years: 3-6
Time: 10:00 – 10:45
Authors: Jules Faber, Maryam Master, Nathan Luff

Session 6 – Wed 25 Aug
Years: 3-6
Time: 2:00 – 2:45
Authors: Belinda Murrell, Oliver Phomavannh, Geoffrey McSkimming, Deb Abela

Session 7 – Thu 26 Aug
Years: 3-6
Time: 10:00 – 10:45
Authors: Nathan Luff, Susanne Gervay, Pip Harry, Laura Sieveking

Session 8 – Thu 26 Aug
Years: 7-9
Time: 2:00 – 2:45
Authors: Yvette Poshoglian, Susanne Gervay, Cheryl Orsini

Session 9 – Fri 27 Aug
Years: 11-12
Time: 10:00 – 10:45
Authors: Sue Murray, Mel Tait, Maryam Master

Session 10 – Fri 27 Aug
Years: 11-12
Time: 2:00 – 2:45
Authors: Mel Tait, Sue Murray, Sarah Ayoub, Mick Elliott

Earlier this week, the Premier announced that all areas of regional NSW would remain under stay at home orders until at least 12.01am on 28 August.  Parents can monitor the updated advice from the Department of Education at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families.html

Again this week, students at Armidale City Public School will continue to learn from home.  Only students who cannot be educated from home or whose parents are essential workers should be on site as only minimal supervision will be provided. All other children should be learning from home as directed by the NSW Health Public Health Order.

You can access learning activities for your children by clicking on the links below:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

EAL/D - Mrs Cornall

EAL/D - Mrs Close 

This week we will be celebrating a virtual Book Week. 

Mrs McGrath has provided some optional book week activities, with QR Codes, for students. We will be holding a virtual Book Week event with the Zoom links being sent to students through the usual methods.  Students in K-2 will be able to joing the virtual event between 12 - 12.30pm and 3-6 students can join between 12.30 - 1pm on Thursday, 27 August.  It is important that any costumes or construction tasks rely on what can be found at home.

Book Week activity for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Book Week activity for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Book Week activity for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Book Week activity for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

Printed copies of the 'one unit of work' for the week will be available from the front of the school at Gate 3 after 8.45am each morning this week.  When collecting work for students, parents are reminded that they must:

• maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from others
• wear a mask
• use hand sanitiser.

Children will be marked as attending flexibly when engaging in the work provided and evidence is provided to the classroom teacher.  Teachers will make contact with students this week and will respond to your emails or messages when they can. 

We appreciate that this is a difficult time for everyone with the whole state under stay at home orders and this being our second week of learning from home.  You can make use of some Peaceful Kids activities to help reduce anxiety for your children.  More can be found further down this page.

Please follow the health advice and get tested if you show even the mildest of symptoms.  Working together, we hope to find ourselves returning to on campus learning at the end of this second seven day period.

Continue to stay vigilant and safe.

Where parents and carers are wanting to continue their child’s access to special religious education (SRE) or special ethics education (SEE) lessons, the following links have been approved for remote learning use.  As with any SRE or SEE lessons, a choice is made by parents about whether they wish their children to be involved or not.

Anglican scripture: https://cepconnect.com.au/learningathome/

Catholic scripture:  https://ccd.sydneycatholic.org/publications/curriculum-resources/catholic-sre-activity-sheets-supporting-parental-choice/

Ethics:  https://primaryethics.com.au/education/

Our school is very aware that many of you are working from home and that this combination of parenting, teaching and working remotely, or still working in your current roles, are all contributing to a more challenging and stressful situation for all involved.   The school has purchased a wellbeing program that can be accessed on the schools website. Please use this amazing resource. Not only for your children, but for yourselves. There is a lot of benefit to being mindful and using mediation practices during times of uncertainty.  

Each week, we will activate the links to new activities for your use.  We hope that you find these helpful:

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 1

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 2

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 3

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 4

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 5

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 6

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 7

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 8

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 9

Peaceful Kids @ home - Week 10

From Monday 16 August, students at Armidale City Public School will continue to learn from home.  Only students who cannot be educated from home or whose parents are essential workers should be on site as only minimal supervision will be provided. All other children should be learning from home as directed by the NSW Health Public Health Order.

You can access work for your children by clicking on the links below:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

EAL/D - Mrs Cornall

EAL/D - Mrs Close 

This week is National Science Week.  

