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Term 2 Week 4

Learning at Home

Students and teachers alike are coming up with some exciting and engaging ways to continue learning from home. Our teachers and families are settling into the rhythm and routine more and more each day of life in a pandemic.

Thank you to our teachers who continue to provide a thoughtful learning program each week, and continually adapt and respond to this new norm. Thank you to ALL our parents– who have embraced the role of personal trainer in supporting your child to become a self-regulated learner. You are an encourager, goal setter, sounding board and motivator. We hope you are also adapting and adjusting to monitoring not teaching, guiding not telling, and most importantly making this a good time, and making things fun – making a treasured family memory. We think you are doing a wonderful job!

Some highlights across the school have been: Google Drive Uploads and Google classrooms!

We love being able to see examples of all the fine learning and thinking that is going on at home. It is an absolute joy to see your drawings, diagrams, see your hand-writing and your spelling efforts, your self-corrections and the choices of topics you choose to write about. We have discovered we have many creative geniuses out there, some brilliant budding mathematicians, some inspirational authors, talented artists (see Liam’s Darth Vader) and musicians and an assortment of future Olympians with the capacity to take on a plethora of sporting pursuits!!!!

Prep students continue to share some outstanding writing and drawing samples, and it is so exciting to see their letter formation and sound knowledge grow. Please see the Prep teachers’ handy parent tips when supporting your child to write – useful for students of any age. Video: Prep Writing

Grade 1/2 began their explicit spelling program this week, focusing on the digraph /sh/ (grade 1) and the graph /y/ (grade 2).

Key learnings for Gil the fish about GEM from members of 1A were:

Gah-Yun’s advice to Gil the Fish : Dear Gil

I will teach you what GEM is.

The G is gratitiude and the E is empathy and the M is mindfulness. Gratitude is thanking and empathy is feelings and mindfulness is paying attention and caring.

I noticed you are very grumpy. I am trying to change your mind by teaching you this. Being thankful and feeling for others and paying attention and caring is very helpful. Life is what you make it Gil. Good-bye from Gai-Yun

David’s advice to Gil: To Gil, GEM is how I make my life better. You should try it too. G is gratitude which means be grateful for what you have. E is empathy. M is mindful of what your mind is telling you, it might be lies! From David.

The 3/4 Team began small group reading group sessions this week, shifting a focus into non-fiction texts. Small group sessions provide the perfect opportunity for teachers to connect with students and provide feedback on student learning.


This week the 5/6 Team continued Book Club. See 5C’s launch video to be inspired. Congratulations to the 5/6 Team for leading our transition to Google Meets this week.


We are still Zooming!

Thank you for your patience and ongoing support as we explore the effective use of virtual platforms with our key purpose to support student learning and student connections.


Based on the trial of Google Meets this week in Grades 3-6, and the initial feedback we have received from teachers and students, we have discovered that Zoom, as an interactive platform, better meets our synchronous learning needs based on its features and connectivity capabilities. This sits with the three essential aspects of our Continuity of Learning Plan:


Building connection and belonging; and supporting students to believe in themselves as capable learners

Small group interaction and collaboration, including needs based verbal feedback

Providing knowledge, skills and content using high structure, such as pre-recorded tutorials and daily sharing of tasks.


In follow up with our Beachside Network Schools and the Privacy Unit at the Department of Education we have decided that we will be continuing to use the Zoom Platform for virtual synchronous learning across the whole school.


Our use of the Google Apps – Google Drive and Google Classroom- will continue to be used as it is now, to share student learning and to give and receive feedback.


Parent ‘teaching’ tips: Please see our tips for supporting writing at home, in follow up to Prep’s video, featured in this week’s newsletter.


Parent and Student Wellbeing

Heartlinks, in partnership with Family Life, are running FREE workshops to support your health and wellbeing during this time. To secure your place in one or more of these FREE workshops or to ask our team a question, contact Heartlinks at heartlinks@familylife.com.au or on (03) 8599 5488.


Monday May 11 - 12:30pm to 2:30pm

Monday May 11 - 4:00pm to 6:00pm

COVID-19 Parenting - Parenting has always come with its own unique challenges and never more so than the present. Raise your own awareness and learn useful, practical strategies to parent during COVID 19, addressing, amongst other issues, anxiety, home schooling and isolating at home. The aim of this workshop is to provide a safe forum for parents to learn about successful strategies and to gain an understanding of the:

Challenges children may be experiencing

Possible responses by children during COVID-19

Difference between worry and anxiety

Brain and child development

Strategies including Grounding exercises and Body maps


Monday May 18 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Tuesday May 19 - 4:00pm to 6:00pm


Looking After YOU for parents - During these uncertain and unsettling times, it is now more important than ever to support your own wellbeing. This program presents a number of evidence informed approaches to help parents in being able to identify strategies that work for them. This workshop will provide information about:


What you can influence and what is within your control

The role that stress plays in your life

Options to improve your wellbeing

Self-care strategies and that self care is not selfish

How to implement change


Enrolments Prep 2021

If you have (or know of someone who has) a child commencing in Prep 2021 please contact the office to collect an information pack. Alternatively you can download the enrolment form which is available on our website https://www.brightonbeachps.vic.edu.au/enrolment and email it to Benita.Danckert@education.vic.gov.au School tours will recommence as soon as we are given the go ahead from the Victorian Chief Health Officer.


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