From the Head of the Preparatory School

Whilst it has been a quiet week at the Prep School onsite, I am pleased to report that this has not been the case in the remote classrooms our students inhabit. Whilst the number of steps I walk at school each day has dropped significantly, I feel that the insights I have into the students’ learning has increased dramatically. From my desk I have the ability to move quickly from classroom to classroom and to share in the students’ learning. I hope that parents are also appreciating the more regular insights into their sons’ learning.

Yesterday I wrote to the Prep community with an update on Remote Learning for next week. I trust that this email was received. The main points made in the email were:

• Our approach to remote learning continues to be tweaked as we seek to respond to student learning needs. There are no significant changes for next week, however, we are considering a few options to enhance the students’ experience in future weeks.
• This week was the first week of a more synchronous (real time) approach to remote learning in Year 5 and 6. It is proving to be very successful for the older students, but we are not looking to implement this daily model for other year levels due to the maturity required by students to engage for extended periods of time throughout the day.
• An acknowledgement of the additional challenges facing our staff and families residing in the restricted Local Government Areas.
• Grandparents’ Day – further information can be found below.
• A reminder that any ongoing issues can be raised through the following email addresses: 

prepschoolpastoral@trinity.nsw.edu.au

prepschoollearning@trinity.nsw.edu.au

Grandparents’ Day extended to a week

Unfortunately the current lockdown will prevent us from hosting our annual Grandparents’ Day with Year 1 and 2 which was scheduled for next week. Rather than dwell on the disappointment of this, we are seeing this as an opportunity to broaden Grandparents’ Day to make it a whole week! We have decided to move the event to the virtual world and opened it up to all students from Pre-K to Year 6.

I encourage parents to watch this video with their son where he will have the chance to listen to a story and then receive some ideas on how to engage virtually with his grandparents (or a special family friend). Whilst he is enjoying this time with his grandparents, please take a photo or a video as we would love to share how the school has celebrated together. Please use this form to share your photo or video. If you have any troubles accessing this, you can also email your submission to anel@trinity.nsw.edu.auu.

Learning highlights from Week 3

I hope to bring a range of learning and pastoral highlights to the community each week to celebrate the efforts and engagement of the students and to showcase the wonderful work and creativity of the Prep teachers.

Look at the fun 6G had at one of their afternoon check-ins – click here to see more..

Brendan (LEGO) and Jonathan (sketching) have created representations of the Great Wall of China as part of a Time for More challenge.

Year 1 have been exploring 3D shapes in Maths this week and have been creating some life-size models.

Year 1 have also been busy in STEAM sorting through their recycling bins to redesign chip packaging. Working through the design process it was determined that the new packaging needed to be resealable, protective, fresh, and convenient. Check out some of the designs!

Some of our Kindy learners talking about our favourite books and thinking about book characters so that we are ready for Book Week!

Year 5 have been learning the Heel Toe Polka as a part of their How We Express Ourselves unit. They have been completing an inquiry into how people connect, and express culture, through dance. Click on this link to see more.

And it’s good to know that birthdays are not being missed…pity we can’t share a piece of cake at the moment.

Finally, there is much excitement in Pre-K because of what is coming next week…click on the link to learn more.

Chris Wyatt | Head of the Preparatory School