Longwarry Primary embraces change
Over the term one holidays, staff began looking at the different ways they could continue to support not only their students, but parents and community as well as they began remote learning during the first week of term two.
Dedicated teachers and education support staff worked from home collaborating with students online, making ongoing phone calls to check in on student and family wellbeing and to provide feedback around students’ engagement in this new style of learning.
Many staff also worked alongside principal Paula Johnston and assistant principal Robyn Young to provide an on-site remote program for children whose parents were initially essential service workers and then for all students whose parents returned to the workforce.
Principal Paula Johnston said she was extremely thankful for the work that parents put in to help their students throughout the closure.
“The school really acknowledges the work that the parents have done. Our parent community really worked hard to support the kids throughout the time,” she said.
The school set up a hotline for parents to call if they found they needed some clarification or help with the schoolwork set for the week, wanting to keep the very close partnership with parents and teachers.
“We had the hotline running between 8.30am-4.30pm. We don’t have a school mobile, but we set up a phone for parents to ring if they needed a hand,” she said.
For Longwarry, it was all about supporting their school community through, from their students to their families and staff members.
“Not being able to socialise, some kids found that was one of the biggest barriers, so we actually needed to link our chaplain to those kids over the phone,” she said.
Paula said that when the prep to Year 2 levels returned to the school on May 26, there was excitement as the children ran towards the playground for the first time in almost three months.
“Especially the first two days they were back, when they ran out of the classroom into the playground, there was an almighty roar, they were so happy to be connecting again,” she said.
Overall, the school now feels like they have a stronger connection to the families, with the staff members also becoming stronger as a team, which Paula called a silver lining.
“It has been amazing, if there is a silver lining to it all, now we feel like we know our families more. Even I do about my staff, the way the classroom teachers and education support staff have bonded together more as a team is amazing,” she said.
Longwarry Primary will see their Year 3-6 students return today, with staggered break and drop off times as they continue to follow the guidelines set by the government.