Wow, Week 8! This week, Year 1/2G have busy creating things! On Tuesday, we learnt about 2D shapes. For this task students had to identify how many sides and corners on each shape, they were given a variety of 2D shape such as pentagon, hexagon and rectangles, circles etc to work with. 

Next, the students needed to let their imagination run wild and create a picture using only shapes. After tracing, cutting and pasting the designs were complete! Here are a few of our creations. 

Dear Parents,

We are so excited that, as of Tuesday June 9, we will have our whole school community back together and we can’t wait! Thank you so much for the support you have given to your children during this Remote Learning, and the support you have given to our staff throughout this time. We have really appreciated the messages and emails you have sent commending the staff on their commitment to your children and the time they have put into making Remote Learning a success. 

We have been so proud of the children who have already returned to school and the independence they have shown when being dropped off and picked up at the Kiss and Go area. This has certainly enabled us to have a smooth transition back to school and has empowered the children to join their class independently and with confidence. The support from our staff both in the morning and at the end of the day has been greatly appreciated and has enabled us to provide a safe environment for all. Please remember that if you need to enter the school during the day, the only door that will be open is the one in the office area. This is to ensure we are aware that you are here and enables us to monitor any visitors to the school.

As part of our focus and commitment to Child Safety, we have installed an electronic sign in system. This has been successful and has enabled us to further provide a safe environment for our staff and students. We have our Code of Conduct and Working with Children Check as part of the sign in process, which will reduce the amount of paperwork required and will help to keep our children safe. Please ensure you have your Working with Children Check card with you when signing in. 

St Mary’s return to school processes follow the Government requirements to ensure we are providing a school environment that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of our school community.

If a student or staff member is experiencing any signs of COVID-19 (fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of sense of smell) arrangements must be made for the student /staff member to be immediately sent home or to a medical practitioner. An unwell student/staff member must be moved to a single room away from others, being mindful of the wellbeing and safety of the student/staff member. Until advice has been received from the student/staff member’s medical practitioner, an unwell student/staff member should remain at home until they are well/symptom free. As a school, it is our duty to adhere to these directions to ensure we are providing a safe environment for all students and staff. While we understand that this is challenging for families, it is not negotiable as we are mandated to follow these protocols. 

Beginning Tuesday June 9, we will be required to have staggered pick up times at the end of the school day. Pick up begins at 2.45pm with the following classes lining up at the Kiss and Go to be picked up:

Foundation AS, Foundation HS, Year 1/2A, Year 1/2 G and Year 2/3B

Please note: Siblings of children in any of these classes will also line up at 2.45pm with their sibling. 

Parents are asked to pick the children in these classes up between 2.45pm and 3.15pm. 

If you are unable to collect your child between 2.45pm and 3.15pm, please let us know so that we can keep your child inside until the end of school, not waiting outside. 

The children from Year 3/4 B, 3/4P, 5/6B and 5/6 AB will line up at the Kiss and Go area at 3.15pm and we ask parents of these children to be at the Kiss and Go area from 3.15pm.

Please do not come early to pick up your children in the older classes as they will be in class and will only come to the line up area at 3.15pm. 

Children who catch the bus or walk home will go to a designated teacher and will wait with them until it is time to leave school. At this time the designated teacher will walk the children to the back gate, open it and wait with the bus children until they have boarded the bus. 

These details will be repeated in messages to you before school returns as a reminder. 

We thank the parents of the junior children who have showed how well this system works by their patience and support during the past two weeks. 

We know that there may be hiccups as we re-establish our school systems, however, while we will be flexible in our processes, your child’s health and wellbeing will continue to be at the forefront of all decisions made. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of this information, please don’t hesitate to email me. 

We have been very busy finding ways to reach out to our potential Foundation students for 2021. We have sent a pack to each family through their kindergartens and have advertised in the local paper and on our Facebook page. Tonight we are having an online Information Evening, the details of which has been shared through our Facebook Page. Our Foundation teachers have created a video that steps through the Information Evening which will also be put onto our Facebook page for anyone who might be interested. Please share our information with family and friends to let them know that it is enrolment time. I thank our staff for their commitment to reaching out to our families so that they don’t miss out on learning about St Mary’s and all we have to offer. 

I cannot thank our staff enough for their dedication, professionalism, time and expertise throughout Remote Learning and as we have re-established life at school. We are truly blessed as a community to have such a wonderful staff who lead by example the message of our faith: The moral principle of treating others as one wants to be treated by them. It was expressed by Christ in his Sermon on the Mount: "So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). This has been evident in the way they have consistently engaged with families to ensure we are providing quality learning, support and a clear focus on developing the skills and meeting the needs of every child. 

Again, I thank each one of you for your resilience and patience during this time. While there have been challenges, there have also been wonderful opportunities and examples of where families have spent time remembering what it is that makes their family special. May you continue to share precious moments with your family as the busyness of life begins once again. 

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Lisa Broeren

Principal