From Daniel 

Looking forward to terrific Semester 2.

We are looking forward to a terrific Semester 2. We have new staff, some new programs and some new grant opportunities.  It's looking like a fabulous semester ahead.

Welcome to the team...

We are very keen to welcome some new people to our school this term.

Toward the end of Term 2 we welcomed Ace, Arah, Jackson, Eli, Axl and Chris to our school, and this term Aiden, Jaxson and Jordan have joined us.  We are really pleased to have these students and their families join our school community and we look forward to getting to know you all better over the coming years.  Welcome aboard!

We have also welcomed new staff to our team this term:

Mr Matt Gardiner and Mrs Alee Stevenson (Teachers - Juniors)

Mrs Alee Stevenson has begun teaching Junior A this term.  She works on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Alee has been a CRT at our school over the past term and has great knowledge of our students and our approach.  She has many years experience leading in Foundation and Junior School teams. 

I am also pleased to be able to introduce Matt Gardiner, who has started this term as a full-time addition to the team.  Matt is now teaching Junior B and has a breadth of experience and skills that we are thrilled to be able to draw upon and will meet the needs of our students well.

Mr Lyon (Teacher - Middles and Juniors)

Mr Anthony Lyon will Be taking Junior A on Thursday and Friday.  Although new to our school, Anthony has a great deal of experience in teaching Environmental Science as a specialist subject and will be doing some work with small groups of students across Middle  and Senior School on Wednesdays.

Ms Nanaki Kaur (Teacher - Middles)

Ms Nanaki Kaur, is teaching in Middle B.   We are already appreciating Nanaki’s calm approach and are looking forward to drawing further on her experience working in a variety of educational settings further strengthen the routines and strong practices we are building in our Middle School.  Nanaki will be working Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

Mrs Karina Ely (ES - Seniors)

Karina Ely has now joined the ES team.  With secondary school experience, she has quickly become a valued member of our Senior School team.  Karina works with us five days a week.

Stay Well in Winter

As we do in winter every year, we are seeing an increase in illness at the moment.  It may be a basic cold, fatigue or the more serious Influenza or RSV.  Influenza (also known as 'flu') is a highly contagious illness caused by the influenza virus. There are simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family from flu.

The Department of Health and Aged Care website suggests:

People with flu often experience some or all the following symptoms:

fever and chills

• cough, sore throat and runny or stuffy nose
• muscle aches, joint pains, headaches and fatigue (feeling very tired)
• nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea (more common in children than adults).

Symptoms of flu may last for more than a week. Some people only have mild symptoms for a few days, particularly if they have some immunity from a previous infection or vaccination.  Other people can get very sick from the flu and may have complications such as lung infection (pneumonia) or severe breathing difficulties requiring hospitalisation. These complications can occur in anyone but are most likely in those at higher risk of severe illness.

They also encourage good hygiene practices as a way of avoiding contracting or passing on winter illnesses.  These include:

To protect yourself and others from flu, you can do the following:

• Stay at home if you are sick with cold and flu symptoms. If you need to leave home when you are sick, wear a mask and avoid contact with people at higher risk of severe illness.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick. Wear a mask if you are unable to stay away from other people in crowded indoor spaces.
• Wash your hands often. Use soap and water and wash for 20 seconds. When you can't wash your hands with soap and water, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, especially after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands.
• Clean frequently touched surfaces, particularly when people are sick.

Please look after yourself and your family and stay well this winter.  If your child is feeling low, please keep them home and allow them to rest and recover.  If you think they may be away for more than a day, please let their teacher know and we can provide some activities for them to do at home.

See you soon...

That's all from me this week.  I was going to write about some of the fabulous things that have been happening at our school recently, however our student reports have done a fantastic job of capturing all the wonderful things we have been doing.

I look forward to seeing you around the school again soon

Daniel