Leadership Report 

Dear Saltwater families,

Who can believe we are already halfway through Term Four - where has this year gone? As we reacclimatise to life and school, living with Covid-19, we wish to thank our school community for their flexibility and continued understanding. We have been truly thankful for how we as a community have managed to navigate this time. 

With restrictions and rules continually changing, we appreciate how families have remained up-to-date with current guidelines. As you can imagine, this has been an extremely difficult time for all, and as a school, we endeavour to do the best we can for all key stakeholders of our community, in line with Department of Education guidelines. To ensure all community members are aware of current regulations, please see some key points below:

• Although masks are not mandatory outdoors, as a courtesy to the school community, we request parents continue to wear a mask during pick up and drop off times.
• During pick up and drop off times, parents are requested to continue to maintain social distancing requirements as best as possible.
• Parents and carers are still not allowed to enter classrooms or other communal learning areas.
• All community members who enter the Administration building must wear a mask, unless medical exemptions apply. A mask can be provided if needed before entering the building.
• All community members who enter the Administration building must use the QR codes provided, to check in.
• All students in Years 3-6 are to wear a mask whilst indoors at school, unless a medical exemption applies. We kindly request that parents provide a mask for their children, as we only have limited supplies available at school.
• Students who test positive to Covid-19 must provide a 13th day clearance letter or negative result to return to school. These are to be emailed to your child's classroom teacher before returning onsite.
• If your child presents with any cold or flu symptoms, no matter how mild, they are required to remain home until symptoms are no longer present.

We would like to reiterate that these guidelines and regulations are provided to all schools by the Department of Education (DET) and the Department of Health (DH). Saltwater College closely follows the advice of the Department of Health and Department of Education and takes all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of each of our students and staff.  Please be assured that we take the health and safety of each of our students very seriously and, like you, do our utmost to ensure this is our top priority.  

If you have any questions or concerns, you can call the Department of Education and Training’s coronavirus (COVID-19) hotline on 1800 338 663. The hotline operates from 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 3pm Saturday and Sunday, excluding public holidays.

As these guidelines are continually changing, we will endeavour to keep the community updated as to current Department of Education Operation Guidelines. Please ensure to be regularly checking XUNO, Schoolbox and your emails to stay up-to-date.

ICT Information Evening

On Monday 8 November, Saltwater College's ICT team presented information about our school's 1:1 device program and ICT program to all new families for 2022. For our first ICT evening run via WebEx, we were extremely pleased with the turn out and appreciate all families who took the time to attend and ask questions.

For any families that may have missed out, we collated any questions that were asked during the evening to create a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) sheet. Please see the attachment below for further information.

2022 Prep Transition

On Tuesday 9 November and Wednesday 10 November, we were fortunate enough to be able to welcome our new Prep students for 2022.

Our new Preps had a fantastic day meeting their new teachers and participating in Developmental Play activities. To conclude the morning's session, students engaged in a read aloud of a mentor text and completed a craft activity to showcase their fine motor skills linked to the text read.

Please see the photos below showcasing some of the brilliant works of art, created by the 2022 Preps. These works were based on the classic children's picture storybook, 'Rainbow Fish' by Marcus Pfister.

Whilst the students were onsite, families had the opportunity to participate in a Prep parent information session run by our early year's Assistant Principal - Matt Hart and our Prep Leading Teacher - Gramatiki Alexiou via WebEx. We would like to thank all families for their participation and we hope you found the session useful as you begin to prepare for your child's first year of schooling.

For those who may have not been able to join, please see below information about our school's Prep program.

Superhero Day

It is with great pleasure that Saltwater College announces our school will once again be supporting, ‘Superhero Day’ - a student-led initiative, run by our own, Caat and Eef Steeman in Year Three and Prep. 

This fundraiser is in memory of their baby brother, Boet, who passed away three years ago. This day aims to raise vital funds to support research to help babies just like Boet. Further information as to the cause and the background behind the 'ByBoet' Foundation can be found in the flyer attached.

On Friday 19 November, Saltwater College, along with other schools and community groups both locally and internationally, will be encouraging staff and students to dress up as their favourite superheroes, in return for a gold-coin donation. This will be collected at school on the day of the fundraiser. For any families who wish to make a more considerable donation, it can be made using the details attached in the flyer.

We thank you for supporting this cause and once again, we can't wait to see the difference our Saltwater community can make!

Three-Way Conferences

We will be holding our Three-Way Conferences over three evenings from Tuesday 30 November to Thursday 2 December.

The aim of Three-Way Conferences is so that our students are given increasing responsibilities and ownership for their learning and develop skills to communicate and articulate their growth and achievements over the past semester. 

Parents will have the opportunity to book an appointment through XUNO. We will notify families in the coming weeks when these booking times open.

This term again, the Three-Way Conferences will take place via WebEx. Your child’s classroom teacher will share the link with you in an email on the Monday prior to the conferences. Conferences will run for 10 minutes with five minutes between interviews to allow for parents to log in and out of the conference. Please note that it is crucial for every family to make a booking and to participate and support their child's learning. Your children will also need to be present during the conference as they will be showcasing their learning through Schoolbox. Specialist teachers and Performing Arts instructors will also be available over these three evenings should you wish to book in. 

2022 Staffing

Over the past few weeks, the leadership team has been busy running a multitude of panels to hire new staff in preparation for 2022. As we continue to grow as a school, our recruitment process is of utmost importance, and we are very excited to share in the coming weeks, the wonderful new teachers, Leading Teachers, Learning Specialists and Assistant Principals we have been able to recruit. Watch this space!

Christmas Carols

Unfortunately, at this stage, our annual Christmas Carol Concert will not be performed live to families. Due to the current climate with Covid-19 restrictions, the school has decided it is everyone’s best interests that our Christmas Carol Concert is a student-only event which will take place during school hours on Monday 13 December for Timetable A classes and Tuesday 14 December for Timetable B classes. This is to ensure we protect our community’s health and safety as we finish out the year.

Class carol performances will still be recorded live and shared with the community, to ensure all have the opportunity to participate. More information about how to access the carol recordings will be shared closer to the date.