Mr McGrath has provided some science activities for students to work through. 

Science activity for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Science activity for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Science activity for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Science activity for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

Printed copies of the 'one unit of work' and science activities for the week will be available from the front of the school at Gate 3 after 8.45am each morning this week.  When collecting work for students, parents are reminded that they must:

• maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from others
• wear a mask
• use hand sanitiser.

Children will be marked as attending flexibly when engaging in the work provided and evidence is provided to the classroom teacher.  Teachers will make contact with students this week and will respond to your emails or messages when they can. 

We appreciate that this is a difficult time for everyone with the whole state under stay at home orders and this being our second week of learning from home.  You can make use of some Peaceful Kids activities to help reduce anxiety for your children.  More can be found further down this page.

Please follow the health advice and get tested if you show even the mildest of symptoms.  Working together, we hope to find ourselves returning to on campus learning at the end of this second seven day period.

Continue to stay vigilant and safe.

Congratulations to all of our students, their teachers and families for the efforts you have put into learning from home this week.  Thank you to families for sharing photos of students at work and to Mrs Korsch for putting together a slideshow using some of these. 

From Monday 9 August, students at Armidale City Public School will return to learning from home.  Only students who cannot be educated from home or whose parents are essential workers should be on site as only minimal supervision will be provided. All other children should be learning from home as directed by the NSW Health Public Health Order.

You can access work for your children by clicking on the links below:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

EAL/D - Mrs Cornall

EAL/D - Mrs Close 

Printed copies of the 'one unit of work' for the week will be available from the front of the school at Gate 3 after 8.45am each morning this week.  When collecting work for students, parents are reminded that they must:

• maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from others
• wear a mask
• use hand sanitiser.

Teachers of students in 5/6T, 5/6K, 5/6J and 5/6S have sent an email to their DoE student email account.  If students are looking for further information regarding tasks for this week, they can find it in this email.

Thank you,

Stage 3 teachers

 Students and staff must not attend school or work if they are unwell, even with the mildness of symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste, and loss of smell. Students need to be symptom free and a negative COVID-19 test result must be received and sighted by the school prior to their return to school.

Students who do not undertake a COVID-19 test are not permitted to return to school for a 10 day period and they must be symptom free for at least 3 days prior to their return.

Students who have seasonal allergic rhinitis or another condition that presents similarly to flu-like symptoms are still required to get tested for COVID-19 and return a negative test result. Where their symptoms continue beyond 10 days, students should provide documentation from their GP confirming their symptoms are typical for their condition.

Where a medical practitioner determines that a COVID-19 test is not indicated, a medical certificate must be provided to the school to confirm that the student does not have symptoms that warrant a COVID-19 test. The certificate must also indicate that the student is able to return to the school environment.

The support for strict protocols that are in place have kept our school gates open and people safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  We have appreciated the ongoing support of our parents, carers and wider community in adhering to these.  We will need to continue to implement strict protocols into next term.

Our community is reminded that the school grounds are closed to all members of the community during term and over the school holiday period.

If you are travelling to Victoria over the school holidays, please monitor areas that are being locked down and require self-isolation for 14 days upon return to NSW. Students should not attend school if they are required to self-isolate or are unwell.  The most up to date information about hotspots can be found here.

If you are travelling during the mid-year break, please take care on the roads and ensure that COVID-safe behaviours are maintained to avoid bringing COVID-19 into our community.  

School resumes for students on Tuesday, 21 July.  Staff will be involved in training around the new Strategic Improvement Plan 2021-2024 on Monday, 20 July.

It is hard to believe that we are about to start the last week of term and the semester.  A lot has happened in the last two terms.

The goose-neck taps for water bottle refilling stations have been installed this week.  Please remind your children to bring their water bottles to school so that they do not need to use bubblers.  These taps were installed following discussion at a Student Representative Council meeting earlier in the term - it is great to have an active student voice at Armidale City Public School.

Simplified student reports for Semester 1 are expected to be distributed on Thursday, 2 July.  These reports do not have grades attached and reflect student learning before and during  COVID-19 restrictions, including the remote learning period.  We will not be holding parent-teacher interviews as in the past.  Any contact with teachers needs to be via a phone or email conversation.

As we are getting close to the school holidays, many families will be considering travelling out of Armidale or having visitors come to Armidale.  To avoid a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in our area it is vital that students, parents, carers, community and staff remain vigilant to stay COVID-safe over the holidays and upon our return to school in Term 3.  To prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Clean your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Maintain a safe distance from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
• Cover your nose and mouth with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Stay home if you feel unwell.

