Welcome Back!!!
Nothing better than seeing happy children walking through the school gates this morning!! My Executive Team did a fantastic job welcoming students back this morning and ensuring they all left without too many problems this afternoon. Thank you to those parents who greatly assisted with this afternoons pick-ups at the various gates. It is extremely important that students leave via their designated gate for the remainder of this term. This ensures we don’t have large volumes of pedestrian traffic congregating in one particular area. Whilst I have acknowledged that it may be inconvenient at the moment, our plan ensures everyone’s safety and well being. I do ask that if you are a parent designated for a 3pm collection that you do not arrive at 2:30pm. This will ensure less crowded gates and ensure we are adhering yo social distancing rules.
My favourite moment of today was hearing ‘kid noise’ back in the school...it actually made me stop working and sit and smile.
The senior executive were able to hold an entire school Zoom session (students and staff) this morning to welcome everyone back to Governor. This involved approximately 640 people!! Quite a feat of technology and an amazing experience!!
Our students had a great day back in class with their teachers and friends. Such a great moment to see everyone back!!
Every plan that we have put in place has been with the unwavering support of my Senior Executive Team who have done an amazing job!! I am so very proud of Mr Hamilton, Ms Stojanoska and Miss Fitton...they have worked tirelessly and gone above and beyond for our students, community and school. They are true leaders. Today’s quote is dedicated solely to them; no returns!!
Stay safe and continue to look out for each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
May 19
Good morning to our Governor community. As you may have heard through various media outlets last night, our Premier may be announcing a full return to school during her media conference today. The date that has been reported is next Monday 25th May.
As the Principal of our school I have received no official notifications as yet, so I too will be watching the update to see what will be occurring, and then working to put plans in place based on what we are told. I will be watching a livestream conference from the Department of Education late this afternoon. Once I have the full details, I will be meeting with the Senior Executive team to formulate a plan, which I will then outline to school staff via a Zoom meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11am. I will then inform the community of how the return to school will be implemented for GPK.
Please be aware that there will be strict expectations for morning drop-offs (from 8:30am) and afternoon pick-ups, as well as how you can contact teachers and the front office. Social distancing requirements will still be in place for all parents, careers and staff.
Unfortunately, this is the limited information I have at the moment. But as always, I wanted to provide you all with an update with the information I have. Please do not contact the front office for further information as, at this point, I have shared what we currently know.
Stay safe and look out for each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Week 3
Another week where our students were amazing accessing online learning, Google Classroom and Zoom lessons!! I again popped into many lessons and saw amazing learning taking place, as well as having the chance to chat to our students! We saw some students return one day to school this week, and they will have the same opportunity to attend one day during Week 4.
My teachers were absolute superstars again this week, providing amazing work and opportunities for our students.
Thank you to our community for following our drop off and pick-up guidelines. You are making our job easy. I anticipate this will continue to be the routine for a number of weeks, however, as of Monday access will also be through the gate near the before and after school care facility.
Please remember to send students on their designated day with all of their own equipment, work booklet and food/drink bottles. I will let the community know when the canteen facilities will be reopen. This should be in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, stay safe, take care of each other and continue to follow social distancing guidelines. We are all doing a great job!
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Week 2
What a week it has been!! I have had the absolute pleasure of being part of numerous class Zoom meetings over the last few days! What a joy it has been to see many of our students smiling faces. Watching and listening to children chatting with their friends and teachers has been amazing!! Congratulations to everyone for embracing another platform to keep our students connected and learning.
Can I also congratulate our parents, siblings and relatives who have assisted students access technology and participate in these meetings. From a parent perspective I know how difficult things can be. Please rest assured that we are all doing our best, and I ask you all to be kind to yourselves and do what you can; we do understand the difficulties.
To my 625 kids; I’m always proud of you all. You are doing an amazing job with learning and engaging both through your booklets and online activities.
Next week some students will be attending school one day during the week. I have been asked if this is compulsory or a parental choice. It is up to individual parents with what you feel comfortable doing in terms of the health and well being of families. Students will continue with the work from home packs whether on site or at home. Please remember to send all equipment with students as we are unable to share things at this point. Students will also need to bring lunch, recess and a drink bottle on their designated day. Please be aware that the only entry of a morning will be through the front gates. A staff member will meet students at the gates each day.
Information has been provided to outline afternoon pick-up procedures. It is really important that our community members wait in the correct area and then leave the school grounds as soon as students have been collected. Please continue to observe social distancing requirements.
