Email

hastings-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Website

www.hastings-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER 9th April, 2020

85 Yarranabee Road,

PORT MACQUARIE, 2444

Phone 6582 2566

WHAT’S ON at HASTINGS …

TERM 2

LEARNING PACKAGES Packages will be emailed

to all families today

whether you requested an

electronic copy or a pick-

up.

Pick-up today

between

10am & 2pm.

If you can’t make today,

packages can be picked

up from the Office from

Tuesday, 28th April – only

one person to the office.

KINDERGARTEN

2021 Do you have a pre-schooler

joining us for Kindergarten

2021? Or perhaps you have

friends or neighbours who do.

Parents are asked to please

contact the office

by phone or email (not in person)

6582 2566

hastings-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Enrolments are now

being taken.

GOOGLE CLASSROOMS

for YEARS 3-6 If you have received your

class code for Google

Classrooms and still can’t

connect …

Google Classroom is best

supported by Google

Chrome

Use your child’s Student

Portal email address not

your own. Instructions are

written from teacher to

student, not to parent.

Wishing all our families

a very Happy Easter and

two weeks of holidays,

relaxing at home!

Stay safe, keep well, keep smiling and

keep emailing your photos.

TAKE CARE, EVERYONE!

PRINCIPAL MATTERS

Staff Update

Mrs Baker had planned to take leave in Term 2 however has decided to continue working for the time

being. I know that many of the children will be happy that they are not missing out on saying goodbye. We

are very happy that Mrs Baker will be staying with us for a bit longer!

HPS REMOTE LEARNING HUB

https://sites.google.com/education.nsw.gov.au/hpsremotelearninghub/home

HPS LIBRARY WEBSITE

https://mrsdsdelights.weebly.com/

HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL

Learning I Growing I Caring

Learning From Home in Term 2

The past couple of weeks now seem like a blur and it certainly feels like we have done the work of months

in just a few weeks. I want to thank the community whole heartedly for your support, patience and kindness.

I am quite sure that we could not have achieved what we have without it!

There has been no indication from the government, (Federal or State) that we can expect any return to

normal school life any time soon so our current situation will continue to evolve with teachers delivering

learning opportunities remotely for our students in Term 2.

K-2: Teachers will communicate and provide guidance through the use of SeeSaw

3-6: Teachers will communicate and provide guidance through Google Classroom.

Whilst teachers may start to use video to deliver Morning Greetings, story time etc, we will not be using live,

real time video as yet. Up until this point, use of webcams for students has not been an option for

Department of Education schools and was considered a child protection risk. Trials are currently taking

place within the Department of Education with particular technology platforms however we have decided as

a school that there are currently too many risk factors that we cannot control to feel that this is a safe option

for our students, families and staff. If you are having any difficulty accessing technology, please contact the

school. We will help in any way that we can.

Learning Packages and Learning Opportunities

Collection will take place tomorrow Thursday in the same way that we did in Week 8. There will be an

overview page that provides some additional information that we have put together for you, including some

guidelines on the amount of time that is recommended for learning in a home-school setting. There will also

be some guidelines and hints that our Learning and Support staff have put together that may be very helpful.

We are planning to keep the helpful hints and support information flowing to you and everything that we

produce will be available for you to access on the Hastings Public School Learning Hub. The Learning Hub

should be the ‘go to’ point for all home learning. If your children are looking for something extra, we will be

adding resources and information consistently. The Library Website is another ‘go to’ point for student

learning.

What does this mean for students of essential workers attending school on site?

Children continuing to attend school on site are supported to complete the same learning packages as the

children learning at home. As this work is designed to be spread throughout the day, they will also complete

additional tasks throughout the day. We are also aware that these children are away from their families,

their regular class and regular teacher at a time of great uncertainty so there will be additional activities

throughout the day to support their health and wellbeing. As it is necessary to have different staff supporting

children at school, we have designed a roster that keeps the children with teachers from their stage.

It is still highly recommended that families with children in K-2 still engage with Seesaw so that your children

access all the same messages from their usual teacher as other children learning from home. Teachers

supporting children at school in Years 3-6 will assist these students to access their Google Classroom to

maintain contact with their teachers and classroom activity.

What does this mean for student learning at home?

Teachers cannot be in two places at once, so if they are rostered on to be teaching on site at school, they

will contact you to let you know they will not be on line and available to assist learning at their usual times.

You can however, still post questions etc and they will respond as soon as they can.

