Helpful Hints 

❄️ Winter Health Update: Keeping Our School Community Healthy

As the colder months settle in, we want to share a quick health update based on recent advice from NSW Health to help keep our students, staff, and families well this winter.

What’s circulating this winter?

Good news first: COVID-19 levels currently remain low and are not expected to be our primary challenge this season. However, NSW Health has advised that RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and gastroenteritis are currently circulating at high levels across the state. Additionally, flu season is expected to peak in the coming weeks.

Free "Needle-Free" Flu Vaccine Available Now

To help protect your family before the flu season peaks, NSW Health is currently offering a free nasal spray flu vaccine for children aged 2 to 17 years.

• Painless and quick: It’s a simple spray, making it an excellent alternative for children who are uncomfortable with needles.

• Time-sensitive: Supply is limited, and stock at participating GPs and pharmacies is only expected to last until mid-July.

• Plan ahead: It takes approximately two weeks for the vaccine to provide full protection, so we encourage families to book in as soon as possible.

How you can help at home

To minimize the spread of winter bugs and minimize disruptions to learning, please continue to support our school community by:

• Keeping children home when unwell. Please allow them to rest and recover fully before returning to school.

• Encouraging regular, thorough handwashing.

• Reminding kids to cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue or their elbow.

A quick note on international travel

While there are no measles outbreaks in schools, recent cases in NSW have been linked to international travel. If your family has recently returned from overseas, please remain vigilant for any symptoms of measles.

Thank you for your ongoing support and cooperation in keeping our classrooms safe and healthy this winter!

Hi there!

We are delighted to show you our new promotional video that describes who we are at CCSP and what we do as the representatives of parents and carers in our NSW Catholic schools.

You can click the YouTube link below to watch. We would love it if you could share this video with your families in your school communities. It could also be shown to parents and staff at assemblies, meetings and other gatherings, so that they can find out about the important work we do in leadership, advocacy and support of our Catholic school families.

This updated video includes information about our new role as the voice of parents and carers with children in Catholic diocesan preschools and long daycare centres. We’re very excited about providing this new level of service for Catholic ECEC families starting in 2027.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/HSyvYJDi9MwSP Conference for Parents and Carers

Conference website page: https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/2026-conference

This is a wonderful Parent Booklet supplied by the Swap It team for your information. 

Weekend Activities - 📸 Share the Fun!

We would love to see our students in action over the weekends! If you tried out any of the activities from the previous newsletter—or if you have your own backyard favourites—please send a photo through to smeade@arm.catholic.edu.au.