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“I am the light of the world”
John 9: 5
(from the Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A)
Dear parents and carers
What a difference a week can make! In the past few days much has changed in our school and wider community in response to COVID-19. There have been many cancellations of events, unprecedented scenes in our supermarkets and general anxiety at the uncertainty for what the short and longer term future holds. These are strange days indeed.
I shared via COMPASS yesterday a letter from our Director of Schools, Mr Peter Hill outlining our diocesan response to COVID-19. A copy of this letter has been included with this newsletter.
In short, our school will remain open. There is a list of cancelled and postponed events included with this letter. We are teaching and practicing good hygiene at school. This involves specific lessons and regular reminders to children regarding handwashing, supervising handwashing after eating three times daily, managing sneezing and coughs and avoiding as far as possible close physical contact. We ask that if your child is sick, that you keep your child home from school until the symptoms resolve. If a child presents as sick at school, we will call you and ask you to pick your child up from school. Again we ask that you keep your child at home until symptoms resolve.
There are some links to resources for you to review in Mrs Browne’s section of the newsletter. I have also included for your consideration a faith response to the current situation. Our little mantra at St Paul’s from now on will be “wash your hands, cover your cough, stay home if you are sick”.
Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong have developed a website for parents and the community regarding current advice for the management of COVID-19. This website will be updated regularly and is our “source of truth”. All information and updates regarding our school and system’s response to COVID-19 will be published on this website. A link to this resource is available on our school website home page as well as on the CEDoW website. You can access the site from this link.
https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/covid-19-information-centre
Irrespective of what arrangements will be made in this rapidly changing and dynamic situation, there are some basic assumptions we need to continue to adhere to. As a community and as the adults in that community, we need to be as calm and sensible as we can possibly be. We need to do so for the sake of our children. The children are watching us and taking their cues from us. We need to stick together, work together, assume good will and benefitting the common good in all we do. And we need to try to keep a sense of humour and remain positive at the same time!
NAPLAN preparation
NAPLAN is conducted in all Australian school in Year 3 and Year 5. This year NAPLAN will take place between the 12 and 22 May. With the exception of Year 3 writing, all assessments will be conducted on line as was the case in 2019. Next Monday 23 March, Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in a system bandwidth test to ensure that our school is ready to administer NAPLAN in May. The children will sit a “mock” test. There will be no data collected or reporting generated from this trial. I have included an information sheet with this newsletter regarding NAPLAN for your information.
We ask that our Year 3 and Year 5 children have downloaded the “NAPBOWSER” app, bring earphones and have their iPads fully charged for Monday.
Parish Sacramental programs suspended
After taking advice from our Bishop, diocese and health professionals, Fr Richard has suspended all sacramental classes effective immediately. This directly impacts our reconciliation candidates who began their preparation last weekend. There will be no reconciliation classes this weekend or next. The sacrament of first reconciliation planned for Friday 3 April will not take place. A copy of the letter from Fr Richard shared via COMPASS yesterday, has been included with this newsletter.
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Date and Events Overview TERM 1 2020 |
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Week 9 |
Whole school assembly- Thurs 26 March (cancelled) Reconciliation class #3- Sun 29 March (suspended) |
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Week 10 |
Personal Planning meetings week (via telephone) Reconciliation sacrament- Fri 3 April (suspended) Daylight saving ends |
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Week 11 |
Holy Week liturgy- Tues 7 April (cancelled) Last day of Term 1- Thurs 9 April |
Below are some links to quality websites that address issues such as dealing with anxiety in children, knowing how to talk to your child about things they see in the media that may be upsetting for them and self care for parents. During these uncertain times it is important to take care of ourselves and be aware of how our children are coping. If you are concerned about your child’s well being then please let the classroom teacher know. The staff are actively monitoring the children and how they are going at school. As concerns are raised teachers are addressing them with the children, reassuring them and encouraging them to talk to you if they are still worried. The teachers will contact you if they are concerned about your child’s well being.
Talking to our children about events in the news.
Anxiety and what to look for.
Self care tips for parents and carers.
https://www.maggiedent.com/common-concerns/self-care-parents/
https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/looking-after-yourself/parenting/looking-after-yourself
Helping Children and Young People Cope with Crisis.
Regards,
Katie Browne
Assistant Principal
Following advice from our Bishop, the Diocese of Wollongong and Health authorities, Fr Richard has made necessary changes to the delivery of sacramental programs in our parish. Please take a moment to read Fr Richard's letter and note the proposed revised dates for the now suspended sacramental programs.
We thank you for your understanding of the necessity for this decision and your support of our parish.
| YEAR | STUDENT NAME | REASON |
| KINDERGARTEN | Joseph Grange | Treating friends kindly and using kind words |
| YEAR 1 | Ivy Allen | Being kind to everyone |
| YEAR 2 | Lilly Allen | For being helpful |
| YEAR 3 | Taliah Sidorenko | For being a kind and compassionate member of Year 3 |
| YEAR 4 | Isabella Garnett | Treating others respectfully and kindly |
| YEAR 5 | Charlie Dowler | Being polite and respectful |
| YEAR 6 | Ayessa Cecilio | Being respectful and helpful |
We have a student who has misplaced their watch, there is a photo below. If you find this watch, please bring it into the office.
The Tesselaar fundraising magazines were sent home yesterday from the P&F.
Just a reminder that the online orders end on 3rd April 2020.
Thank you for your support :-)
We have had an incident of head lice recently in the school. To prevent the spread discourage your children from sharing hats and ensure that long hair is tied back. The only way to combat them is to be vigilant; by regularly checking the hair and treating immediately.
Attached is the NSW Government information from their website along with the recommended treatment plan:
