Principal's Update - 29th April 2022

Intro

Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term Two, and Happy Easter to you and your families. May you all be full of Easter joy and the message of new life and hope that the risen Christ brings for us.  It was undoubtedly wonderful this year to be able to celebrate Easter as a community. We hope that the holidays were an opportunity for you and your families to find some time for rest and to relax after a long and jam-packed Term One and in readiness for the coming term.

COVID Updates

With the easing of some restrictions and the transition back to some kind of new normal, please note the following;

Face masks
From 11:59 pm Friday 22 April, face masks, while recommended, are not required in any school setting. This means students in Years 3 to 6, staff and visitors in primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. Any student or staff member who wishes to wear a mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.

Screening requirements
Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, and have completed their 7-day isolation period, now do not need to undertake rapid antigen test (RAT) screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. This was previously eight weeks.

Household contacts
Students and staff who are household contacts of a COVID-19 case are no longer required to quarantine. They can return to school as long as they undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) 5 times within their 7-day period and wear face masks indoors if they are aged eight and above unless they have a valid exemption.

If any household contact returns a positive RAT result during this period, they must isolate for seven days and not attend school.

Vaccination requirements for visitors to schools
Parents, carers and other adult visitors (not performing work) are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination requirements for education workers (including volunteers) remain unchanged.

Community use of school facilities
Schools will no longer need to request evidence of vaccination of staff or workers from external community groups who use premises outside the school’s normal operating hours.

Rapid Antigen Tests 
The supply of RATs will continue for the first four weeks of this term. Rapid antigen testing, while strongly recommended, will be voluntary for all students. The screening recommendations remain the same:

• Primary schools – recommended testing at home twice a week.

Further information for Term Two
The roll-out of air purifiers to schools will continue with the additional winter allocation of units to be delivered by 1 June 2022.

As we approach winter and flu season, the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 and booster shots for students over 16 years old remain the best way to ensure protection for students and staff. Throughout this period, we will continue to support efforts to get as many children vaccinated as possible.

Sacramental Preparation for Term Two

Next term, students from our Years 3 /4 Community will begin their preparations for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please note that the preparation sessions will take place at the School.

Please save the following dates:

• Tuesday 3rd May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 10th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 17th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 24th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Celebration of the Sacrament - Sunday 29th May & Sunday 5th June at 10:00 am Mass at St Columba’s Church.

Holy Week Final Liturgy

As a follow up to the Holy Week Liturgy that took place last term, we gathered together outside to retell the significant events of both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The students in the 3 /4 & 5 / 6 Communities led the school well in their action presentation. Thanks to all involved.

School Photos

Our School Photos will take place on Thursday 5th May. Please note that FULL WINTER UNIFORM IS REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL PHOTOS.

Transition to Winter Uniform

During the first two weeks of Term Two, we transition to Winter Uniform. If you require any new uniform items, please contact the front office to place an order. Please note that we are unable to fill orders on the spot. Once you place an order, you will receive a text message when your order is ready to collect. This is generally within 24 hours. The uniforms have been moved from the Columba Wing to the Administration area in the interim. We are looking to move to an online ordering system shortly and will keep you updated in due course.

Please also note that after surveying parents last year, long pants will remain the recommended style for Winter, with an overwhelming vote of NO for the shorts option.

Mother’s Day 2022

To celebrate our Mother’s and the Special women in our lives, we will hold a Mother’s Day Stall on Monday 2nd May. Gifts will be $5 each, and children will be invited to attend the stall together in family groups, to purchase the perfect gift for their mum/special person.

This year we will trial a cashless option of paying via QuickCliq. Please sign in to your QuickCliq account (via the SZapp as you would for Lunch Orders or via www.quickcliq.com.au). Navigate to 'Events', and you will see the Mother’s Day Gift Stall event where you can place your order. Please note, gifts are limited to one per child.

We will hold a special Mother’s Day Liturgy and Afternoon Tea on Friday 6th May,  from 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm. This will begin at 2:00 pm in St Columba’s Parish Church for the liturgy, followed by an afternoon tea back at school in family groups. Your family will be directed to a designated learning community by the students. We look forward to seeing you there.

Bunnings BBQ - Saturday 28th May

Our school has been fortunate to secure once again a spot for the highly sought after Bunnings BBQ fundraiser, and we need your assistance to help make it a success!

The BBQ will be held on Saturday 28th May, commencing at 8:30 am and finishing at 4:30 pm. We require 3-4 volunteers for each shift (2 hr shifts) throughout the day. Please note volunteers are required to be double vaccinated for COVID.

Please complete the simple fields below to indicate if you are able to assist on the day. Organisers will be in contact with you closer to the date to confirm.

Should you have any queries, please contact the school office or Serena Nicholson on 0418 107 261.

Playground Redesign

We were fortunate to have Justin Staggard, Landscape Architect, join us at school today to consult with the students to ensure we are capturing their voice and ideas. Justin consulted with all year levels and was impressed with the interaction of the students. Justin will begin to devise a Master Plan and continue consultation to ensure we reimagine our playground and ensure we utilise our yard space to its full potential.

School Review

As part of our review process, there is an opportunity for parents to meet with our External review panel. This would take place on Monday 9th May between 2:15pm and 3:00pm (approx). If you would like to be a part of this, can you please indicate your availability here by adding your name. We can only have 6-10 parents as a part of this so it will be a random selection process from those that apply. We thank you for your consideration in this.

Sunsmart

Please note that we continue to encourage students to wear their hats when the UV levels reach 3 or above. UV levels change throughout the day. Teachers will provide an update of levels prior to the commencement of each break. Please ensure your child has their school hat accessible throughout the year to protect them.

Important Dates for Term Two

• Friday 29th April - Playground Consultation Sessions
• Monday 2nd May - Mother’s Day Stall - $5 per gift - All school
• Thursday 5th May - School Photos
• Friday 6th May - Mother’s Day Liturgy and afternoon tea at 2:15 pm 
• Monday 9th May & Tuesday 10th May - School Review 
• Monday 23rd - Sunday 29th May - Catholic Education Week
• Saturday 28th May - Bunnings BBQ
  

Kind regards,
Bambi Afford & Shaun Mohr
Co-Principals