Term 2 Week 2

Welcome back after the term break! It was a much needed rest after a very busy term, especially with our students and staff getting accustomed to working face-to-face for an entire term again. 

Covid has continued to impact all of us in some way. I just want to say thank you for continuing to follow our school protocols and alert the school of any positive covid results. We have managed to keep the school open and teachers in front of the classes due to your diligence in reporting and isolating when necessary.  

It has been a busy start to term 2, with many extracurricular activities already experienced by the students. The girls and boys ‘Soccer Gala Days’  were highly successful with both teams winners on the day. This was a great way to start the term with the students presenting their flags at assembly. Thank you to Mrs Tadic and Ms Marie for their support and coaching skills!

The senior students have also begun inter-school sport competition which will continue for the term each Friday morning. The middle and senior students will also have an opportunity to participate in Science incursions in week 4 which correlate to their Inquiry Unit. 

Weekly Prayer has been introduced by our Religious Education leader Frances Barone. Every Monday after recess, one class will lead the whole school in prayer. The focus will change each week, with 3/4S leading the prayer this week about mothers in preparation for mother’s day on Sunday.  

ANZAC DAY liturgy- Frances also led the school on the first day of the term in a prayer liturgy on the message of the ANZACS. The students were respectful and reverent during this liturgy. It was a credit to the parents and staff that the students were very aware of the solemn nature of this special day. 

This FRIDAY 6TH MAY IS A SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY. The staff are working together with a focus on MATHS. A guest speaker, Dr James Russo, has been engaged to work with all the staff to deepen their understanding of how students learn in numeracy and how to provide open and challenging tasks to foster student engagement in their learning. We look forward to implementing some of this into math’s lessons with your children moving forward. Thank you to Clare Kheir for her input into this day. 

NAPLAN starts next week. Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy assessments throughout the week. Please encourage your child to just ‘have a go’ if they are feeling a bit anxious about the online testing. We are also giving them this message and asking them to be risk takers in their learning. Staff will also be on hand to give them positive support throughout the week. 

A reminder that there is a SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD MTG on Tuesday 10 May at 7.30pm onsite in the school library for board members. 

The RECONCILIATION PARENT/CHILD ONLINE SESSION is scheduled for Tuesday 17th May @7pm for the year 3 families. A  note has already been sent home to those families involved. 

MOTHER’S DAY STALL–  The students were sooooo excited today to choose a gift for their mum! 

Do not look in their bags tonight mum or you will spoil their surprise on Sunday! Thank you to the PA volunteers who set up the stall and then helped the children to choose that special gift! 

VOLUNTEERS

I just wanted to clarify the requirements for any volunteers who wish to come into an educational setting. The school is not in a position to allow volunteers onsite, outside of the current Health Orders and CECV guidelines.  

The requirements for a parent volunteer has been updated by the Pandemic Orders 2022 # 8 Pg 61 which defines volunteers under the ‘Education Worker’ category, which came into effect at 11:59pm on  22 April.

Schools were also notified of these requirements in a published document from the CECV, ‘Schools Operation Guide, Term 2, 26 April 2002’. 

The Health Order and the CECV guidelines state:

Vaccination requirements for visitors and volunteers performing work 

The third dose vaccination requirements also apply to any visitors or volunteers performing work on school sites. 

This includes:

• a person contracted to work at an education facility and who will or may be in close proximity to children, students or staff, whether or not engaged by the education operator including casual relief teachers, NDIS providers and auditors (but does not include delivery personnel) 
• Diocesan education office staff who attend an education facility (such as allied health personnel), except where you are advised that equivalent processes exist at a diocesan level.
• staff of any other entity who attends an education facility
• volunteers that attend an education facility and that work in close proximity to children, students or staff (including parent helpers) 
• students on placements at an education facility

 

The exception to this is:

• A volunteer with an exemption from a doctor or the Health Dept. This would generally involve a ‘health complication’ that would prevent them from having the vaccination safely. However proof of this must be presented to the school with the correct documentation (usually from a doctor).
• A volunteer who is double vaccinated, but has had covid. A four month exemption period is in place from the date of their last day of their isolation period. A ‘Declaration Form’ is available for them to complete and needs to be provided to the school. This includes evidence that they have reported their positive covid result to the Department of Health and received a confirmation response. The ‘Declaration Forms’ are available for parent volunteers at the school office. 

Thank you for your understanding in adhering to the above requirements. 

I wish every mother, aunt, grandma or mother figure a very special day on Sunday. 

You deserve to be celebrated!

Trish