Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers

I am sure everyone is looking forward to the return.  Our situation reminds me somewhat of a verse from Psalms – ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry’.  I think your cries have been heard.

Return to School

It is important that as responsible citizens we try to move from a lock down in the best way we can, ensuring that we avoid having to go back there.  In last week’s newsletter, I discussed what we had in place for students and teachers at school to ensure their safety.  Below I have detailed how the school plans on a Return to School Program

All Visitors – Must come through the front office and sign in and out.  There will be a small trolley holding hand sanitiser to use on entry and exit of the school. When waiting in the Front Office area, social distancing protocols must be adhered to with only six adults to be in the office area at any given time.   

Adults – Volunteers who complete programs (Canteen, reading helpers etc.) will be welcome into the school from Monday 18^th May following the above protocols.  Health professionals (OT’s Speech Therapists etc. will be welcome into the school from Monday 25^th May. Other adults (Music tutors, sports specialists etc.) will be welcomed into the school from Tuesday June 2. 

Morning Drop offs- Parents can either drop their child off in the drop off zone outside the school hall or they can park and walk their child to the school gate.  I would then ask parents to move directly back to their car so there is no groupings of adults in the general area.

Late morning drop offs – Children and parents need to come through the front office using the above protocols.  Parents should not walk their child to the classroom and children will not need to wait for their late slip.

Afternoon pick up – If parents park their car and move to the school gate.  Parents can then line up along the side fence at 1.5m intervals and children will be asked to move directly to their parents by the duty teacher so families can move off quickly.  The playground area will not be in use after school.

A reminder that no child is to attend school if they are showing any cold or flu-like symptoms.  They must remain at home, and stay away from school until they are no longer showing symptoms or have attended a GP and a received a medical certificate stating that they are fit and safe to return.

Enrolment Period

Our enrolment period for the 2021 has already begun.  Word of mouth from the community is always one of the strongest forms of recommendation.  If you know of a family that is wondering where to send their child, please talk to them about our school and send them down to have a chat with me about their child.  If of course you have a sibling who needs to begin next year, could you please complete an enrolment for and submit it asap. 

Remote Learning Survey

A final class-based survey will go out tomorrow to ask parents for information regarding the Schools Remote Learning Program.  This is to give teachers information on how they might need to change or adapt their program if we were to return to a lockdown situation.  Can I thank everyone for responding so promptly and completely to all my requests for data.  The information received has been invaluable.

Winter Uniform

Children should be wearing winter uniform this week.  However there is always a grace period of one week.  Last week an email was sent out to all families with our new Uniform Shop Protocols.  This email contained an order form, which can be finalised by paying the purchase amount on Qkr!  Your order can then be picked up at the Front Office. 

CEO Sleep Out

To support St Vinnies I will be participating in thei9 years CEO Sleepout.  This of course looks to raise money for the homeless in supplying meals, alternatives for people sleeping rough, emergency accommodation plus a range of supportive services for those families doing it tough. It would be great if I could advertise this in the local parish bulletin. https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/peterrodda/canberra

Nicole McCormack Farewell

It is with great sadness that I have accepted Nicole McCormack’s resignation as our Front Office Manager.  Nicole has been with us for 6 years and after much thought has chosen to spend more time with her family.  Nicole still intends to be an active parent in our school community and has already being grabbed by Mrs Stilling to help with cleaning in the Yr. 2 classroom.  As a community, we will want to say farewell to Nicole who has played a significant role in the lives of all our school families.  I will communicate more on this when Covid restrictions are eased. 

God bless everyone and stay safe

Peter Rodda

Principal

Sunday Gospel: Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A John 14:15-21

This week’s Gospel passage comes from the Last Supper discourse. Next week we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and the following week we will celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Disciples. This week’s reading is the perfect introduction for what is about to take place. In the weeks prior to this, Jesus had told the Disciples that He would be leaving them. He alluded to that fact again in this week’s Gospel, when He says that He will ask the Father to send to the Disciples another advocate (often referred to as the Paraclete) Jesus wants His Disciples to know that the Holy Spirit is to continue the work that He has begun.

Christian people believe that Christ continues to be present in the world even though He is no longer physically present. Whilst the Spirit, (the advocate or Paraclete), will act in the world to bring about the reign of God, it is in the hearts and minds of those who believe where the Spirit will act most strongly. 

This week as a family talk about where you have seen Jesus present recently. If you have found it hard to see this presence take some time over the next few days to stop, slow down and listen to the quiet undertones of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Earlier in the week, students were introduced to who the guest speaker would be and they had to submit questions on Google Classrooms. The teachers then shared these with Mr Flanders to answer in a pre-recorded video. 

Year 3/4 created thoughtful and interesting questions! Mr Flanders did a fantastic job answering these and the children enjoyed listening to his talk in Google Classroom.