From the Principal 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 2, I hope the break provided time for your family to come together and share some special moments as well as enjoy some of the lovely autumn sunshine.  I hope everyone had the Easter Bunny visit and our students enjoyed some family time. I spent most of the time chasing Ernie our Dalmatian around the backyard; he has a love of socks and more recently he has been running off with the TV Remote! On Monday the 25th it was excellent to see so many of our students at the Somerville ANZAC Day Dawn Service. Our Leaders did an excellent job reading and wreath laying. Yesterday we had our students competing in the District Cross Country; it was wonderful to see our students support each other and thank you to the parents who came down and supported our students; whilst it was rather wet and cold, our students had a very successful day. We had two students win their Cross Country Events from Grade 3; well done Billie-Rose and Jacob. As families were notified last week, we have a whole school PPD day as per DET guidelines on Tuesday the 14th of June and a Curriculum Day on Friday the 10th of June.  We hope this gives more families an opportunity to plan for a longer break; Camp Australia will also be running programs during these days.

Staffing Update 

Congratulations to Mrs Raelene Harvey; Raelene has accepted the Acting Principal position at Aldercourt Primary School for the remainder of Term 2. I wish Raelene all the best. We are looking forward to her return in Term 3. Shane Gagiero will be replacing Raelene during her absence. Ayaka let me know over the holidays that she will be continuing at Caulfield Primary, we are current recruiting for a new Japanese teacher. The number of staff away due to COVID, isolation rules, illness and personal reasons has been a challenge. Most schools are experiencing similar staffing challenges; thank you to everyone for being so understanding. 

FoSP 

I would like to thank all FoSP members and in particular Danni and Chantel for all their hard work organising the Colour Run and our fundraising events. In Term 1, FoSP raised over $13,000 dollars, this money will be put towards projects around the school for our students. Following the next School Council and discussing our senior students ideas, we will be sharing a list of ideas our students would like to see to improve Somerville PS.  

Sustainability Update 

Last week I was thrilled to receive a letter from Sustainability Victoria in regards to ResourceSmart Schools Awards 2022. This is Victoria’s largest sustainability awards for schools. Somerville Primary School has been named a finalist in the following categories:

• Teacher of the Year (Primary), Jemma Dunstan 
• Community Leadership School of the Year (Primary) 

The award ceremony is on the 2nd of June at the MCG, we will be taking a group of student leaders with us as we wait to find out if we were the winners in these awards. This nomination is a credit to all of our community and the excellent efforts of our SEEC Team and Mrs Dunstan. 

Foundation 2023 Enrolments 

We have already begun receiving a number of Foundation enrolments for 2023. If you have a child who will be starting Foundation at Somerville in 2023 please contact the office for an enrolment pack. This will ensure you are added to our 2023 Foundation Email Distribution List.

Please find below a copy of the DET COVID Safe updates. Have an excellent weekend and enjoy Mothers Day; make sure mum is spoilt!

Kind Regards,

David 

DET COVIDSafe updates regarding household contacts, vaccination status and mask wearing.

Student and staff household contacts are no longer required to quarantine as long as they take additional safety measures, but are required to:

notify the school if returning during their 7 day period;

undertake daily rapid antigen testing five times within the 7 days; 

wear a face covering when indoors (if aged 8 years and above or unless they have a valid exemption); 

are not permitted to visit hospitals or care facilities unless an exemption applies

Evidence of vaccination status by parents/carers/visitors to the school: 

Parents, carers and other adult visitors are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if not performing work or volunteering at the school. 

Vaccination requirements of volunteers or visitors performing work at the school:

The third dose vaccination requirements also apply to any visitors or volunteers performing work on school sites. This includes:

a person contracted to work at an education facility and who will or may be in close proximity to children, students or staff, whether or not engaged by the education operator including casual relief teachers, NDIS providers and auditors (but does not include delivery personnel)

Department staff who attend an education facility (such as allied health personnel)

staff of any other entity who attends an education facility

volunteers that attend an education facility and that work in close proximity to children, students or staff (including parent helpers)

students on placements at an education facility.

Mask wearing:

While recommended, face masks are not required in any school settings from 11.59pm 22 April 2022.   Any students or staff members who wish to wear a mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.

This means students in Year 3 to 6 and staff and visitors to primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. 

Household contacts attending school who are over 8 years of age are required to wear face masks indoors unless they have a valid exemption.