From the Principal 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many thanks to our school community for battling through another period of remote learning. Once again it has been a wonderful effort by our students, parents and staff. There appears to be some ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ and we look ahead to the remaining three months of 2021 with hope and optimism. We probably won’t know until Sunday what school will look like from the start of Term 4 when the State Government delivers it’s COVID-19 roadmap. Arrangements for next term will be communicated to the School community via the Sentral app during the holidays. Please continue to follow the Public Health orders, it is vitally important that we all do our part to stop the spread of the virus. Widespread virus will put overwhelming pressure on our hospital system and our amazing health workers, some of whom are members of our school community. Please follow the rules. Thanks for your support during the Term, I wish you all a restful, relaxing holiday. Take care and stay safe.

In 2019 Somerville was a Reading for Life school, due to the current COVID restrictions; this program has not been able to run in 2020 or 2021. We have been working with Reading for Life and we can now offer the program virtually. The Learning Links Reading for Life Home Program is an initiative where we support parents and carers to deliver a reading program to their child in Years 1 to 4 at home over 15  sessions. Reading for Life is an evidence-based one-on-one literacy support program developed by a team of psychologists, teachers and speech pathologists from Learning Links. There is a flyer on the Community Page of this newsletter. (Click here) to provide more information and a link to join in this excellent initiative. 

WHAT IS GRATITUDE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT DURING COVID TIMES? 

Some of our students have been busy thinking about gratitude, focusing on the good things they see in others and the good things in their lives more broadly. Practicing gratefulness at any time is important but particularly important during these challenging COVID times. How so, you might ask? Giving thanks and expressing gratitude is one of the oldest concepts in society. It reminds us of how special, beautiful, and blessed our lives are even when we are faced with challenging, stressful, and overwhelming situations. The concept of gratitude is especially important in the midst of a pandemic like COVID-19 when the world around us is unpredictable and sometimes even dangerous. Practicing gratitude on a regular basis is instrumental in helping you become more optimistic. It also can have a huge impact on your overall mood and perspective. What's more, when expressed during challenging times, gratitude can help you recognize the goodness of life, which in turn helps you calm your fear and anxiety and maintain a positive outlook in an uncertain situation. https://www.verywellmind.com/why-gratitude-isimportant-during-covid-19-5097076

Have a great break, stay safe,

David Tapp