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“Who do you say that I am? ”
Mark 8:29
(From the Gospel of the 24th Sunday in Ordinary time, Year B)
Dear Parents and Carers,
Jesus is challenging us to see if we know who he is because to know Jesus means we need to know ourselves. During the pandemic we have been forced to stop and think. We have found ourselves being unable to go far and life as we have known it has changed. It is during these times that we are able to stop and reflect on what matters to us most. Take some time to think about what really matters most and focus on that. Today is RU OK? day. The pandemic is causing increasing stress for many people. Take some time to ask RU OK? One simple question can make a big difference.
This is an R U OK? resource. Further information and resources are available at ruok.org.au
This week I was able to hear first hand from a fellow principal what will happen if our school is exposed to a positive case of Covid 19. To date we have had three schools in our system go through a deep clean. Should we be exposed we will need to provide detailed information about the movements of all the staff and students who have been onsite anywhere from 4 to 6 days prior to when we are initially informed of the exposure. Therefore it is vital that we continue to follow the Public Health Orders and only send students to school if you are an essential worker and there are no other options for them to remain at home. In doing this you are limiting the risks to you as a family and the staff. Anyone who is onsite will most likely be considered a close contact and will have to isolate for the 14 day period. We all need to do our part to ensure we reduce the risk to everyone.
Remote learning does have its challenges for all involved. As the challenges present themselves please place your wellbeing at the forefront and prioritise what is important. I understand that as parents we want the best for our children and remote learning can be frustrating at times and seem like the children are not making enough progress. It is equally as frustrating for the teachers as they are limited in what they can do at times and would love to have your children sitting beside them teaching them the way they know best. It is times like these that we need to be patient and know that we are all doing all that we can. When the time comes and we can return to our normal routine we will do all that we can to establish where the children are and put in place teaching and learning strategies to move them forward.
NAPLAN
This week we received the Year 3 and 5 Naplan results. They have been posted out to families this week, so keep a lookout in the mail for them. I would like to congratulate our school community on the NAPLAN results. These results have demonstrated that the focus on reading and writing over the past three years has resulted in growth across our reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation and the writing domains. This collective effort by our staff, students and parents in supporting these changes has meant we are providing quality instruction and continuing to fine tune our focus on the teaching of reading and writing. We will now turn our attention to Numeracy while maintaining our focus on Literacy to ensure we are continuing to provide a quality education across all areas.
PERSONAL PLANNING MEETING
We had hoped to have these meetings at the end of this term however decided to postpone them once the lock down began. We will hold the meetings early in Term 4 even if it means they will be via zoom. Families will be notified early in Term 4 when and how we will meet.
SUPPORT FOR THE O'BRIEN FAMILY
Thank you to our families and community members who have donated meals for Heidi and the children. Your generosity is incredible and demonstrates that we have an amazing community who truly know how to reach out and look after one another.
Take care and God bless,
Mrs Katie Browne
Acting Principal
FROM THE ACTING ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Dear Families,
As we continue into week 3 of lockdown restrictions, I have had the pleasure of being present in a few class zoom meetings. The students have been very receptive to my inclusion and this week I have had the opportunity to monitor their daily activities.
I enjoyed our conversations, via zoom and loved looking at each student's work they submitted during the course of the day. Our teachers have been working extremely hard and I would like to thank all of them for their dedication during this time!
It can be difficult during this time of remote learning, and you need to give yourself permission to go gently.
Parent Portal
The St Paul’s Parent Portal is a one stop shop for families. It has links to the class overviews, information about school procedures and links to a variety of online sites that provide a wealth of information for families. Take some time to have a look and feel free to provide some feedback via the feedback form. You can access the portal via this link. Please bookmark it and check in as the class pages will be added to during the year.
https://sites.google.com/a/dow.catholic.edu.au/st-paul-s-moss-vale-home-page/home
Dulcie Ryman
Acting Assistant Principal
Remote Learning School Supervision
We are waiting to hear if remote learning will be extended for another week. As soon as we know we will be in contact with you. If we are then a new google form will be sent out. Please only send your children to school if you are an essential worker and you have no other option. This is to ensure the safety of all staff and students.
The google form enables us to ensure we have enough staff to cover supervision while keeping the numbers of staff attending school to a minimum in order to meet the Public Health Order requirements. Your support with this is greatly appreciated.
Yesterday was a very special day celebrating the birthday of the Virgin Mary.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Precious Jesus, through the heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, our Mother, we trust in You!
SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you to those of you who have completed the survey re Sacraments of Initiation requested by Bishop Brian. We are grateful for your valuable contribution. If you have not yet filled in the survey, would it be possible for you to do so as your response will contribute greatly to this project?
You can access the survey via this link here: Sacraments Survey
Every blessing to you and your family.
Sr Monica Barlow rsj
1:1 iPAD PROGRAM - ATTENTION YEAR 2 FAMILIES
1:1 iPad program: Attention Year 2 families.
Last year saw the full implementation of the 1:1 school managed iPad program. This program is designed to ensure children have access to a high quality learning device that is managed at school to keep the children safe from inappropriate content. iPad’s have enormous capacity for assisting children’s learning but can have their pitfalls if not managed appropriately. Hence we, along with many other schools in our system have made the 1:1 School Managed iPad program compulsory from Year 3. Families are billed through the school fees over two years. At the end of Year 6 the children are able to take the device with them once we have wiped the contents and restored the original settings. We will begin to provide further information to our Year 2 families and what this will look like early next term. Please keep a look out for this information as you will be required to complete a form to place your child’s order.
NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK
National Child Protection Week:
“Every Child in Every community needs a fair go”
National Child Protection Week runs from the 5 September to the 11 September. You can access great resources through the Catholic Care page that are aimed at developing children’s understanding of being safe and their executive functioning skills that support thinking and decision making.
The Catholic Church will mark Sunday 12 September as Safeguarding Sunday. Safeguarding Sunday seeks to acknowledge the immense damage caused by the sexual abuse of children and adults at risk, including by priests, religious and laypeople within Catholic contexts. It makes a commitment to practices and protocols that create and maintain safe environments for all people. It invites people to pray for those harmed by abuse directly and indirectly.
ATTENDANCE
On a weekly basis you will receive an email regarding your child’s outstanding/unexplained absences.
- You can go into compass to your child’s records and update the unexplained absence.
- You can print this and fill in the reason for the absence and return it to the office.
- You can ring the office and the office staff will enter the reason for the absence.
If your child has been absent from school and has had to have a covid test, a copy of the negative result needs to be sent to the school prior to your child returning to class. This is a requirement from CEDOW.
School Terms for 2021
Term 3 |
Monday 12 July — Friday 17 September |
Term 4 |
Tuesday 05 October — Wednesday 15 December (students) |