Our community is reminded that the school grounds are not a public playground and are not open for the community to use over the holiday period to help keep students, staff and the wider community COVID-safe.  The school grounds will remain closed to all adults, other than staff or approved personnel, upon return to school next term.  All visitors to our school are required to complete an External Visitors form to allow for contact tracing in the event of an outbreak at our school.

To assist students and parents through this uncertain time, we have added links to all weeks of the Peaceful Kids at Home package .  The link for Week 10 is now active.  

It is a term since Coronavirus and COVID-19 changed the lives of many families and remote learning began.  We have now returned to full-time face-to-face learning, but the feelings of anxiety may still be hanging around for both students and adults.

Here is a fabulous free downloadable social story about the challenges and experiences of this time of coronavirus & COVID19.  Rosie Martin and KB Song produced the book to put gentle support into the world and have asked that it be shared.

It can be downloaded for free from here.

In early April a group of speech pathologists, including Rosie Martin, was looking for a suitable social story about the emerging social experiences of this time of COVID. They couldn’t find one with simple, direct language and emphasis on what to do to be calm. So Rosie Martin wrote one – My Book About Coronavirus is what emerged.

It’s beautifully illustrated by artist KB Song.

It gently shares the messages of this time we have lived through and the tensions we still hold. In accessible language. It’s suitable for primary school children of all language levels. It’s suitable for high school children with lower-level language. It’s suitable for their families. It’s suitable for sharing in classrooms.

With two weeks of school left before the holidays,  some students are finding the return to working more formally difficult after a period of remotie learning where they were doing work in their own timeframe and setting.  Ensuring that children get enough sleep between now and the holidays will be helpful.  

The week ahead is going to be very cold, with the forcast for Tuesday to be a high of 7 degrees.  Please ensure that your child wears their school jumper and possibly a jacket over the school jumper. Any beanies, scarves and gloves should be labelled for easy return in case they end up in lost property.

We have noticed that some students are not bringing water bottles to school.  It is a very important  that all students drink only from their water bottles and not from the bubblers.

Following discussions with the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM),  school organised choir, string ensemble and orchestra lessons will not recommence this term.  These lessons will resume in Term 3 in line with departmental and NECOM protocols.  Private music lessons will not be resuming.

Parents are asked to reminded that they are not to enter the school grounds, except to go to the office or to attend a meeting approved by the principal.  All visitors to the school site are required to complete an External Visitor Form that states that they are well and are following required hygiene protocols.

To assist students and parents through this uncertain time, we will continue to add links to the Peaceful Kids at Home package each week, found below.  The link for Week 9 is now active.  We have one more week of the program left to upload at the end of next week.

Up to date information from the Department of Education around the return of students to school can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

Opportunity class placement process for 2020 Year 4 students

Applications for the Opportunity Class in 2021 close on Friday, 26 June 2020. Late applications cannot be accepted.  If you have provided an intent to apply, you will still need to ensure that you do this by  Friday. The test date is Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places based only on their test results this year – there will be no school assessment scores.  

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes.

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

The Department of Education has provided an updated guidelines about returning to full-time face-to-face today.  While there has been some lifting of restrictions, most remain in place.  Please take time to read the information provided. 

Parents and carers are reminded that they are not to enter the school grounds.  The only exceptions are to go to the office or for an  organised appointment for essential meetings approved by the principal.  Visitors during school hours are required to complete a form acknowledging their health and hygiene and provide contact details to meet requirements at school, particularly in the event we need to trace contacts. 

We are currently in discussions with the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM) around the possible resumption of  school organised choir and orchestra lessons before the end of term.  If these do not recommence this term, the lessons will resume in Term 3 in line with departmental and NECOM protocols.  Private music lessons will not be resuming.

Parents are asked to remain outside of the school grounds at drop off and pick up time.  To ensure the safety of students waiting in the Mann Street area, students will need to wait similarly to students catching a bus. Students may be required to sit to wait for parents.  We ask that parents are prompt in collecting students from school and not allow students to play on school equipment after parent arrival.  Children are released from class at 3.10pm and should be collected as close to this time as possible, while at the same time ensuring that they abide by the social distancing requirements of being 1.5m from other adults.

