Principal's Message
Welcome back everyone to 2020
I would like to begin by thanking all the teachers, many who have been in school two and three weeks before the official start, setting up classrooms and getting things prepared for our students.
I recently read a wonderful quote that applies for this week – “I've always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings.” - Welcome to the beginning of another chapter of your child’s life. Have fun.
School Drop Off/ Pick up and Sign In/Out Procedures
A reminder to all families that the students are not to arrive to school before the 8:30am morning duty, unless they are waiting with a parent/carer. Supervision is not provided by the school until 8:30am. Students who are dropped off or picked up between 9:00am-3:10pm need to come through the front office and be signed in/out by their parent/carer. All parents coming to the school during these times should always sign into the front office first and if you are volunteering in the school must have a valid WWVP card. Outside afternoon supervision ends at 3:30pm. Parents have the option of using Camp Australia's After School service if they believe that they will have a problem picking their child up in the afternoon.
Medical Plans
If your child is on a medical plan could you please make sure that you have updated their plan and sent it into the front office. You should receive a reminder email regarding this tomorrow.
Contact list
You will receive your contact details generated by our school database. This list needs to be updated and returned to the school. If you have no amendments could you please write on the front sheet ‘No Changes’ as this will make the Front Office admin much smoother. If there are changes could you please write ‘Changes’ and circle what needs to be amended.
Welcome BBQ and School Launch
The 2020 School Launch and social BBQ will be held tomorrow 7th Feb run by our School Community Council members. Parents are invited to join staff in the hall at 6pm for a 10 minute talk on our 2020 goals.
The free BBQ will commence at 6:15pm. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there.
If you haven’t done so already please RSVP using the slip sent home.
Opening School and Staff Commissioning Mass
Our Opening School and Staff Commissioning Mass is on Sunday 16th February at the SJV church at 9am. It will be a Parish Mass, so both the staff groups from St Jude’s and SJV will be there. Father Michael is looking forward to commissioning both staff groups to prepare them for this year’s mission of educating your child. It would be wonderful to have our families well represented at this Mass to support the staff from both schools.
Smoke Haze/Student Well Being
I would like to assure everyone that the school is monitoring the air quality before school starts and throughout the day. If the air quality falls into the ‘poor’ category, we are limiting children’s time outside and monitoring students who are sensitive to air pollutants and respiratory issues. If the quality of the air is deemed ‘very poor’ or worse, we are keeping all children inside. This monitoring happens every day and will continue to do so until Canberra air quality has returned to normal, probably after the fires have been extinguished by heavy rain.
Welcome New Families and Kinder
I would like to welcome everyone back from the holidays but especially our 12 new families.
Of course, greetings would not be complete without a special welcome to Kinder! I was in the Kinder classroom this week and they seem to have adapted very well to the rigors of bells, uniforms and ‘jobs’ that their teacher asks them to do. It has been wonderful that parents have already organised a time for their child to complete vital testing during their Wednesday ‘break’.
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop will be open once per week on Wednesday mornings between 8:30-9:30am. Mrs. So, one of our Kinder mums has kindly volunteered to run the Uniform Shop. The school would appreciate anyone else who has mentioned an interest to put their name forward as an extra support person.
Welcome New Staff
Welcome to Mrs. Leia Mackenzie (3/4CA), Mr. Wayne Young (Yr. 1JB), Mrs. Laura Matchett (Yr. 5/6J) and Mrs. Cathy Shepherd (Learning Support). If you see any of these staff members or of course our existing staff members, say hello to make them feel welcome for the new school year.
Meet and Greets
‘Meet and Greets’ will occur on Monday to Friday afternoon next week depending on teacher’s availability. These sessions only go for 10 minutes and are an ideal time for you to touch base with the teachers and raise any concerns or set goals that you have for your child/ren. Booking information has been sent out via hard copy and email. This information contains everything needed to register your appointment.
Staff Professional Development
Staff returned to work last week to complete three days of professional learning. Of course, I saw many members of staff working at school through the holiday period, ensuring that all was in readiness for the students’ first day on Monday.
The major focus for our Professional Learning was unpacking the Australian Curriculum and developing teachers as writers and the subsequent impact that this can have on our students. There was also a focus on our personal faith and how this relates to the staff as educators as well as a mandatory Senior First Aid course. This study will be used as a focus to develop the talents and skills of the SJV students throughout 2020.
School Counsellor
I would like to welcome our new counselor Ms. Mercedes Pasco. Mercedes brings a wealth experience to the role and is very much looking forward to meeting all our children. Our school is fortunate enough to have extra counselling hours this year and as such, we are hoping for Mercedes to spend time with the Year 3-6 cohort discussing relationships and resilience.
If you feel that your child needs someone to talk to regarding anything from friendship issues to anxiety, please do not hesitate to contact the front office for a referral form to see Mercedes.
Claim the Date – Term 1 Working Bee – March 7th 9am-12noon
Please make yourself available for the first of our two working bees this year. The focus of this Bee will be our environment. I have listed the jobs below which will be all completed if we have plenty of people to help out
- Completion of new chicken run
- Completion of screening in the Environment Centre
- Emptying of rubbish into skip
- Assembly of scrap metal for pick up
- Emptying of shipping container
- Pruning of trees
- Extra soft fall for our playground
God bless you and your families
Peter Rodda
Principal