From the Principal...   

Dear Parents and Friends of 

St Therese's Primary School,

I hope that you are all well and are managing the most recent lockdown which should end at 11:59pm Wednesday. It will be lovely to see all the children back at school on Thursday again!

This week, the Catholic Church begins the Season of Lent. Traditionally, Lent lasts for forty days and is a period of time to reflect on what can be done or not done to become better people. Often, Catholics use this time to give up something or to commit to doing something that they might not normally do for others. Usually at this time of the year, the School would mark the beginning of Lent with Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday and then Ash Wednesday. Unfortunately, this year due to the lockdown we are unable to gather face to face, as we had planned, to celebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass, where ashes are used to mark our foreheads as a sign of solidarity, faith and as a symbol of love. Ashes are used on this day to remind us that from death new life can begin anew. 

Our new Bishop of Sale, Most Reverend Gregory Bennet, has written a letter about the commencement of the Season of Lent. I have shared it with you here. Please take the time to read his words.

Remote Learning

I have to say THANK YOU to the staff of St Therese's Primary School, who with only one and a half hours notice was able to put together learning activities and send home electronic devices for the five day lockdown. I was impressed on Monday that nearly every student was able to complete their attendance form and do some sort of remote learning. Let us pray that this lockdown does what it is intended to do and our school and the wider community can reopen as soon as possible.

Parent / Teacher Interviews

Next week, on Tuesday 23rd February from 2pm till 7:30pm and Wednesday 24th February from 4pm till 6:00pm.

The purpose of these meetings will be for parents to virtually meet with their child’s academic standard as indicated in the 2020 school reports and from the testing data gathered in Term 1 2021. 

We encourage you to ensure that your child is present with you at the meetings either via teleconferencing or on speaker phone so that they may be involved in the discussions about their learning. 

Some parents are already involved in Parent Support Group (PSG) meetings. If you have booked a PSG meeting in Term 1 with Rosie Osthmuller and your child’s teacher you do not need to book for the Parent/Teacher interviews. 

Foundation parents are not required to book Parent/Teacher interviews as these parents meet with their child’s teacher at their Wednesday testing time.

For all other parents of students in Years 1-6, instructions to book your teleconference or phone interview are attached and bookings will open on Wednesday 17th February. Please follow the steps to book your appointment. The interviews will go for approximately 10 minutes.

To facilitate these meetings, we kindly ask that students are collected at 1pm on Tuesday 23rd February. For those parents who are unable to accommodate this request we will ensure that supervision is provided for the afternoon in the Hall. 

We have made changes to our timetable.

Our Specialist timetable has changed beginning Monday 22nd February. This means that the Year 1 and 2 children will now have PE, Art, Japanese and Sustainability (Kitchen/Garden) on Wednesdays and the Senior classes will have their specialist classes on Tuesdays.

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct uniform for PE on their new specialist day. 

Don't forget that we are holding a School Closure Day on Wednesday March 3. There will be no school for students on that day. Please ensure that you have made arrangements for your child to be supervised.

On that day, all staff will be working with Tracey Ezard who will facilitate a professional development day focused on building Collaborative Professionalism in order to ensure our staff work together to improve the learning outcomes for all students at St Therese's Primary School.

Have a great week everyone!

I pray that we may all be together again on Thursday. Please stay safe!

Yours in partnership,

Michelle Bruitzman