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Dear St John the Apostle Community,
Thank you for working together to prepare your child for the return to school next week. Please remember the following arrangements for coming back.
Students who have already been attending school full-time can continue to do so next week. We have provided limited supervision for these students on the days where their classes are at home. Other students are to remain at home on their non-attendance days. Staff are providing a general remote learning program during this time and will not be able to provide class video conferences while they transtion back as well. The Inclusion Assistants will be checking in on some students at home as well as checking in on them on the days they attend.
Choosing not to return yet
If you are choosing to not send your child back to school yet, please email both your child's teacher and myself to ensure their absence is recorded accurately in our attendance records and to help us provide any support we can for their learning at home.
What does my child need to have ready?
In returning to school, your child needs to:
- Wear their winter uniform. We know that stock is low at many uniform shops at the moment. We'll have a 'grace period' for a while until everyone has had the opportunity to source the warmer uniform.
- Bring a drinkbottle with their name on it. We will only be using bubblers for filling drinkbottles.
- Bring back any Library books and readers that were borrowed. These will be wiped down before placing into circulation again.
- Bring back any devices that have been borrowed. These also need to be wiped down before placing them back into circulation.
- In June/July we do not ordinarily wear hats. We will make these optional for students during this transition time.
Drop off and pick up arrangements
Our primary goal for our drop off and pick up arrangements is to follow the current health advice to significantly reduce the number of adults on site that can lead to any spread of undiagnosed COVID-19 cases.
Morning Drop-off
- All parents are to use the drive through area in the main carpark to drop students off. Students then walk through the gate near the performing arts building and proceed around to the rainbow top to line up.
- Teachers will be on duty on the rainbow top from 8.20am. To reduce congestion please stagger your arrival times between 8.20am and 8.50am.
- We understand that some of our youngest students may need some assistance on the first day or two, however, please keep coming into school to a minimum and train them to be independent in this process.
Afternoon Pick-up
- Again, our preference is that students be picked up in the drive through area. We understand that this can be congested.
- If parents must park and pick up please keep standing together to a minimum and follow physical distancing expectations.
- Kindergarten will be brought up to the pick up area 5 minutes before everyone else to help reduce congestion.
- Teachers are on duty from 3.00pm to 3.30pm. We encourage you to stagger your pick up times during this 30 minutes.
Canteen
The Canteen will run all week next week. There is a special 'welcome back' lunch on Friday and this can be ordered through the Qkr app.
Following next week the Canteen will run its usual hours from Tuesday to Friday.
Student Birthdays
At the moment we ask students to not bring cupcakes to share with the class for their birthdays. This is a precautionary measure for health and hygiene.
The Canteen offers a number of options to share with the class. This can be ordered on the Qkr app.
It's enrolment time!
Just a reminder that it is enrolment time for 2021! We already have a number of enrolments with a few new families looking to join the St John the Apostle Community. Just a reminder if you have a child looking to start Kindergarten in 2021 to jump on our website and complete an enrolment form.
Please spread the good news about our school. The best marketing a school can do is through their current families. Word of mouth is very powerful when it comes to families choosing a school for their child. Please recommend us and basically, talk us up please. I will be starting to do personal zoom meetings with new families, taking them for a virtual tour and answering any questions they have. I am happy to do this for any new families’ wanting to know more about St John's. I can't talk enough about how great our school is. It's very easy for me to sell the school in the best light possible.
Have a lovely weekend.
Matthew Garton, Principal
It is no news to anyone that 2020 has been full of challenge and change. Although going back to school is exciting and I can’t wait, it is another unknown quantity. And perhaps I am a little weary.
A friend sent me the link to this song:
It is full of images that resonated with me; none more so than the cup with the word “begin” on it. We just need to start, even though we plan and organise and try to anticipate what is going to happen, we don’t have to have all the answers. We do have to have faith and from that comes the strength of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:31 (NRSVCE)
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Go gently friends, take care of yourself and each other.
God bless,
Steph Stewart
Religious Education Coordinator
Happy birthday to Duoot A, Zella K, Evelina N and Te-Aroha B who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.
Congratulations to Ajay and his family on the safe arrival of Tahlia born on 8 May. We know you will be a fantastic big brother Ajay!
Helping your child avoid being cyberbullied
Cyberbullying of children and teenagers is one of the greatest fears facing parents today. The thought of their child being subjected to heinous words, threats to their physical safety, as well as their social and emotional wellbeing, is something no parent wants their child to experience.
Most of the bullying behaviours we now see are happening from behind a keyboard, playing out in social media feeds and gaming chat rooms. It is little wonder parents feel overwhelmed and out of their depth, especially when for most, online is an environment that is relatively unfamiliar.
So what can we do to help our kids avoid these types of behaviours, as well as give them the skills to deal with cyberbullying behaviours should they be exposed?
Remind them of all of the things they have control over
While it may not feel like it, we have a lot of control over what happens online. We can determine who we talk to, what we ignore, what we share, how we comment, who we follow, who we block or hide from our feeds. All of that, helps us determine who is allowed to play a role in our online experiences and ultimately what behaviours we accept on our feeds
Give your child time away from the screens
Everyone needs a break from screens. We want to encourage regular times when a child doesn’t need to be tethered to their device. Building a wider community away from the screens helps a child or teen build their sense of self worth. Keeping devices away from the dinner table also gives them a break from being socially switched on and allows the to connect with family without a device. Removing devices at night helps their active brains to switch off, and prepare for sleep.
Role play possible responses
Discuss with your child whether whether they should respond to bullying or nasty online comments, If they do, then consider how they could respond. Consider the statements or types of people they ignore, block or report.
Regularly check the privacy settings
Every app, game and social network has a settings button that enables you to determine how positive an experience your child can have on that platform and how much control they have. Visit these settings regularly to look at the options available
While nothing is guaranteed particularly when it comes to the online world, we can certainly be taking steps to help our kids. We can give them skills, encourage positive behaviours and thinking that allow them to minimise their exposure to the bullying behaviours of others.
If your child is being cyberbullied you can also access the reporting tool at esafety.gov.au
Martine Oglethorpe
Daramalan School tours:
Due to the Covid19 restrictions we were unable to conduct our Open Evening or Try Dara Days for prospective parents and students for Year 7 2021.
Now as some restrictions have been eased, we are in a position to offer a limited number of small group tours.
The tours will be limited to a maximum of 3 people from the one family and 10 people in total in a group. In fairness to students who have missed out on the Try Days and Open Evening we are only making the tours available to prospective students for Year 7, 2021.
Tours for other year groups, 8-12 2021, may be undertaken later in the year. For students in Year 7 2022 and beyond we hope that normal enrolment services, tours and Try Dara days will return to normal from 2021.
For current parents we ask that you do not take advantage of these tours at this time unless you are genuinely unsure of your student attending in 2021. There may be an opportunity for siblings of current students to view the school later in the year.
Tour dates and times available are listed below
Monday May 18 - 11am or 2pm
Tuesday May 12 & 19 - 11am or 4pm
Wednesday May 13 & 20 - 11am, 2pm or 4pm
Thursday May 14 & 21 - 11am or 2pm
Friday May 15 - 11am
Bookings are essential and can be made by emailing enrolments@daramalan.act.edu.au by phone on 6245 6348.