Thank you to Year 1 students who led us through a very beautiful and respectful ANZAC Day Service this week for their assembly. Thank you also to the parents who attended and those who participated in leading the service. To gather again as a community for such important moments was very welcome.

Reconciliation Action Plan

As part of our Strategic Plan 2021 - 2023 we are forming a Working Party to develop a school Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Developing a Reconciliation Action Plan will help us to truly understand, recognise and celebrate the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our local area and school community.

For the Working Party to have an impact it's members need to reflect the diversity of our community. It is our intention that parents and, where possible, students be members of the Working Party. If you are a member of our community and would like to be involved please email me directly and I am happy to contact you to chat further about what it would involve and how you might participate in our work. 

Winter is coming!

We are at that point in the year where people are more likely to get sick and, with public health advice around COVID still at the forefront of our minds we must continue to ensure our community stays healthy.

If staff are sick they are encouraged to stay home to ensure that it does not spread to children and it is not prolonged unnecessarily. Occasionally there will be times when there are a large number of staff away and we cannot obtain enough relief staff to cover all classes. In those instances students will engage in our 'Day Away' strategy where all students in the class will be dispersed across the school in pre-assigned classes and undertake work set by their own teacher. One of the great benefits of students developing independence through Daily 5, Daily 3 and  technology use is that they can undertake a version of the tasks they would have completed in their own classroom.

If students exhibit any signs of being sick please do not send them to school. Not only do they struggle through the day, the risk of it being passed on to other students and staff is too great, resulting in them having to stay home from school. One child coming to school sick can have a domino effect in the classroom and interrupt learning for everyone else for the next week. Sometimes children are fine in the morning and their health declines over the day. When this occurs, parents will be contacted and asked to pick their child up.

We continue to undertake good hygiene practices with all our students. We have hand sanitiser available for them to use on a daily basis. We have the high touch areas of the school cleaned and sanitised daily. We spray the desks with disinfectant each day as well. We ensure that all visitors to the school follow the hygiene practices developed during COVID restrictions. Catholic Education also provide the flu vaccine for all staff.

Together we can ensure that our community stays healthy and any coughs and colds have minimum impact on everyone's learning, work and family lives.

Running late? Just a head's up for you

All Catholic Schools are in the process of implementing a new attendance record keeping system this term. In the next few weeks a new sign in kiosk will be installed in the front office as part of this. Students who arrive late to school will need to be signed in by a parent/guardian each morning and not just dropped off and walk in to be signed in by the Front Office staff.

If you're a family that runs a little late each morning and you would still prefer to drop your child off rather than get our of the car to sign them in, I encourage you to start getting to school just a little earlier to avoid this new practice that is on its way. Not only will you avoid having to come in and sign your child in, they will also have the opportunity to enjoy connecting with friends before school starts and not miss any important beginning of the day news in their class.

Winter Uniform

Next week we will be talking to students about the winter uniform and clarifying what the expectations are. Please have a look on our website for the outline of the Winter Uniform to ensure your child is wearing the uniform that is expected. Many families have taken advantage of the great prices in our Uniform Shop. It is open every Friday morning at the beginning of the school day and orders can be made through the Qkr app. 

Enrolments for 2022

Next week begins the enrolment period for 2022.

If you have a child currently in pre-school and will be enrolling them for Kindergarten then please be sure to do this before 28 May. Please go to our school website to lead you through how to do this or contact Leanne at the Front Office with any questions.

If you have a child in Year 6 and look to enrol them in St Francis Xavier College for Year 7 then you will need to do this by 28 May. Please go to their website for all of the information you need.

I hope you all enjoy a healthy and restful weekend.

Principal