To assist students and parents through this uncertain time, we will continue to add links to the Peaceful Kids at Home package each week, found below.  The link for Week 8 is now active.  

Up to date information from the Department of Education around the return of students to school can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

Opportunity class placement process for 2020 Year 4 students

The 2021 Year 5 opportunity class placement process requires parents to apply between 9 June 2020 and 26 June 2020. Late applications cannot be accepted.  The test date is Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places based only on their test results this year – there will be no school assessment scores.  

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes.

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

This week, we have had significant absences of students and staff due to being unwell.  Our thanks go to the families who are keeping unwell children at home as this helps to reduce the impact on other staff and students.  We ask that parents continue to be vigilant in following the advice to only send children to school if they are well.

After such a busy term filled with considerable disruption, it is hoped that families will enjoy this long weekend.  If travelling away, be safe.  If staying at home, enjoy spending time with family and friends.  Whatever you choose to do, stay COVID-safe.

Next week, we will be having some changes made to improve internet at school.  This will mean that staff will not be able to access emails on Wednesday morning.  We apologise in advance if we miss a time-sensitive message sent on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.  

Students are asked to bring their own water bottle and writing equipment r to school each day to reduce the chance of spreading viruses.   It is also important that children bring a labelled warm school jumper and/or jacket as winter has arrived.  This week, the snow was lovely but very cold.

To assist students and parents through this uncertain time, we will continue to add links to the Peaceful Kids at Home package each week, found below.  The link for Week 7 is now active.  

Up to date information from the Department of Education around the return of students to school can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

Changes to the opportunity class placement process for 2020 Year 4 students

The 2021 Year 5 opportunity class placement process was put on hold in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.

We now have a revised and simplified timeline for the OC placement process to ensure that students and families can have certainty about their placement as soon as possible.

The changes include:

·       A new date for online applications. Parents must apply between 9 June 2020 and 26 June 2020. Late applications cannot be accepted.

·       A new test date - Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places based only on their test results this year – there will be no school assessment scores.  

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes.

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Today, students and staff celebrated our return from remote learning with a movie and mufti day.  We have enjoyed seeing our students in person and having them return to classrooms and learning.  Students have settled back into the routines of school as the week has progressed.  Teachers are looking forward to all students being at school next week, engaged in face-to-face learning as we head into the second half of the term.

To assist students and parents through this uncertain time, we will continue to add links to the Peaceful Kids at Home package each week, found below.  The link for Week 6 is now active.  

Our school commumity continues to work together to be COVID-safe by ensuring that parents and visitors:

• do not enter the school grounds, unless it is to go to the office
• practise social distancing when around other adults
• use hand sanitiser before entering the office area
• do not send in birthday cakes or food for sharing until further notice
• provide the most current phone numbers for parents and emergency contacts.

Students are asked to bring their own water bottle, writing equipment and warm school jumper to school each day.  

Up to date information from the Department of Education around the return of students to school can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

Changes to the opportunity class placement process for 2020 Year 4 students

The 2021 Year 5 opportunity class placement process was put on hold in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.

We now have a revised and simplified timeline for the OC placement process to ensure that students and families can have certainty about their placement as soon as possible.

The changes include:

·       A new date for online applications. Parents must apply between 9 June 2020 and 26 June 2020. Late applications cannot be accepted.

·       A new test date - Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places based only on their test results this year – there will be no school assessment scores.  

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes.

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

The move to return students to full time on-campus learning  from Monday 25 May has taken some people by surprise.  Our staff are looking forward to reconnecting with all students in their classes on a daily basis.  Remote learning will no longer be offered as teachers concentrate on face to face teaching. 

We will continue to add links to the Peaceful Kids at Home package each week, found below.  The link for Week 5 is now active.  This package may assist students and parents with any challenges that may be faced with the return to school.

Working together, parents can help us continue to keep students, staff and other adults safe by ensuring that they:

• do not enter the school grounds, unless it is to go to the office
• practise social distancing when around other adults
• use hand sanitiser before entering the office area
• do not send in birthday cakes or food for sharing until further notice
• provide the most current phone numbers for parents and emergency contacts

It is through everyone playing their part and being responsible that we hope to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in Armidale and our school community.

Students are asked to bring their own water bottle and writing equipment for use at school each day.  

Parents are reminded that they are not to drive into the staff car park, especially when children are on site.  Some of our younger students have forgotten how to be safe around vehicles, occasionally running through the car park.  We  need your help in continuing to keep them safe.

