Myrniong - ELC to Yr 6

Term Three and COVID

I trust all in our Junior School learning community enjoyed a well-deserved holiday break. It was wonderful having the three weeks to relax after a hectic Term Two. We commence Term Three with COVID and various strains of the flu quite active in the Southern Grampians. College continues to adhere to the Victorian Government Schools Operating Guidelines, which were updated on 8 July. The following points are particularly relevant to the Junior School and Early Learning Centre settings.

Face masks are recommended to be worn in indoor spaces by staff and students.
Students 8 years and older must wear masks on all buses.
Daily updates from the school will notify parents of student and staff COVID cases.
Students aged 8 years and above who are close contacts must wear masks for the 7-day isolation period.
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to continue to be rolled out in Terms Three and Four.

Changes to Child Safety Standards in Victoria

Victoria’s Child Safe Standards are a set of mandatory requirements to protect children and young people from harm and abuse. The Child Safe Standards commenced in Victoria in January 2016. After six years, we have seen how the Standards improve safety for children and young people. Changes have been made to make our Standards even stronger. The new Child Safe Standards came into force on 1st July 2022. Schools and organisations now need to comply with these new Standards. There are now 11 Standards, which include new requirements such as:

involving families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people
managing the risk of child abuse in online environments.

The July 1st 2022 update of the Standards will result in changes to the way teachers, parents and volunteers work and interact with students at the College. Some programs, including parent readers in the classroom, have been put on hold whilst we work through the changes and update our policies and operating guidelines. We will keep you informed as we transition our way through these important changes.

Star Students - Week 1

Yolanda O’Sullivan - Year Five

Pride in Uniform Award - Anyemah Clottey - Year Five

The Importance of Sport

The opportunity to access sports is an important component of our College offering. Term Three presents many such opportunities, with Hoop Time basketball for our Year Three to Six students, Hockey 7s, an Upper Year’s netball tournament, SSV golf, horsemanship events plus local hockey and basketball competitions. Term Four will see local cricket and netball competitions added to the offerings.

Sports are important for maintaining good mental health, life satisfaction and for building resilience, respect, gratitude, compassion and optimism. An article in The Age from Saturday 16 July highlighted the research into the decrease across Victoria in participation in junior sports. The largest decrease is in the early adopter groups (4-9 years of age). Boys were a particularly concerning demographic, with decreases of up to 69%. The biggest factors influencing these numbers is the knock-on effect of two years of rolling lockdowns, with little or no community sports. Research suggests children involved with junior sport are more likely to be physically active when they are older. This has a whole range of positive health implications in later life. We know sports help to build skills including teamwork, learning to win and lose, driving to achieve, leadership, dedication and commitment.

NAIDOC Week

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year’s theme was Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! NAIDOC is an acronym for National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee.

Sport

During her last week of holidays, Yolanda O’Sullivan participated admirably in the State Cross Country Championships that were held in Yarra Glen. She ran strongly to finish in the middle of a very talented field of young runners and we are incredibly proud of her efforts. It was an amazing experience for Yolanda and we congratulate her wholeheartedly on her qualification and participation in this event.

Hockey Results

Hockey recommenced for junior teams on Saturday 16 July.

Division 5 Wallabies were defeated 1-0 by Coleraine Maroon

Division 5 Kangaroos went down 7-0 to Dunkeld

Division 4 Drop Bears had an 8-0 win over Demons.

Division 4 Bandicoots went down to Dunkeld 3-1.

Division 4 Tassie Devils had a 10-0 win over Coleraine Black

Mr Stephen Nelson

Head of Junior School