From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

The children have settled back to the new term extremely well. This is the final term for our Year 6 students before they embark on their secondary years in 2023. We hope their final term at COHR is cherished and memorable.

This week has been a sad week for our community as we farewelled Pat Perri at a beautiful funeral service on Tuesday. I am very grateful for all the support our families have given to the Perri family over the past weeks; your attendance at the funeral, your condolences, your thoughts and prayers, your listening ear, your meals and your offers of support in so many different ways. Let us continue to keep the Perri family in our thoughts and prayers over the coming days and months ahead.

Combined Schools Day

Next Monday 17th October we will be hosting a combined schools day with Sacred Heart. Given the restrictions of the pandemic we have been unable to hold this activity day for a few years. On this day all Sacred Heart students and staff will be bused to our school for the day. Children will be involved in a number of activities, will participate in mass together and will have a shared sausage sizzle lunch. Children will also receive an icy pole after lunch. Students are asked to bring their own snack and water bottle on this day. If you are able to assist on Monday, from 9:30am, with the cooking and distribution of food it would be greatly appreciated. Please let the office know if you are able to assist.

School Sports Day

Our 2022 School Sports will take place on Thursday 17th November from 4:30pm - 6:30pm and will be held on the school oval. Parents and family members are welcome to attend. More information will be shared in the coming weeks.

Fete News

It's only 4 weeks until our Fete. Thank you to those parents who were able to make the Fete meeting on Monday night. There was terrific attendance with at least 20 parents present either in person or online.

Over the coming fortnight we will be requesting PEOPLE POWER to assist with the running of the stalls. We are certainly going to need plenty of help so we would really appreciate it if all parents could offer some time.

On the Fete day, Friday 11th, students will finish school at 1:00pm.

The set-up for the Fete will commence on Thursday evening 10th Nov and this will continue all day on the Friday.

The next Fete meeting will be held on Monday 24th October at 7pm. It would be appreciated if all stall coordinators could attend this meeting. We will also arrange a Google Meet link.

Early Arrivals

We would like to request that parents do not drop their children off to school before 8:30am. Staff are busy arriving at work and preparing for the day between 8:00-8:30am. Supervision before school commences at 8:30am.

Prep 2023 Parent Information Evening

Our Prep 2023 Parent Information Evening will be held next Tuesday 25th October at 7:00pm in the Performing Arts room.

Baby News

Congratulations to Jo Hunt, our Visual Arts teacher and her husband Shane on the safe arrival of baby Benjamin. Jo and Benjamin are both doing well.

Condolences

Our condolences to;

Sandra Counihan on the passing of her father.

The Boukouras family on the passing of Chloe and Sophia's grandfather (Sarah's father) during the holiday break.

The Paprzycki family on the passing of Steven's grandfather (Richard's father).

Our thoughts and prayers are with these families during this difficult time.

School Fees

A hard copy of the school fees were sent home last week. We have a large number of fees outstanding and we would appreciate families making payment as soon as possible. If you would like to discuss a payment plan we would be more than happy to discuss this with you. We ask that fees are finalised by the end of October.

Thank you to those families have been making regular payments.

Changes to COVID-19 isolation requirements

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the pandemic declaration and associated pandemic orders. New settings will apply from 11.59 pm on Wednesday 12 October 2022.

It is strongly recommended that students:

who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days
should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic
who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should:

be collected by their parents/carers
undergo testing for COVID-19.

It is strongly recommended that staff:

who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days
should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic
who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Schools no longer have to alert their communities of positive cases.

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask will be supported to do so, and we will continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

Students and staff will continue to be encouraged to use hand sanitizer and we will continue to promote good hand hygiene.

Pope Francis' October Prayer Intention

Pope Francis' prayer intention for October is 'For a Church open to everyone': We pray for the Church; ever faithful to, and courageous in preaching the Gospel, may the Church be a community of solidarity, fraternity and welcome, always living in an atmosphere of sodality.

Take care and keep safe everyone

Brendan Welsford

Principal

Specialists Day at COHR

Thursday 3rd November