As the weather has cooled considerably today, it is important that children wear a warm labelled school jumper to school.  We currently have a collection of jumpers that have been laundered at the end of last term that we can return to students if they have been labelled.  We will attempt to return these early next week.

Up to date information from the Department of Education around the return of students to school can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

I would like to thank the many parents who have expressed gratitude for the tremendous work done by the staff at Armidale City Public School throughout the provision of both remote and on-site learning.  Our staff appreciate hearing that they are valued as they support students and families.  I would also like to recognise the amazing work of our teachers, office and support staff and our cleaning staff.  This wonderful team of people have continued to be professional and flexible, going above and beyond to ensure that the Armidale City Public School students and community have been cared for and educated during this uncertain time.   

It has been wonderful to see our students as they have been involved in Phase 1 of returning students to school this past week.  Children will continue to attend for a minimum of one day per week in Week 4.  

We thank parents, carers and students for their patience in waiting on a response to any query through Seesaw, email or phone message while teachers have been focusing on students at school and responding as they are able.  Your continued support into the future will be appreciated.

Families are reminded that it is important for children to participate in learning activities provided by the school for the appropriate day and continue to upload completed work through Seesaw  or email as evidence that they are engaging in remote learning.  If evidence of  the one unit of work is not available, students will be marked absent.  If your child is unwell, please do not send him/her to school and contact the office so that the child will be marked as sick and not be expected to show evidence of learning when unwell.  If you are not sending your child on the rostered day, please contact the school to let us know so they are not marked as absent, ensuring that they continue to work remotely on that day.  

Hard copies of work for students in Week 4 can be collected from the front of the school from 11am on Friday,  15 May.  Work can also be accessed through the following links:

• Work for students in Kindergarten
  
• Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)
• Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)
• Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)
• Work for newly arrived students who work with Mrs Cornall (EAL/D)
• Peaceful Kids at home - Week 4 . . . for students and parents.
• Outdoor learning grid - Term 2

To ensure the safety of all, parents are asked to stay in the car, where possible, when dropping off and collecting children to avoid contact with other adults.  Where this is not possible, please maintain a distance of 1.5m from others and not enter the school playground, corridors or classroom areas.  Kindergarten students will be walked to the Mann Street side of the school for collection.

Children will need to bring their own pencils, drink bottle and packed lunch to school.  As the weather has cooled considerably, it is important that children wear or bring a school jumper and/or coat labelled with the child's name.  

Due to the uncertainty with COVID-19, the overnight excursions to Sydney, Lake Keepit and Thalgarrah have been cancelled for this year.  Refunds for payments already paid are being distributed. 

Parents who paid with cash can collect the money from the office.  These funds will not be given to students.  Parents who have paid by EFTPOS are asked to bring in their cards for crediting and online (POP) payments will be credited to accounts in the next week.  Please be patient as we navigate through this process.

From Monday, 11 May, we enter Phase 1 in returning students to school.  This is an interesting period where teachers and students will be juggling face to face teaching with remote learning.  We ask that parents, carers and students are patient in waiting on a response to any query through Seesaw, email or phone message as teachers will be focusing on those students at school.  They will respond as they are able, but this may take a day or two and, on occasion, may be a general response where queries are similar.

It is important that children participate in learning activities for the appropriate day and continue to upload completed work through Seesaw  or email as evidence that they are engaging in remote learning.  If the evidence is not available, students will be marked absent.  If your child is unwell, please do not send him/her to school and contact the office so that the child will be marked as sick and not be expected to show evidence of learning when unwell.  If you are not sending your child on the rostered day, please contact the school to let us know so they are not marked as absent, ensuring that they continue to work remotely on that day.  

Hard copies of work for students in Week 3 can be collected from the front of the school from 12pm on Friday,  8 May.  Work can also be accessed through the following links:

• Work for students in Kindergarten
  
• Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)
• Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)
• Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)
• Work for newly arrived students who work with Mrs Cornall (EAL/D)
• Peaceful Kids at home - Week 3 . . . for students and parents.

Students in regular classes will have the necessary information to be able to access Reading Eggs by no later than the end of Week 3.  It is important that children complete the initial assessment independently to ensure that they are set the most appropriate level for reading if being done from home.  Some classes are doing the assessments when children are attending for their rostered day at school.

