Dear Parents,

It was lovely to hear the students talking on Monday morning about what they had got up to over the weekend.  The reducing of restrictions has afforded many family members the opportunity to catch up again.  I know my own children loved seeing their grandparents after so many months apart.  Having had the opportunity to travel and see loved ones taken away from us for so long has emphasised just how important the little things in life are.  Personally, activities and events that I used to just take for granted are now looked at with a totally different perspective. 

Staffing Update

Earlier this week we farewelled Emily Talbot (4ET) as she heads off on her maternity leave.  On behalf of everyone at St Pat’s we wish Emily and Nick all the very best for this special time in their life.  Commencing next week Rosa Mitchell (Deputy Principal) will teach 4ET until the end of the year.  I thank Rosa for her willingness to volunteer for this role. Her experience and familiarity with the students will ensure a smooth transition.

It is with pleasure that we welcome Mrs. Amali Fernando onto the staff in 2021.  Amali has done temporary work here and is familiar to the children.  She is very excited about joining us and I am sure that she will be made to feel welcome by all.

Specialists Classes 2021

There will be some changes to the specialist classes in 2021.  All children across the school (F-6) will participate in the following lessons each week;

• Music – 45 minutes per week
• Japanese – 45 minutes per week
• PE – 1 hour per week
• ICT/STEM – 1 hour per week

We will be converting the building currently known as D1 (wooden building) into our Discovery Centre.  This is where the ICT/STEM lessons will operate. We are allocating significant resources towards developing the ICT/STEM equipment available to students for use both within the Discovery Centre and classroom learning areas.

Sunscreen

We ask that all families please apply sunscreen before your children come to school and your child brings a small sunscreen that they can re-apply if required.  Due to regulations we are not able to provide sunscreen at school.

Assembly

This week our online assembly, the first of our Advent assemblies, will be run by Grade 5NB.  Please clink on the link at 2.20pm to join.    

Parking

I remind parents to be aware of road rules and regulations when parking in and around the school.  Yesterday we had council inspectors monitoring the parking areas.

COVID Procedures

I remind parents that the following COVID safe procedures remain in place;

• No child is to be dropped at school before 8.40am. Parents are not to park but rather use the drop off lane. 
• As per last term when we were on-site we have a staggered afternoon collection. Families with a surname beginning with A - K need to collect their children at 2.55pm. Families with the surname beginning with L - Z collect their children at 3.10pm.  Again: we ask that you do not park and if you place your surname inside the front window it assists us enormously to hasten up collection.  
• If you are running late for whatever reason please park in the service road at the front of the school and call the Office from the front gate. Admin staff will then come out and meet your child and take them to their classroom.
• There will be no before school play and students will go straight to their classrooms.
• Birthdays – we are very happy to acknowledge and celebrate your child’s birthday with them in the classroom. However, due to COVID, children cannot bring chocolate, lollies etc. to share with others for their birthday.
• The children are not to bring sports equipment from home. It will be provided at school and sanitized regularly.
• Promoting age-appropriate hygiene practices for all students.
• Every child must have their own drink bottle, bubble taps are switched off.
• Reminding all students to wash their hands with soap and water or when this is not possible, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser on arrival at school and regularly throughout the day.
• Reinforcing with students the following hygiene practices;
  • cough and/or sneeze into their elbows or a tissue,
  • place used tissues straight into the bin,
  • avoid touching eyes, noses or mouths,
  • not to share food or drink,
  • not to drink from water fountains or bubblers directly (they will be switched off).
• Extending school cleaning programs during the school day, including cleaning school playground equipment after use.
• Communication with teaching staff is via email, dojo or phone.
• The School Office is open by appointment only.
• Remote Learning work will not be provided for those parents that choose to keep their children at home.
• A critical aspect of the return to on-site learning will be a strict enforcement of the community requirements to maintain physical distancing especially at the start and finish of the school day.

For parents and guardians;

• Practise physical distancing and avoid long periods of time in close contact with other adults.
• Use the telephone, dojo or email to contact staff rather than visiting the school.
• Do not enter the school grounds.
• Adhere to the school’s pick and drop off requirements for students.
• Parents, guardians and carers will also be required to wear a face mask when attending the school, including when dropping off or picking up your child(ren) or if you are required to collect an unwell child(ren) from school, unless an exemption applies.
• If your child is experiencing signs or symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), they must not attend the school until their symptoms resolve and appropriate medical advice is obtained. This includes those showing even mild symptoms of COVID-19. Medical clearance confirmation needs to be emailed to the Office prior to return.
• The symptoms to watch out for are fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of sense of smell.
• If your child suffers from Hayfever, please provide us a letter from your doctor detailing your child’s hayfever symptoms.

2021 Foundation (Prep) Enrolments

The dates for Foundation transition are as follows;

• Wednesday 2^nd December – 9.30-11.30am
• Thursday 10^th December – 9.30 – 11.30am

We continue to take 2021 Foundation enrolments.  If you need enrolment forms, or know of someone else who does, can you please request them at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au  Unfortunately, during this pandemic we cannot take tours or hold large gatherings, however we are holding meetings over the phone with those that inquire.

Regards,

Simon