Dear St John the Apostle community, 

Congratulations to our Kindergarten students who celebrated their first 100 days of school this week.

It's become quite a tradition among Canberra schools to celebrate the first 100 days. Governments know how important the first 100 days of office are. They attempt to achieve their most important policy directions in the first 100 days because after that they're thinking about the next election.

The first 100 days of Kindergarten are also important. Our Kindergarten parents can see just how much children learn in that time. How much they learn to read and write but also to sit and focus, to make and keep friends, to be independent, to be successful at school. 

Well done to our Kindergarten students, teachers and families on a successful beginning to the school journey.

Welcome

We will be welcoming several new inclusion assistants this term who will work closely with individuals and groups of student. They will run daily intervention programs in reading as well supporting students in classrooms. We welcome Mr Monaghan to the team who began this week. 

Relational Aggression Parent Forum

Thank you to the Community Council for hosting a parent forum on Wednesday evening on the topic of relational aggression. It was well attended by curious parents keen to understand this form of bullying and how to support their child should they be experiencing it.

The Community Council is committed to supporting our parent community, offering opportunities for parents to come together and learn about topics important to them. Thank you to our school counsellor, Nik-nur Shuhaimi for helping to lead this session.

The slides used will be made available in next week's newsletter.

Hats On

Its time to put hats back on during recess, lunch and PE lessons. Cancer Council ACT recommend hats off in June and July to support children's health. As it's August we're asking students and staff to wear their hats from this Monday. Students will play under a verandah if they forget their hat.

COVID-19 Cases

We're currently experiencing an increase in COVID-19 case across the school at the moment. We won't be notifying families about COVID-19 cases in the school unless under exceptional circumstances or on the advice of ACT Health.

Parents must tell the school if their child is diagnosed with COVID-19. This assists us to follow procedures for managing infectious diseases. Telling us when your child has COVID-19 will also help us track if there is an increase in COVID-19 transmission at the school and manage any high-risk exposures for more vulnerable school community members.

Students with COVID-19 symptoms should get tested and must not attend school while they are unwell. We have RATs available at the school and can provide families with these on request.

We strongly recommend parents and carers keep their child home for at least five days if they have COVID-19.

Parents and carers are strongly encouraged to report a positive RAT to ACT Health and follow their advice about isolation arrangements.

Thank you for helping to keep our school and healthy place to learn each day.

Have a safe and restful weekend.

Matthew Garton

Principal