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Dear Parents/Carers,
Can I say that we are all jumping for joy with the return of our student into the school this week! It was a celebration on Monday morning to see all the cars pulling up with our very happy, smiling students jumping out. Things are back to a new sort of normal, with additions to our daily life such as frequent hand washing etc. We have had all our bubblers changed to taps, so it is easy for children to refill their water bottles while they are outside. We also have placed soap pump packs at the water troughs for extra places for children to wash their hands. We hope it’s not too long before we can welcome our extended families back into the school grounds and buildings. That will be another milestone in COVID recovery to celebrate!
Thank you for your support by not sending sick children to school, this is so very important until we know that there is no risk of community spread of COVID 19.
The drop-off in the morning has gone well and pick-up in the afternoons, while organised chaos on Monday, has improved significantly since then. By bringing the students out 10 minutes earlier, we are able to avoid a back-up of traffic and have a steady stream of cars coming through pick-up. This approach will fail if cars arrive before 3pm as straight away there will be a back-up on the road. We are coming out early so that we can avoid that, so please respect this and arrive FROM 3 pm and not before.
And now that we have managed a successful pick-up, it looks like it may rain today and tomorrow. We need an alternative arrangement for drive-through pickup as we cannot congregate as a school in the hall. How this will happen is a separate item in the newsletter and it will also be sent out on Szapp as a notification.
Parent / Teacher Interviews and Reporting for Semester 1
In response to the changed learning circumstances in Term 1 and Term 2, Semester 1 2020 reporting processes have been modified to provide parents with specific information about their child’s achievement and progress. As part of the process, there will be an opportunity for a parent /teacher conference as a 10 minutes meeting. This will provide an opportunity for parents and teachers to share of experiences and observations of the students learning.
This year, due to social distancing requirements, we will be conducting our parent-teacher interviews via Zoom. Like all the Zoom sessions we have had with the students, the interview will be recorded. This will mean the teachers can go over the conversation later, instead of taking notes while they are talking with you. If you do not wish to have the conversation recorded, please let the teacher know at the beginning of the interview.
To book an interview with your child’s teacher, please visit www.schoolinterviews.com.au and use the booking code: evhmn. As your interview approaches, your child’s teacher will email you with a Zoom link and password.
Bookings are open and now will close on Sunday 24 May, 8pm.
In regard to what the reports will consist of:
• The report will cover work completed in both Term 1 and Term 2.
• Student achievement will only be reported for the three main core areas: Religious Education, English and Mathematics.
• Other subjects will have ‘Not assessed’ displayed. This means that, although the learning throughout the semester has been rigorous, it is not possible to make an overall judgement about the student’s achievement in relation to the reporting Outcomes or Achievement Standards against the Grade Descriptors.
• A new section ‘Engagement with Learning’ has been developed to replace the ‘Personal and Social Capabilities’. The new statements are based on the Australian Curriculum: General capabilities, and target four key areas of learning engagement: Thinking, Communication, Responsibility, Collaboration.
• There will be no General Comment. The inclusion of the ‘Engagement with Learning’ statements means that the General Comment section of the report is no longer required; the statements give detailed information on your child’s approach to learning.
• Semester 1 Reports will be sent home on the Thursday July 2nd (Week 10). This will give teachers the maximum time possible for teaching, learning and assessment for the term.
Enrolments for 2021
It’s the Catholic Education Enrolment period for 2021 and I wanted to make sure that parents of our current students who have a pre-schooler, are aware that it’s time to enrol for Kindergarten 2021. Whilst we will of course accept enrolments throughout the year, the official enrolment period closes this Friday.
If you know any families intending to enrol for 2021, please encourage them to complete an online enrolment. They are also welcome to call the school to organise a video chat with me. This will give them the opportunity to ask questions and I can give them any information they need. Our greatest advocate for our school is you. It is heartening to hear the many positive comments our parents and carers have, when recommending our school to other families. We thank you for that!
Please know that if you have any concerns or feedback, I am always open and willing to talk with you.
Go gently and take make sure you are looking after yourself.
Kind regards
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 4 - Be still and know that I am God
This Friday we will introduce a new form of meditation called Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina focuses on a passage from the Bible. We understand that when we read from the Bible, God speaks to us and the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and minds to understand God’s message. The process involves 5 steps; readiness, read or listen, read and reflect, respond, rest. The Community Prayer for Friday will be available for you and your family through Seesaw or Google Classroom. We encourage you to take some time to share this prayer as a family. The last verse used for the prayer this week provokes a significant challenge for each of us…
" . . . can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? "
Sacramental Programs
We are continuing to review the Sacramental Program. As you would assume, the situation remains a little unknown but we will inform you as soon as any progress is made towards finalizing dates for the program.
Penny Vanzwol
REC Coordinator
I will be collecting all reading challenge records on Monday to tally the results to date. Please encourage your child to return their form on Friday or Monday. The challenge will continue but I would like to start a visual display to encourage student participation. I appreciate your support in this endeavour.
Penny Vanzwol
A reminder that the canteen is open for recess and lunch service on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Orders can be made via Flexischools only, there are NO CASH sales at this stage. See the following link for Flexischools.
Please be aware that this also means the exchange of tickets remains on hold. Children should present with their lunch order bags collect their pre-ordered items. Ticketed items (eg. noodle cups) CAN NOT be saved for another day, all ordered items are to be collected on the day that they are ordered.
Please don't hesitate to contact me, should you require assistance at paula.papandrea@cg.catholic.edu.au or on 6231 4144.
Paula Papandrea
Canteen manager
Kinder | Chloe Warren, Hugo Adams Veda Stewart, William Rogers |
Year 1 |
Eve Tomicic, Flynn Johnson |
Year 2 |
Matthew Rozario, Marcus Nehme |
Year 3/4 |
Evie Russell, Joe Adams |
Year 5/6 |
Abbey McNally, Georgina Jenkins |
Cultural Awards |
Ryan Tkalcevic |
Principal's Special Award |
Joshua Donaldson |
Congratulations to the following students
who will receive awards at this week's assembly
Blue Mates Band Awards
Claire van der Linden
Delilah Costanzo
Happy Birthday to the following students/staff who are celebrating a birthday this week
Chloe Warren | Max O'Callaghan | Eloise Byfield | Riley Masters |
Joshua Donaldson | Caitlin Penny | Jake Willey | Georgina Jenkins |
Fete Meeting
Monday 25 May
6pm - 7pm
via Zoom
It's Fete planning time again!! The Fete is scheduled for Saturday 14 November.
The Fete is always a fantastic community building opportunity. In the current situation however, it may be scaled down in terms of limiting how many people can gather and how we enforce the physical distancing requirements.
Everyone in the St Thomas School/Parish community is invited to attend the Zoom meeting.
The details are:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72559256033?pwd=MUFCN3ZxcWVRclBOemJTV1J5ZWxVUT09
Meeting ID: 725 5925 6033
Password: 4eteLy
Our school has a membership with Parenting Ideas, one of Australia’s most trusted sources of parenting education and support. As part of this membership, all the parents in this school community can attend some fantastic webinars in 2020 at no cost.
Please see the flyer below for a webinar on understanding techno tantrums.