Adjusting to Change

These routines and structures are new to everyone and we will do our best to iron out any creases as

efficiently as we can. In my many years of working in education, never has there been a time of greater

change in such a short period of time. In a year’s time, it will be very interesting to see where we have

landed. What will go back to traditional forms of education and what will continue to evolve? Time will tell,

but in the meantime, our focus needs to be on keeping everyone healthy.

HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL

Learning I Growing I Caring

Minimising the Risk On-Site at School

As requested by the Department of Education we have moved to a staff rostered on site system. This

helps to minimise the people on site. There will be a roster where most staff will be on site 2 days a week

and working at home all other days. Some staff fall into high risk health categories and therefore do not

attend on site at all. This obviously has implications for continuity of learning programs and, although not

ideal, are requirements that we must adhere to.

Recommended Time for Learning

As mentioned previously, the amount of work being supplied to you may result in students completing the

day’s work well within the 9am-3pm timeframe. This is fine. Children have many breaks throughout the

day at school. Guidelines for work times are as follows:

K-2 3 hours plus additional time for physical activity and games

Years 3 and 4 3.5 hours plus additional time for physical activity and games

Years 5 and 6 4 hours plus additional time for physical activity and games

We will be consistently adding to the Learning Hub for children wanting more learning activities.

Staff Development Day : Monday, 27th April, 2020.

Staff will be taking part in on-line learning to support both their wellbeing and capacity building to work in

this evolving learning context. All staff will be working off-site, therefore the school will not open until

Tuesday, 28th April.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone in our community for each playing a role in how we are

navigating this very unique and worrying event. If we all do our part, we can help everyone to feel

supported and connected. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Jodie Paterson

Principal

FROM THE LIBRARY

The Library is encouraging families to drop off

at school any Library books you have finished with.

Simply hand over books as you do your Drive Through on

Thursday to collect your Leaning Packages.

The Library will be able to organize books to go home in Term 2 for

any family wishing to submit a wishlist of books via school email.

YEAR 6 CANBERRA EXCURSION

We are slightly optimistic Year 6 will get to Canberra and we have pencilled in 7th – 11th December. Costs

will be re-assessed early next term. Parents are encouraged to continue paying regular part-payments to

assist with the final balance at the end. If the excursion does not go ahead, a full refund will be issued.

Year 4 Aussie Bush Camp is also planned for December. Again, parents are encouraged to make regular

part-payments.

All payments can be made online at:

School Website – www.hastings-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Click on Make A Payment and complete the details. Student/Reference numbers are not required.

Payment Option – Excursions: Year 4 Camp / Year 6 Camp $ ____________________________

IF YOU ARE EMAILING THE SCHOOL, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CHILD’S NAME & CLASS

HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL

Learning I Growing I Caring

K-2 ASSEMBLY AWARDS 16th – 20th March, 2020

KM Ella McWhirter Zoe Steel Hannah-Leigh Boon-Tompsett

KS Theo Wood Piper Menzies Jamilla Thomson-Jones

KV Billy Moore Layci Kearsey Blake McIlveen

K/1F Simba Watts Amelia Opitz Isla Brown Harry Arnell

1C Isabella Grilli Liam McDonald Josie Page

1D Harlow Edwards Nate Hatch Ella Heggie

1H Flynn Hunt Stella Cook Gypsy Porter

2HP Jake Potter Samuel Smythe Ali Kearsey

Henry Campbell Sienna Johnson Patrick Rolfe

2K Angus Allen Emma Payne Jacob O’Dea

2RN Olive Henderson Zoe Menzies Neve Moore

Austin Morgan Tom McGrath Jax Kelly-Walsh

HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL’S FILM FESTIVAL 2020

“A SILVER LINING on the SILVER SCREEN”

Calling all budding film makers!

HELP US FIND A SILVER LINING!

We would love to put together a film festival so we can come together when we no longer need to social distance ourselves!

IT’S EASY TO PARTICIPATE!!!

MAKE A (3 MINUTE OR LESS) SHORT FILM It could be a documentary, a mini movie or an advertisement (maybe for toilet paper!)

There is no set topic, just be creative and have some fun!

Want some ideas … have a look at this Flat Lay stop motion film by Philipp Klein Herrero who had to cancel

his skiing holiday so he made a stop motion movie instead - https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/freeride-

skiing-at-home-a-stop-motion-short.

and some YouTube links that might help you are …

How to Make a Stop Motion on your Phone

Paper Brain Productions

How to Make Stop Motion

Rose (film run backwards)

Thanks for your messages of support.

They’re all very much appreciated.

Upload your movie to Google

Classrooms (Code) fp323wx

The classroom is called

“A Silver Lining for the Silver Screen”

Your name & class

must be included in the credits.