Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4. We hope everyone had a relaxing, enjoyable holiday break with family and friends, despite the travel restrictions still in place.

On Monday we welcomed back our students and staff to Term 4. This is always a very bittersweet term as we head towards Christmas - a time of great joy, but also farewelling our senior students as they embark on the new chapter of their lives - High School. We have encouraged every student to cherish these last few weeks of 2020 and to work hard towards their personal goals, especially our Year 6 students, as they are completing 7 years as part of the St Edward's family. It is important that our students remain calm, respectful and grateful as we journey through this final term to ensure we all enjoy our last weeks together.

Term 4 is always a term filled with activities including Presentation Night, Excursions, Orientation Days, Semester 2 Reports, election of School Leaders etc.

Please ensure you read the Library News section regarding our upcoming Book Fair and Book Week activities next week!

Unfortunately we continue to be restricted in terms of hosting large whole school gatherings. Due to these restrictions we will not be able to proceed with our Presentation Night as it would normally look at the end of the year. We will be able to update you with how we will engage in these end of year activities next week. Our approach to the Year 5 Leadership speeches and grade end of year celebrations will also be communicated in the near future. We understand the challenges that these restrictions present, but please be aware that we are actively working to identify ways that these celebrations can take place in light of the COVID restrictions.

Orientation Days for Kindergarten 2021

We are very excited that we are now able to offer enrolment sessions for our 2021 Kindergarten students, albeit a modified version of our usual procedures for these events as certain restrictions still need to be adhered to.

Kinder Orientation Days will be held from 9.30am to 11.30am in the Kindergarten Classrooms on:

Friday 13th November

Friday 20th November

Friday 27th November

A note explaining further details has been mailed out to all families this week. We look forward to meeting with our new students on these days.

School Fees - Term 4

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a school community we are now in a position where we need our families to fulfil commitments to their child's/children's school fees. Therefore we are sending school fee accounts as of this week. We appreciate that it is financially difficult for some, however it is important that some contribution is made as opposed to nothing at all. We cannot sustain the resources and facilities in our beautiful two campus school if we do not have the support of parents and carers committing to the payment of school fees. This equates to roughly $26.50 per week which we feel is very reasonable.

Please contact us to discuss your payments should you be experiencing any difficulty. We are happy to work with our families to ensure contributions made are fair and equitable.

COVID Update

At the end of last term all schools were informed of the changes in terms of what schools were able and unable to host at the end of year. Please read the following points so you are familiar with the expectations in this area at our school level:

parents/carers must stay outside the school gate for both drop-off and pick up times.
please ensure that you are socially distanced when waiting for your child at drop off and pick up areas.
keep your child at home if they are showing signs of being unwell.
if children are absent due to illness and have flu-like symptoms, they must have a Covid test and the school must sight the results before the child can return to school.
children are encouraged to wash their hands and sanitise them regularly. We have sanitising stations in various places at both campuses.

Real Talk

We strongly recommend all parents and carers to participate in the Real Talk zoom meeting being conducted on Monday 19th October commencing at 6.00pm. Some of the topics discussed include issues that impact on primary children such as self worth, personal identity, good decision-making and cyber-safety. We encourage your participation in this worthwhile program. Please see the RE News section of this newsletter for details on how to join this most valuable zoom session.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Miss Denikah Ruttley and her partner Peter who became engaged over the school holidays. We wish them both much love and happiness as they embark on this exciting chapter of their lives.

We also take this opportunity to congratulate Mrs Lesley Ashton on her successful accreditation to proficiency in teaching. This involves a great deal of work and gathering of evidence and we thank Mrs Claire Ryan for her support of Lesley as she undertook this process.

Welcome

We warmly welcome Miss Sophie Pennell who is currently completing a 5 week teaching practicum with Miss Jodie Boyd and KB.

Primary School Crossing Supervisor

A huge warm welcome to Mr Ewie Creanor who was appointed School Crossing Supervisor at the Primary Campus at the beginning of Term 4.

School Supervision

School supervision begins each morning at 8.15am by members of our Leadership Team at both our Infants and Primary Campus, with our formal school day starting at 8.45am. Please do not send your child to school any earlier than 8.15am as there is no supervision and we cannot guarantee safety. Esteem Kids Before School Care (run out of our hall at the Infants Campus) is an excellent option for parents who require supervision earlier than 8.15am. Please see the Esteem Kids page in this newsletter for further details. Thank you.

We look forward to another productive and successful last term and a fun Book Week next week. Take care and stay safe.

Alison Hatton and Lisa McSweeney

Esteem Kids

Before/After & Holiday School Care

Absences

New Enrolments....