We were relieved to see our students return to school on Thursday after the recent 5 day lockdown.

The wellbeing of all our students is our priority and our school staff and teachers are here to support you and your family. Information that might be of assistance to you in talking to your child about COVID-19 is available. If you are concerned about your wellbeing or that of your child, please contact the school so we can talk with you about how we can best assist. Other sources of support include: Parent Line 13 22 89 and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.

The Department’s COVID-19 helpline is also available on weekdays from 8.30am to 5pm on 1800 338 663. If you know a family who speak a language or languages other than English and you know they would like further information, interpreting services are available by phoning 131 450 first. For families with a child with a disability, the Association for Children with a Disability (ACD) has additional information.

And, finally, a reminder that if you, your child, or a family member develops symptoms of COVID-19 you should get tested at a COVID-19 testing facility and stay home.

Each family should regularly check the list of public exposure sites in Victoria (where a person with COVID-19 has attended), and if anyone in the family has attended a site at the times listed, follow the instructions given.

Entering Schoolgrounds

As per the directions of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, parents and visitors to the school must wear masks in all indoor spaces, therefore if coming into classrooms, for drop off and pick up or visiting the office, parents must have a mask on. Outdoors parents are not required to wear a mask, unless they are unable to physical distance.

New QR code

You will soon notice a QR code on display in certain locations around the school. This will enable visitors (including parents and carers) to record their visit for contact tracing purposes. We ask any visitor who attends the school on-site for more than 15 minutes to use the QR code provided.

Whole School Events

It is due to COVID-19, that we have decided that some of our school activities may need to be altered, deferred or delivered remotely to reduce transmision risks. These decisions will be made based on the types of activity, the level of community transmission and available modifications to minimise risk and our school community will be informed once decisions are made.

We are planning for a whole school assembly on-site to take place in the last week of school on Monday 29th March (the last week of Term 1), but once again we will confirm this when we are aware of current transmission risks. Smaller, PLT Assemblies (Year Level Assemblies) will be occuring in Week 8 of Term 1, details will be sent via Compas and Sentral.

One of the first official events for the year will be the badge presentation for our 2021 School Leaders which will take place on Wednesday 3rd of March. Parents of our Year 6 student leaders will soon receive an invite for this event.

Compass

Earlier this term all families were provided with a letter to enable them to log in to the Compass Parent Portal. As this platform is new to staff and parents we are currently rolling out different features of the portal to enable a smoother transition.

Once you login, one of the important features that you will notice is the newsfeed. In the newsfeed you will find important information you will need for you and your child. You will notice that some items in the newsfeed are green. Green items require action.

From Monday the messaging feature was enabled and parents are now able to message their children’s teachers using the app. In order to do this please click on the open in browser tab. This will then enable you to send an email to your child’s teacher.

Next week parents will be able to use the Compass app to book a “Getting to Know You’ Conference with your child’s teachers. The link to this will show up in the newsfeed as green and will enable you to book using the app. We will be adding further features over time.

House Athletics

This year, Yr 3- 6 have the opportunity to participate in the house athletics on 5th March. Students will compete in a range of athletic events with winners and some placegetters having the opportunity to represent the school at the District Athletics later in the year. This is a student only event, unfortunately we are not able to have parents attend. On the day, please ensure your child is wearing sunsmart clothing including a wide brimmed hat and appropriate footwear for running. Students will also need snacks, lunch, water and personal medication as per a normal school day.

School Council Elections

We recieved 5 nominations for our School Council. We have 2 positions available, therefore we are holding an election process. Outlined in this newsletter, is some information about each of our nominees. Ballot papers are available from Monday at the school office. We encourage all parents to vote in this process, one vote per parent/carer.

General Information