Once again; thank you for all of the positive messages and support for our staff. The kind words and gestures are greatly appreciated by all of us.
Stay safe and look after each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Welcome back to the official start of Term 2.
I sincerely hope everyone had a chance to relax during the break and connect with family, doing some fun activities while being housebound.
Thank you to the members of my Executive Team who joined me at school last week to finalise and sort work packs, and develop a workable plan for our students and community. I appreciate the fact that these amazing people gave up time in their holidays to support our school.
All Governor staff were involved in off site professional learning which involved watching a number of livestream sessions and being part of a whole school virtual staff meeting to provide updates and plans for this term.
As I have communicated, from Week 3 students have the option of attending one day per week based on sporting houses. Please be aware that students will be supervised working through the same booklet they would be completing at home. They may not be in class groups or with their class teachers.
Due to hygiene reasons students attending school will need to bring their own equipment (pens, pencils, glue, coloured pencils, etc).
Thank you to the parents who have already collected the packs of work for Week 1 and Week 2. It was great to touch base with our community members. Please be aware that work packs can still be collected at the front office.
As always I will continue to keep the community informed as the current situation develops.
Stay safe and look after each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Day 17 of 'The New World'.
Wishing our kids, community and staff a restful and safe holiday!
Happy Easter; I hope everyone enjoys lots of chocolate!!
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Day 16 of 'The New World'.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK 💙
Day 14 of ‘The New World’.
Today was another busy day for staff; programming, contacting families and replying to emails.
I was involved in an online meeting with my Executive Team who are all working hard in a variety of capacities both on-site and from home. It was great to be able to check in on everyone.
The days are definitely quiet without our community, kids and full staff here at school.
I trust everyone is staying safe and doing all the right things in terms of social distancing and avoiding unnecessary outings.
Keep letting us know what you are up to; we love hearing from you all.
The New World is definitely challenging for us all!
Stay well and look after each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 11 of 'The New World'
We have enjoyed Fun Friday and all the great ideas people have shared with us.
My kids enjoyed having a bit of fun today as well.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK
Day 10 of 'The New World'
Hi Everyone; we hope you are all ok and looking after each other. We see you are working so hard on everything that has been sent to you!! I’m so very proud of you all!! ❤️
My family is exactly the same as yours, changing the way my kids are learning and what we are doing as a family. While I’m still at work each day, my children are completing their learning packs and being challenged by working from home. They are the same as you, so I’m also a very proud Dad!!
SO... my children and I came up with a challenge for tomorrow... 2 of my 3 children (my daughter Scarlett was missing from our video; we miss you Scar ❤️❤️ ❤️) helped to create this challenge, which we thought might brighten everyone’s day!!
Please join us for ‘Fun Friday’... I know you will have fun; it’s only as limited as your imagination!!
In the meantime be prepared (and maybe a little scared) for what my eldest daughter Savannah has in mind for future video!!
Spoiler Alert...apparently it involves music and movement; I apologise in advance!!! 😱😱😱
Stay safe and well.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 9 of 'The New World'
Again we are hoping our students are busy learning! We are loving the photos and feedback. Mums and Dads you are all doing an amazing job helping your children with their tasks and activities. Please don’t stress or worry if you don’t get through everything; we know it’s a different way of accessing learning and we are proud of the efforts everyone is putting in. If you have questions, concerns or need some advice please email your child’s teacher; they are waiting and willing to help!
In the meantime; one of my favourite photos of nature... I actually have this on my screen at school. It always reminds me that even during the most difficult and tough times, at some point the clouds will part and the sun will once again shine through. While things feel uncertain and worrying at the moment, we are all supporting each other until life returns to some normality. In the meantime stay positive and strong. We are so lucky that we have an amazing community here at Governor!
Stay well and look after each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 8 of 'The New World'
Thank you to our community for touching base and leaving comments and photos on our FB posts. We really appreciate it!! I am trying to reply as quickly as I can so please be patient. I will get back to you, I promise!!
My staff have been reporting beautiful conversations with our kids and parents. They are so happy to be speaking with their students and hearing about all the great learning that is taking place at home. Thank you also for the thoughts and messages being sent through for our staff. The messages really help lift moral as we continue preparing work and resources!!
I hope everyone is staying well and healthy and following all important instructions we are hearing regarding self-isolating and staying home as much as possible. It’s difficult but it’s for our own health and well-being, as well as for those in our communities.
