From Principal Team

Good Afternoon Lakes Families

Week 2 has begun and here we are back in remote learning. Thank you for making this such an easy transition and for supporting the staff and students by staying home where possible. As more children and students move to online learning, we ask you to please be mindful of social etiquette by not taking screen shots of students or Zoom meetings as some families are not keen to have their children saved in pictures. We ask you to please observe this request as it has caused some angst to families who wish to participate in the communication element but in a confidential manner. 

In regards to health and well-being, Department of Education and Ministerial directives have now seen us include masks onsite as a non-negotiable. The following information has been shared with the staff to begin Week 2: 

1.   Face masks are to be worn at all times on a school site, except when a teacher is directly involved in student instruction in the classroom. 

2.   Walking around school grounds, supervising yard duty, in the staff lounge, working in the office, all require a face mask being worn. 

3.   The only time at The Lakes we would consider it safe to not wear your mask, would be when you are isolated in your classroom/office. 

4.   Primary school children are not required to wear a mask, however, any student based on the Secondary Campus will be expected to wear a mask. 

5.   It is expected students and staff will provide their preferred mask and we will have a supply available for emergency situations. 

We will continue to keep you informed of updates and expectations as they come through. As always, safety of our students and staff is paramount and we will maintain this in all circumstances. 

While we continue to provide remote learning, many of our school responsibilities remain business as usual. We are in the process of Workforce Planning for 2021 and are working through our staffing, Strategic Plan targets and goals and our budget position. We are still required to provide this information to the DET and show responsible and timely management of the school. Our School Council and Finance committee will meet in the next couple of weeks with a key focus on looking at how the school is managing at the moment and how we are planning to move forward. School Council is an extremely important committee that provides a reflective lens on programs and processes. 

A number of planned programs have now been cancelled for 2020. These are Camps 5/6 and Work Experience at the moment. Tradewise and 9/10 Formal and Year ¾ Camp are being monitored and we are hopeful they will proceed.  There will be no primary swimming program for this year. At this stage we will not be asking for Semester 2 Instrumental Music charges for students who paid for Semester 1.

You will receive a letter shortly related to any payment and options for either a redirection of the payment or refund. Any payments made using CSEF will be refunded and held on the account for future use. 

In what are very trying times we are grateful for your flexibility and consideration and I will conclude this newsletter with these labels given to our community members of The Lakes.  Thank you Josie Benfari for this:

Students –Superstars

Teachers – Heroes

Parents – Legends. 

Stay safe and remember to be kind, and together we will get there.

Kerrie, Marcus and Bill