St Francis de Sales Catholic Primary School Lynbrook Newsletter

From the Principal

We Remember Them. Lest we Forget

This 11 November 2021 at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month we stopped at St Francis de Sales for a minutes silence. We stopped and we remembered. We stopped and were grateful for the what we have because of those who gave their life. We stopped for those who put their hands up and generously gave their precious youth and time for the common good of others. We stopped and we prayed.

 

We are so grateful for the peace and life we have. We remember that we need to work together now to protect each other so we can continue to live in peace. We remember that it is not just about my win but more about our win. Together today in 2021, we can act for the health, safety and well-being of one another. There is no I in team! The best teams and the best communities look after one another. That is our strength.

 

Visitors are BACK!!

We are gradually opening up to visitors at the school. We have taken some small steps as we have recently held meetings for enrolments and for PSGs for students. This also gets us to test out our COVID safe protocols.  As a school community we have all been doing a great job in respecting and following our COVID safe protocols to keep our school open and everyone as safe as possible. I am sure you will support these new visitor protocols  as we take a further step to opening up our school before the end of the term.  

 

All visitors attending schools, including for drop off and pick up must adhere to physical distancing, density limits, face mask requirements and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene.

 

In addition, visitors who enter school buildings must also have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by 29 November 2021 or have a valid medical exception with the following limited exceptions:

  •  when attending to administer medical treatment to their own child when the treatment cannot be administered by the school
  •  when attending to collect their child who is unwell and cannot leave the school building unaccompanied by their parent/carer.
  •  when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact with staff or students, for example, to collect a completed art project or similar.

QR code check-in

 Visitors attending any event or activity inside a school building  are required to show evidence of vaccination. Staff will need to visually verify the vaccination status of a visitor, no information is required to be recorded or retained. 

 

Meetings with parents/visitors who do not meet vaccination requirements will be held virtually.

 

Visitors attending school sites for drop off and pick up who do not enter school buildings do not need to comply with vaccination requirements.

 

Other workers including parent volunteers.

The school is required to maintain a 'Vaccination Information Register for other workers'. This means that we do not need to keep copies of the vaccination/exemption certificate but will need to keep a record of the pertinent information about the vaccination status. This mainly is a register of the the name of the person, if the workers/volunteers are fully/partially vaccinated or exempt, who sighted the vaccination record and the date. This will be required on the first visit and from then on volunteers and other workers just need to use the QR code on entry.

 

School events, gatherings and assemblies

Assemblies and other school run events exclusive to employees, students and visitors from a single school can occur but are strongly encouraged to be held outside where possible. These events must adhere to all QR code check-in and vaccination/status Information requirements detailed above for employees, other workers and visitors. Schools must also determine if the activity they are undertaking has additional requirement under the Victorian Government’s Roadmap for Delivering the National Plan.

 

The school is planning for some small parent gatherings prior to the end of the year. These events include Confirmation, Prep Transition and Year 6 Graduation. We are looking into the logistics of holding Christmas Carols and other events outdoors.

 

We hope and pray in 2022, we have a year that we can all come together and connect. We are planning lots of opportunities at the start of the year for parents to gather back at St Francis de Sales. Parent involvement in the school is vital and we look for new ways to work in partnership. The PFA AGM has been postponed till early 2022 when it is safe to come together and after we have had a chance to settle back to school. There are lots of positives to look forward to as we complete the 2022 school year and plan for the start of an exciting 2022. If you have any thoughts for parent gatherings, we would love you to share your ideas and send me an email.

School Fees for 2022

There is a 2% increase in the tuition fees per family and the Capital fee per family for 2022. The fee increase helps offset the increase in the costs of running the school. The fee keeps our school just below the figure set for the capacity to pay for our community. Catholic schools are 80 % funded by State and Federal grants according to the financial capacity of the community to pay. The balance must be met by school fees charged.

 

Concessional Fee Policy: Primary Schools

The MACS Board has approved the Concessional Fee Policy: Primary Schools

The policy provides fee concessions in MACS primary schools for eligible families.

 

Eligibility:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage
  • Holding a Health Care Card and eligible for CSEF
  • Experiencing severe financial hardship
  • Holding a DVA Gold Card
  • Identified as refugees and holding and ImmiCard (strongly encouraged to apply)

The concessional school fees have been set at:

  1. 1 child: $15 per child per week ($780 per annum)
  2. 2 children: $23 for the family per week ($1,196 per annum)
  3. 3 children: $30 for the family per week ($1,560 per annum)

Families that qualify for the fee concessional policy are required to enter a direct debit arrangement with the school.

 

The discount enables financially disadvantaged MACS primary school students access a faith-based Catholic education.

 

In 2022 we are moving away from cash payments and encourage families to pay their fees via Direct Debit. 

 

A fee discount still applies for families who do not qualify for the Concessional fee reduction, if the fees and levies are paid in full by Monday, 7th March, 2022.

Camera, Lights... ACTION!!

We are all set to video our 2021 School Productions. Today we had a dress rehearsal and the costumes were sensational. The children's performance after such a short time to prepare after lock down was amazing too!! 

  • The senior production will be filmed on Friday 19th November.
  • The junior production will be filmed on Friday 3 December.

The cost of doing all of this including costumes, special lighting and videoing is all worth it as the finished production needs to be shared and enjoyed by all. While it cannot be done in front of a live audience it will be one to enjoy on a BIG screen at home.

 

 

We will share details regarding ordering a personal copy in coming weeks. 

 

 

Christine White

Principal