Keep an eye out on Thursday for a new video message and challenge from me!
Look out for each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 7 of 'The New World'
Just a little message from me...
Stay safe and Well. Look after each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 4 of 'The New World’
The end of the week brings me a chance to reflect on how crazy things have been and how quickly things have changed for all of us! I am so proud of the Governor community - staff, students and parents. It’s been a tough week for everyone, yet we have all stepped up to the plate and done amazing things for the most important people; our kids!! Yes our kids. When I talk about my students outside of school and with my family I refer to my 624 + my 3, which equals my 627 kids; kids who I absolutely adore and miss ❤️ When the staff talk about their class they are ‘their kids’. And of course as parents your kids are your number 1 priority!! I am hoping my 627 kids are well, keeping up with their learning and that everyone is doing OK!! Keep reassuring our students, we worry about them too!!
We’ve had to adapt to a different learning environment; both in how lessons are being delivered and where learning is currently taking place. Everyone has been amazing and you are all doing an Amazing job! It’s not easy, but everyone has risen to the challenge and I am beyond proud of the entire community. We’ve got this!! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
My amazing staff; I cannot thank you enough for inspiring me this week with your dedication, support and care for our entire community!! Whether it was talking to parents directly, emails, phone calls...You are unbelievable!! True superheroes to me always!!
I hope the weekend provides everyone some time to rest and re-charge.
While so much is uncertain in the days ahead; be certain that we are all strong, supported and cared about! Governor is the most amazing place and no one can beat what we all do together!! We have the most fantastic school!!
Take care and look out for each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK ❤️
Day 3 of 'The New World’
Today was extremely productive for staff as they continued working on additional units for Term 2 (in case it is required). There are still a number of envelopes to be collected for students. Please ensure you ring the front office to organise a time to collect your child’s work.
Congratulations to our Citizens of the Month! We are proud of you all ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It has been wonderful to see students sharing photos of the LEGO Challenge. Very creative and some amazing construction taking place!!
Please feel free to add photos of you completing amazing work from home!! We would love to see the amazing work you are doing!
Thank you again to the community for following all the advice and recommendations of keeping students home for their health and safety. You ARE doing the right thing for everyone.
To my amazing executive team I say thank you! They have gone above and beyond in putting plans in place and leading their teams through this period. The leadership skills they have shown are inspiring. They have ensured each member of their team is being looked after and assisted with getting through some difficult days!! I greatly appreciate their trust, support and loyalty ❤️
Stay well and look after one another.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK
Day 2 of 'The New World’
Thank you to our community for being so focused on ensuring the health and well-being of students and staff.
We are anticipating that students have started working on the packs that were either sent home or collected. Any parent who has not collected work can still do so via the front office. If you know if parents who are not in SkoolBag or our FB page please encourage them to join both apps.
My staff have once again been busy today preparing additional work for after the holidays if it is required. They are all doing an amazing job under extreme circumstances!
Today parents should have received teacher email addresses for any questions students may have, or to be able to provide assistance in completing work if required. Email addresses were also sent out to student email accounts. This is the most effective form of communication at the moment.
Once again; thank you for your kind words and thoughts for our school staff. They are working extremely hard!
Keep an eye out on our FB page for some additional ‘fun’ activities students can be doing at home. We would love for our community to post photos and videos of what our kids are doing!
Stay safe and well, we’re all doing the best we can.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK
Day 1
As Day 1 of what I am calling ‘The New World’ draws to a close I wanted to thank our Governor community for collecting work for our students to complete over the next few weeks.
Thank you for sharing your stories, for your understanding, for your support. We appreciated your encouraging words and amazing dedication to our school. You made my heart happy, sad but most importantly, proud to lead our community. It was very special to hear that the students are missing our school; We miss them too 😢😢😢
I appreciate that not everyone was able to get there today. I will organise another collection day and time for this week (to be advised).
Once again my staff were amazing. They always go above and beyond for our school and community. They make me so proud!! ❤️❤️❤️
Special thanks to Ms Stojanoska and Miss Fitton for handing out each package of work to parents. For listening, and for their amazing words to each parent. Truly inspiring leaders.
We organised the coffee van to come to school today for our staff as a small way to say thank you! I hope they all realise how valued and appreciated they are.
I will keep everyone updated as I find out additional information.
In the meantime; stay safe and well. Be kind and look out for each other.
Jason Corcoran
Proud Principal GPK