To ensure the safety of all, parents are asked to stay in the car, where possible, when dropping off and collecting children to avoid contact with other adults.  Where this is not possible, please maintain a distance of 1.5m from others and not enter the school playground, corridors or classroom areas.  Kindergarten will be walked to the Mann Street side of the school for collection.

Children will need to bring their own pencils, drink bottle and packed lunch to school.  As the weather has cooled considerably, it is important that children wear or bring a school jumper and/or coat.  Students are asked not to bring equipment for sharing with others or that require other children to touch when playing games.

We wish all mothers and mother-figures a very happy Mother's Day this Sunday.  Sadly, the tradition of a Mother's Day fete at Armidale City Public School has been postponed this year due to COVID-19.  The fete committee are considering alternate dates for a fete later in 2020.

As we enter the second week of Term 2, we are asking parents and other adults to help keep our students and staff safe by not entering the school playground, classrooms or corridors.  Parents and carers are asked to follow social distancing when waiting for children outside the school grounds or when visiting the front office.  People who are unwell should not be entering school grounds.

Please:

• stay in the car at drop off or pick up where possible
• wait off school grounds and stand 1.5m apart from other adults 
• send children into the school from one of the entry gates and determine which gate you will collect them from - Kindergarten children will be walked up to the Mann Street playground for collection
• contact teachers by phone or email
• only enter school grounds to go to the office where necessary
• remind children to bring a water bottle and pencil case with their own pencils when attending school.

Whilst we appreciate that these are difficult times for all families, parents are reminded that children are to be engaged in some type of learning.  Armidale City Public School has provided electronic and paper copies of learming options to be undertaken while learning remotely.  In addition to this, most teachers have been providing more creative and practical learning opportunities via Seesaw online classrooms.  If your child is undertaking more home-based learning activities we need you to submit, via Seesaw or email, reflections through drawings, verbal or written recounts, or photographs so that we can have evidence that your child is engaging in learning.  It is also a healthy way for your child to maintain a connection with the teacher. 

Where evidence of learning is not available, children will be marked as absent.  If your child is unwell, please inform the school so that the child will be marked as sick and they will not be expected to show evidence of learning while unwell.

Hard copies of work for students in Week 2 can be collected from the front of the school from Monday, 4 May.  Work can also be accessed on the following links:

• Work for students in Kindergarten
• Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)
• Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) - Weeks 1 and 2
• Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)
• Work for newly arrived student who work with Mrs Cornall (EAL/D)
• Peaceful Kids at home - Week 2 . . . for students and parents.

As we have more children attending school, teachers are trying to respond to children at home in a timely manner while supervising groups of students.  We would appreciate your help in having students complete the work assigned as per the learning grid for that day.  Please do this week's work and not previous work for more timely response.  Teachers will give feedback on work that is part of the one unit provided by them, but only acknowledge acceptance of additional work completed by students.  Our teachers are commited to providing quality remote learning opportunities throughout Phases 0 - 2.

Our school has invested in a subscription for Reading Eggs to allow equitable access to reading materials and activities for our students.  In the next week, students in regular classes will be given log in details.  Please follow the instructions provided in a parent letter to ensure that students complete the initial assessment to the best of their ability so that the most appropriate reading level is assigned to each child. Students will have struggled to maintained their previous reading levels if they have not been reading regularly over the holidays or during remote learning.

Our staff have continued to hone their technology skills with the use of virtual stickers being used on Seesaw by some teachers.  I expect that students and aduirlts providing support through remote learning are also becoming much more adept with the use of technology for learning. 

Parents are asked to check their emails for Phase 1 information around which day of the week children will be rostered to attend from Week 3. This information has been provided towards the end of Week 1.  Please contact the office if you have not received this information.  

We thank our community for their continued support of children and staff.  We look forward to another week of remote learning ahead of the phased return of students to school one day a week from 11 May.  Please continue to take care as the chilly weather has arrived.

We welcome our Armidale City Public School families back to Term 2 .  This term will begin with remote learning for most students in the first two weeks as they did at the end of last term.  Children of essential workers will be able to come to school . 

We appreciate the job that parents and carers have been doing in supporting children with learning from home. We have not provided a timetable as such for families due to the need for parents to juggle the use of technology.  Instead, we there is a guide to amount of time spent on each curriculum area has been provided that may be helpful. You will note that for K-6 students it is around 2.5 - 3 hours per day in addition to being physically active.

