From the Principal
Dear St John the Apostle families,
When restrictions to protect the community from the spread of COVID-19 began, it was our only way to control the spread of community transmission. We had to protect those who were most vulnerable among our families and friends. There was, and still is, no vaccine. As an ACT community we have together been able to keep it at bay.
As a school, where students, staff and families come together on a daily basis it was obvious that the risk factors for transmission would be high and therefore significant operational controls needed to be in place.
We can see from more recent experiences internationally and in Victoria, that we are not out of the woods. Restrictions here have been slowly and carefully eased back. As a result of this careful approach, we have managed community transmission and our lives are beginning to feel very close to normal again. Any easing of restrictions too quickly and we can experience what other countries are, a significant rise in cases and even death.
We are so close to being back to normal that it is feels like everything is actually back to normal. But until we have a vaccine it is not. We still cannot have parents on site. We still cannot gather in large school assemblies and groups. We still have to continuously wash hands and sanitise (a healthy practice anyway). We still have to physically distance in all of our meetings and gatherings. We also have to submit additional plans for approval for all excursions, events and interactions with external providers that come into the school. These are necessary precautions because schools can easily be places of community transmission if not managed well.
With everything 'feeling like normal' it would be easy to think we can all just go back to doing everything like it was before COVID-19. It would be easy to think that we can just catch up on all the events that students missed through the year and put them into Term 4. That's just not humanly possible. Not only because we don't have enough time, but because we actually aren't back to normal. Schools still have a lot of restrictions they must abide by, and will have to, right up until the end of the year, even with the more easing of restrictions to be announced next week.
There are ways you can assist us in making this a smooth time.
Car Park
The afternoon pick up continues to be a significant concern. During restrictions many, many more families chose to pick up their children in the afternoon and to use the drive through. Even with restrictions easing, many families have not returned to their pre COVID-19 pick up arrangements. It still takes a long time and as a result a few parents are choosing very unsafe behaviours that put themselves and other at risk.
With the warmer weather I highly encourage everyone to consider helping their child to ride or walk to or from school. There are many safe and well kept paths surrounding our school. A quick look on Google Maps will show many great options. It is relaxing, healthy and a great way to wind down before getting home. If any parents would like to organise a 'walking school bus' to support younger children please contact the front office and we can arrange for you to be in contact with other local families.
We are also very, very fortunate to have access to more school bus routes than most other schools. The buses travel to many suburbs surrounding our school and we provide supervision until they get onto the bus. I would encourage families to consider their child catching these safe and dedicated school bus services. The bus routes are available on the Transport Canberra website.
End Of Year events (including Year 6)
We have planned ways of undertaking our usual end of year events that match the current restrictions we must abide by. We know that we may alter these plans after the anticipated easing of restrictions next week so we are holding off with the firm details until then.
Our usual Christmas Concert is such a large gathering we know we will not be able to hold it. Classes are rehearsing and Kindergarten are preparing a Nativity and we are hoping to gather in some way at school with our students. We are also looking at how we will record and share the performances with parents.
We have managed to hold a few events this term that are usually earlier in the year including Book Week, NAIDOC Week, excursions and Confirmation. We have had to be more creative about them and undertake additional planning but we have managed to celebrate these events well.
Our plans for Year 6 at present include:
- Friday 4 December - All Day Fun Day and overnight stay with pick up by parents first thing on Saturday morning. Our proposal for fun day will be told to students next week after final approvals have been received.
- Tuesday 15 December - Graduation Celebration - a morning of graduation celebrations where we can have parents attend and students can have a celebration together afterwards.
- Friday 18 December - Candle Ceremony - Year 5 students will receive a candle from a Year 6 student signifying the passing over of student leadership for next year. At this point parents won't be able to attend but we are looking at live streaming options.
The finer details of these days still require approval and may change based on the next easement of restrictions. As soon as we have those, the last details will be announced. We want to maximise the opportunities that will be provided by these.
We are also in the process of planning a whole school fun day for everyone at the end of the year to help bring a close to the unusual school year in a fun way as a community.
In the meantime, please know and trust that we are doing everything we can to ensure the end of year is meaningful and positive for all our students and families with the information and restrictions we have, particuarly our Year 6 students. We have always cared for and enjoyed every one of them and this hasn't changed.
Class placements for 2021
At this time of the year I welcome parent communication regarding any specific needs that they would like considered in placing their own child in a class group next year. Parents wishing to communicate this are asked to email me directly (not the classroom teacher) with the considerations they would like kept in mind as part of the class creation process. These will be treated confidentially and viewed only by me. Specific teacher requests will not be considered. The cut off for communicating these considerations will be Friday 13 November.
Thank you for continually working together to help your child learn and grow.
Matthew Garton
Principal