COVID-19
Last week schools throughout Western Australia received a letter re COVID-19 measures that they were asked to send directly to their school communities. The letter alerted schools and families to the anticipated rise in COVID numbers over the next few weeks. It was also asking members of school communities to strongly consider wearing masks in the next few weeks, particularly indoors, as a strategy to minimise transmission of the virus. As I’ve said previously, correspondence and information created for all schools, is likely to be general in nature as it needs to be relevant to a very broad range of contexts. This particular letter also needed to be appropriate for schools across three education systems.
So, what does this mean for the Kapinara school community? Our last school term appeared to be significantly less disrupted than that of many other schools. The exception being the week to ten days when quite a few staff were unwell, as sourcing relief staff was hugely problematic and labour intensive. Apart from that however, our students learning experienced little disruption, due in no small part to the measures that families and staff put in place. The support from our community was outstanding. Thank you.
We don’t know how this term will play out. We optimistically planned for a term that includes assemblies, excursions, special school events and special P & C events, and we hope to have most if not all go ahead as planned. I’m therefore asking you to please consider wearing a mask during the next 3-4 weeks, particularly if you are in classrooms, the office, and at assemblies when we gather in larger numbers. Hopefully this will only include the next couple of assemblies.
It would also be very helpful if students in Years 3-6 could don masks indoors and at assemblies in the next 3-4 weeks. This is a request rather than a mandate, and students can easily remove them to take a break when they feel they need to. Most teachers will also remove their masks to teach. Of course, children of any age are welcome to wear masks, but those in Years 3-6 seemed to manage masks well – perhaps reluctantly, but well ? We want everyone to be able to access Term 3 events!
Further, our school motto ‘Kindness, consideration and service for others’ constantly reminds us that ‘it’s not all about me‘. If we can help to reduce the unrelenting pressure on healthcare workers, help those in our community with underlying health conditions to stay well, and help to keep the focus on learning and community engagement, then we will have contributed to something greater than us.
So thank you for giving this your consideration.
Finally, please remember that if you have recovered from COVID-19 and are told you are a close contact of a case within 4 weeks since you completed isolation, you will not be considered a close contact and you do not need to isolate or be tested for COVID-19. Children who are close contacts remain able to attend school if they are asymptomatic and test negative each morning during the isolation period of the other family member(s). (Those 12 years and over who are close contacts must also wear a mask)
Thank you for your understanding, and support of our community.
ICAS
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS IN SCHOOLS
Students in Years 2-6
ICAS is a small suite of online assessments based on the curriculum for a given year of schooling. The questions are set in modern, real-world scenarios where school students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. These assessments tend to begin with relatively easy questions but then increase in difficulty. The ‘ceiling’ is quite high. While anyone can choose to do the assessments, they are probably most suited to students who particularly enjoy and thrive on a challenge in one or more subject areas.
Providing opportunities for children to participate in ICAS at school rather than at a ‘testing centre’ is resource-intensive and challenging to run in a way that minimises disruption to regular classroom programs. This year assessments will take place during the school day, and we will subsequently review the efficacy of this model. Assessments will be available in English, Science and Maths.
English and Maths will be completed in Weeks 5 and 7 respectively. Science will be offered at school on the School Development Day in Week 6 (Monday 22 August). Students attending Vacation Care that day, can still enrol in ICAS Science.
ICAS will notify you when your child’s results are ready. You and your child can access the results once released via the Reports Portal using the TAP ID and pin found on the back of the ICAS certificate.
If your child is keen to participate, you will need to register and pay online using the school code below. You will need to register as soon as possible and no later than Monday 1 August – this is the FINAL DATE FOR REGISTRATION. Unfortunately, if your child is unable to complete the assessment at the allocated time, we are not able to run the session again, nor are we able to refund the cost of registration, as payment is not managed by the school. The cost of each assessment is $19.25.
Parent Portal: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
School Access Code: JBX962
After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive a confirmation email, please keep this for your records.
If you have any questions of a general nature you are welcome to contact Joanne Dixon Joanne.Dixon2@education.wa.edu.au or me Elizabeth.Blackwell@education.wa.edu.au
You might also wish to check with your child’s teacher if you are unsure about whether to register your child for a particular assessment.
Elizabeth Blackwell
Principal