From 28 April, hard copies of work  for Week 1 are available from the front of the school.  The work packages for Stage 2 include work for Week 2 as well.  You are able to download the work packages below:

Work for students in Kindergarten in Week 1 - additional A3 page (separate link)

Work for students in Stage 1  (Years 1 & 2) in Week 1

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) in Weeks 1 and 2

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6).  Additional resources are available for collection from school.

Work for newly arrived students who work with Mrs Cornall (EAL/D)

Separate packages of work were provided at the end of last term for other  EAL/D students.  There are still some packages to be collected from the front office.

From 11 May, students will be rostered to attend school for one day a week with children from a family attending on the same day .  We have done this in the hope that this makes it easier for parents.  Due to the numbers of students we need to coordinate into small groups, we will not be able to accommodate requests to swap students to other days.  Parents will be contacted by phone in the next week to inform them of the day of the week that their child or children will attend school.  It will be important that families contact the school if the child does not attend on their rostered day to avoid having the child marked as absent.   

To keep students, staff and the wider community safe, we request that parents drop their children outside the school grounds and maintain a distance of 1.5m from other adults when dropping off or collecting students, remaining in your vehicle where possible.  Children are asked to bring a water bottle and pencil case with their own pencils along with their work packages when attending school.  At all times, we ask that parents read the signs at the school gate before entering as these will outline the requirements of each phase safely of returning students to school.  The signs showing information about each of the phases can be found below:

Phase 0 - Weeks 1 and 2

Phase 1 - from 11 May

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 4

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainty across the world, the staff of Armidale City Public School have continued their commitment to the education of our students.  In the past two days, we have undertaken further professional learning around supporting students and staff.  An interesting point raised yesterday by Dr Adam Fraser is that while many of us want to limit the amount of discomfort our children experience, it is through discomfort that we grow and discover happiness.  Please take care as we navigate this discomfort together.

Yesterday morning, 21 April 2020, the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced a staged plan for returning students to school. Following this, the Secretary of the Department of Education, Mark Scott, met with principals remotely to outline important aspects of guidelines for schools. 

Many people will be uncertain as to what will be happening in relation to schools this term.   I hope that the following points around the staged plan of return for students to school will be helpful:

• Term 2 will begin with two pupil-free staff development days on Monday, 27 April and Tuesday, 28 April, instead of only one staff development day on Monday as previously planned.  I apologise for this late notice requiring you to arrange an additional day of care for your child.
• Students will recommence remote learning on Wednesday, 29 April in the same way we finished Term 1.  For the first two weeks of term until Friday, 8 May, schools will remain operational for students who need to attend.  Where practical, parents are asked to continue implementing learning from home.  Please contact the school if you require printed copies of work.  Please check into Seesaw on a daily basis to check for student work.  This is the platform that we are asking that student work is returned for marking or feedback by class teachers in a timely manner.
• From May 11, every student will have the opportunity to start attending one day a week, with up to 25% of students in attendance on any given day.  Our school is preparing a roster for attendance based on siblings attending on the same days, where possible.  On days where your child is not rostered to attend, we ask that your child will continue to work remotely where possible so that we can ensure no more than ten students in a classroom at any one time during the first phase of the return to school plan.  We will contact parents via email or phone with information around your child’s rostered day of attendance.  Parents are asked to contact the principal where there is a personal circumstance preventing their child from attending on the allocated day.
• The Premier has asked parents keep their children at home on days that they are not rostered to attend, though with no child turned away where this is not possible.
• Teachers will continue to prepare and implement one unit of work for their class, regardless of whether students are at school or at home. Vulnerable staff will continue to be encouraged to work from home.
• Additional sanitiser and extra cleaning will be provided for use at school.
• Priority testing is now available for staff presenting with symptoms.
• Schools are awaiting further advice on reporting; however, it is unlikely that A-E reports will be appropriate this semester.

We ask for your continued patience and assistance in helping keep students, staff and the wider community safe from COVID-19 by:

• Keeping students who are unwell  at home.
• Parents keeping a distance from school wherever possible, using kiss and drop approaches and contacting the school by phone or email as required.  Further information will be provided to parents around drop-off and pick-up to ensure physical distancing is able to be implemented.
• Children not playing on equipment at the end of the school day.
• Children bringing a water bottle to school to reduce the chance of spreading a virus through the use of bubblers.  Children can refill their water bottles at school.

The Department of Education has prepared guidelines for families around managing a return of students to school .  We will be entering Phase 1 from 11 May. 

