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Dear Parents and Carers,
ALL students will return to school on Monday; we are not doing a staggered return. As we prepare to return to school next week there are some things we will need to do as a community. Below are some of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) guidelines, which aim to establish, where reasonably possible, best practice in relation to health and hygiene at schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full document can be found here:
- If your child is sick, they must not come to school. Please keep them at home until they are fully recovered. If your child presents to sick bay with cold or flu-like symptoms, parents will be notified to collect their child immediately.
- I ask that you do not come onto the school grounds. We are required to minimise the number of adults coming onto the premises to reduce the possible risk of COVID-19 transmission.
- There will be no face-to-face meetings with teachers this term. Please telephone or use email as the preferred method of contact with your child’s teacher or staff member.
- At this stage, there will be no assemblies or large gatherings of students for the remainder of this term. An exception to this is any evacuation or emergency procedure that may be required. (Fire alarm etc.)
- The front door near the office will be locked. Please call ahead if you need to visit the office on 6249 8869.
- Download the COVIDSafe app.
- The flu vaccination for your child might be another precaution to consider.
- Please provide your child with a packet of disinfectant wipes. Teachers will remind students to wipe their hands at different intervals throughout the day. There will be provision of extra hand sanitiser across the school.
- The play equipment will be closed for the time being.
- The bubblers will be closed. Students must have their own water bottle.
- Extra cleaning will take place. This will include the wiping down of tables and high touch areas of the school. Bathrooms will have antibacterial soap and children will also be reminded to wipe their hands with their wipes upon returning to the classroom.
- Frequent reminders to ensure children are practising good personal hygiene will take place. This means, covering mouths and noses when coughing and sneezing, frequent hand washing, not sharing food or drinks and minimising physical contact
- If your child, family member or other close contacts are tested for COVID-19, your child is not to attend school until the results of those tests are known and are negative. Please advise the school if this situation occurs.
- After 18 May, if a situation arises where it is deemed not safe by health authorities for students or staff to be onsite, we will move back to our comprehensive remote learning program as required.
PICK UP AND DROP OFF ARRANGEMENTS
Students can be dropped off from 8:20am. All children are to please be dropped at the top gate. The front office entry will be locked. Please do not come onto school grounds.
Afternoon pick up is from the usual spot. Please wave to your child or the teacher on duty from the top gate and the staff member will call your child/ren to meet you. Supervision will be available until 3:30pm.
Social distancing for adults is the key to the success of these procedures. Thank you in advance for your ongoing support and commitment to the above recommendations from Health Authorities and Catholic Education in order to help keep our community safe and healthy.
Remote Learning
As of May 18, there will be no remote learning available to students. We are open for face-to-face teaching. If your child is home sick, there will be no remote learning. As is normally the case (pre COVID-19) it’s a time for your child to rest and recover.
Uniform
For those students returning to school, a reminder that Winter uniform must be worn. Items can be purchased from Lowes Queanbeyan or Chilada at Majura Park, or through the secondhand clothing pool. Navy beanies and gloves are permitted in Winter. Please be advised, due to COVID-19, we are not accepting any donations to the second hand clothing pool until further notice.
YWCA
YWCA will be back to their usual capacity from Monday. If you cancelled your enrolment, you will need to contact “accounts” to re-register. It will not automatically start up again.
Kindergarten Health Checks
Act Health have advised; " Due to the redeployment of Registered Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic response and the closure of schools, the 2020 physical component of the Kindergarten Health Check has been cancelled. The Academic Unit of General Practice questionnaire data, completed by parents at the beginning of the 2020 school year, has been collected as usual. The results of the questionnaire will be sent to the GP if consent has been given to do so. If parents have concerns regarding the physical check we recommend they see their GP for assessment. For more information please contact the School Health Team on 5124 1585."
Julie Wiley
Principal
What is a Youth Minister and Why is He Here?
Hey friends, my name is Rossen de Ramos, and I am the Youth Minister of the School and Parish. You're probably wondering why am I here and my purpose. As a Y.M, my goal and objective is to bring others to Christ by walking and following his shadows and also to see Christ in my fellow teacher and students.
Fun facts about me: I was born in the Philippines, but I was raised in London till I was 16 years old. As a profession, I am a photographer and videographer and also currently studying counselling. In my free time, I love to play basketball, go on a sunrise hike and also take care of my new puppy; her name is Yema.
Did you know, Fr. Josh and I share the same birthday, 16 of January?
My wish and prayers are to become closer to the students and teachers in their faith. Visually by not pulling them closer to their destination or goal but to lead and inspire them by walking in an adventure through the journey.
As a young devout catholic adult, my goal life is to bring others closer to heaven.
I look forward to welcoming back our defence students over the over the coming weeks and assisting with any needs they may have in settling back into our school routine. If you have any concerns about your child/children settling back into school, please let me know as I am happy to assist in any way that I can.
Lunchtime Craft Groups
I will be starting up lunchtime craft/games sessions once we have settled back into school and will provide details of these groups once they have been finalised.
Please feel welcome to visit or contact me on 6249 8869 or send an email to brenda.galvin@cg.catholic.edu.au
Brenda Galvin
Defence School Mentor
Called to Care Meal Bank
Due to the current climate we find ourselves in we have made the decision to postpone our Called to Care Meal Bank program for Term 2. Thank you again to all those who have volunteered to prepare meals for our school community. We look forward to having the program up and running again in Term 3. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Mini Vinnies
I look forward to welcoming back our St Thomas More’s Mini Vinnies over the coming weeks and planning and commencing our activities for the rest of our school year. Usually during Term 2 Mini Vinnies chooses to support the St Vincent de Paul Winter Clothing Appeal and Night Patrol Van (at the end of Term 2). I am in the process of confirming whether those appeals will be going ahead this year and will talk to our Mini Vinnies about this once I have heard back.
Please feel welcome to visit or contact me on 6249 8869 or send an email to brenda.galvin@cg.catholic.edu.au
Brenda Galvin
School Chaplain