There is a great deal of work to be done in preparing for the implementation of Phase 1 of returning students to school as we begin the new term.  As you will appreciate, the situation continues to be fluid in response to change in circumstance with the COVID-19 epidemic.  We will continue to provide information to you via the school website, School Stream and the Blue and White as appropriate.  Each school will prepare a different plan for their individual communities.  Please know that we have the best interests of students at Armidale City Public School at the front of our minds when planning for remote learning opportunities or returning children to classrooms in Term 2.

We understand that these time of uncertainty create further stress, but thank all parents and carers for their efforts.  Stay safe.

You may see some changes happening as you pass our school over the next few weeks.  A team of workmen have started installing scaffolding and replacing guttering and downpipes as part of a larger job to replace the roof on the building that is home to the school library and Stage 2 students.  If the weather is kind to the workers, we hope to have the new roof installed by the end of the holiday period.

Our thanks go to Matt McKenzie, from Thalgarrah Environmental Education Centre, for providing a range of outdoor learning activities.  These can be worked through in your own yard.  Click on the link in the previous sentence to access the activities.

Students that are newly arrived to Australia can access work in the following two links:

Work for EAL/D students - A3 pages

Work for EAL/D students - A4 pages

Our thanks go to our EAL/D team in preparing this work and trying to make it more accessible for our refugee students and their families.

As we head into our second week of providing remote learning opportunities for students at Armidale City Public School, it is important to acknowledge the commitment of staff in preparing the learning programs, the persistence of parents and carers in overseeing work at home and the children for their resilience in engaging in learning activities in a very different  manner.   

From this week, some teachers will be working remotely with others at school to supervise the students that need to attend.  If you would like to speak with a teacher, please contact the office and the teacher will get back to you within a day or two via phone or email if not at school.

The following packages of work will support learning until the end of Term 1 with work provided each day and broken into sessions:

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

A number of printed packages of work will be available out the front of the school from Tuesday, 31 March 2020, for those families that require them.  Kindergarten students will continue to work from the activities on the grid provided last week as these will take at least another week to complete.  

For health and wellbeing, it is important that students and parents take regular breaks from learning through the day.  Schools are expected to schedule physical activity for 150 minutes a week.  It is just as important that children get physical while learning at home - kick a ball around, play a game of tag where you step on a shadow rather than touch the person, put on some music and dance like nobody is watching, ride a bicycle, run around the back yard or go for a walk (maintaining social distancing as appropriate and not entering prohibited areas) . . . anything to raise the heart rate.  There are some wonderful videos that show how students can correctly perform fundamental movement skills at various levels on the learning from home link under the PDHPE tab: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-from-home/teaching-and-learning-resources/k-6-resources.  Being physical will also be important during the school holiday period, especially with expected restrictions.

To ensure the safety of the students and staff still attending school and in line with advice provided by the Prime Minister on Sunday night about playgrounds being closed due to COVID-19, the community is asked NOT to come onto school grounds.  We appreciate your support with helping keep everyone safe.

We ask that parents scan or photograph work needing to be marked and either email to the class teacher or school, or upload the work sample to Seesaw if this has been set up for your child's class.  We are in the process of setting up Seesaw for all.  Teachers will contact families with details.

Take some time to breathe this week.  Remember that you can utilise some of the mindfulness activites at https://www.peacefulkids.com.au/meditations.html​ to relieve some anxiety or worry.

Please find below some additional activities for students to support learning at home.  There is a range of science activities for students in Stages 1 - 3.  We will upload Kindergarten activities when these have been made available.  There is also a document with a range of activities that are usually only accessible to teachers.

Stage 1 science activities

Stage 2 science activities

Stage 3 science activities

Additional activities

We ask parents to send updated email addresses to the school email address (armidalec-p.admin@det.nsw.edu.au) to better allow us to prepare for online learning options.

Parents are reminded that for children to be considered as learning remotely, students need to be engaging in work provided.  If the children are not engaging with activities, the students will be recorded as absent.

This is the first week of providing remote learning opportunities for the students of Armidale City Public School. You can access the latest  information and work by clicking on the links below:

Message to Parents and Carers - 24 March 2020

Work for students in Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten)

Work for students in Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Work for students in Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4)

Work for students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6)

Library access information

As we are coming to terms with this new method of providing work for students, we ask for your patience.  We are expecting that we will improve each week.