Holy Saviour School 

Principal's Message

Dear Families,

 

What a wonderful start to the year for all of our children! Everyone has returned well and seems very settled. Our Prep children also began this week and it’s like they’ve been with us a lot longer than a couple of days! We welcome the following children to Holy Saviour in 2022: Kiarra (Prep), Marcus (Prep), Zac (Prep) and Nicky (Yr4). We wish them and their families an enjoyable, faith-filled, community experience at Holy Saviour.

 

We also welcome two new staff members this year, Mrs Catherine Teng who will teach Mandarin, and Mrs Laura Abed, who will be leading us all on a wonderful journey in PE and STEAM. They have both settled in extremely well and have nothing but praise for the children! 

2022 School Theme

Our theme for 2022 is We Are Called. This theme evokes the unique calling that God has for each of us. Callings can be found throughout Sacred Scripture, from the accounts of the prophets to the sending forth of the apostles at Pentecost. 

 

The Blessed Mother and other Saints provide us with wonderful examples of how we should discern and accept God’s call in our lives. No matter who or where you are, God is calling you. Jesus called his first disciples with the words, 'Follow me' - and he offers the same invitation today. God calls all people into relationships and invites us to centre our lives on Christ. He calls each of us to use our gifts and talents in Christ like ways in the world around us.

 

This year, here at Holy Saviour Catholic Primary School we are called to not only teach the BEST we can but also support and ‘walk with’ our children in their faith journey. As teachers in Catholic Schools, this is our most important task. I invite you all to join us in celebrating this theme with your families.

COVID-19 Procedures

This week I’d like to reiterate the COVID-19 procedures and practices related to the safe return to school.

 

Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) Kits:

The supply of RATs for students from the state government arrived last week and all families have now received their kits for the first two weeks of term. 

 

Students and staff are encouraged to conduct the tests at home and must report any positive test results to their school and the Department of Health (please report only positive results to the school).

 

In primary schools, tests should be conducted twice weekly, on days that suit families.  As a school community, my recommendation is to test on Monday and Thursday mornings, however, if you adopt another routine that is fine also.

 

If a student receives a positive test result at any time, they (parents) must report this through the Department of Health system (Rapid antigen tests | Coronavirus Victoria) or via the coronavirus hotline at 1800 675 398. 

 

Parents must also report a positive result to the school by sending an email to office@hsvs.catholic.edu.auor via the absentee form on Skoolbag;  this is so the school can support you, record that your child will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.

 

Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, have completed their 7-day isolation period and are subsequently asymptomatic do not need to undertake surveillance testing for 30 days.

 

Please note: The RATs for the second two weeks of school will be available for collection next Thursday & Friday from the school office.

 

Reporting positive cases to the school community:

I am anticipating that moving forward, there will be regular communication to parents stating how many positive cases we have in the school community on a given day and from which class level or site area within the school. We hope this is not the case, however, we do need to be realistic in this matter.

 

This message will be sent out via Skoolbag and will be a reminder to parents to monitor their children for symptoms before sending them to school each day.  The use of the twice-weekly rapid antigen testing will assist in these circumstances.

 

Please click herefor a video demonstrating how to successfully conduct a RAT.

 

Parents and visitors to the school:

All visitors to the school site  (except for the school drop off and pick routines) must show a valid vaccination status certificate.  As a guide, if you enter a school building or past the external gates for more than 15 minutes for drop-off and pick up, you are required to have a  valid certificate.  

 

I appreciate the strong support the school has received from the parent community regarding this process already this week. Any visitors (parents) inside school buildings must be wearing a fitted face mask, maintain good hand hygiene and social distance.  Visitors in school buildings should be kept to a minimum over these next few weeks.

Communication with Staff

I wish to remind you of our Staff communication practices. In an effort to assist in the wellbeing of all staff, I am encouraging staff not to answer emails from anyone after 6pm and before 8am. Staff will endeavour to respond to you within 48 hours. If it is an urgent matter, I encourage you to phone and leave a message with the office. Please support our changed practices and speak to me if you have any concerns regarding this change. Naturally if there is an emergency, please contact me.

Student Leadership

At assembly this week, we presented our School and House Captains for 2022 to the student body. I am pleased to inform the community that Captains for 2022 are:

School Captains: Isabella Saville and Josh Livingston

Blue House (Biggs): Hayden Manchee

Red House (Hodgens): Leona Di Campli San Vito

Green House (Orchard): Julian Inguanti

Yellow House (More): Hunter Thiedeman

We congratulate all these children and look forward to an exciting year in 2022 with them as our student leaders. 

Financial Assistance - Information For Parents

Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.

 

For more information about the CSEF,click here. To access an application form for the CSEF,click here.

Catholic Secondary School Enrolment Applications

I take this opportunity to remind parents of children in grade 5, that you must have your Catholic Secondary College application for Year 7, 2024 submitted directly to the college of your choice. It is essential that you have your application submitted by the due date. The following dates will be used by catholic secondary schools for Year 5 students in 2021 who will be enrolling in Year 7 for 2024. These are:

  • 28th January 2022 – Applications opened for Year 5 students commencing Year 7 in 2024.
  • 19th August 2022 – Applications will close.
  • 2st October 2022 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.
  • 11th November 2022 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.

Final Thoughts - Everything I Needed To Know About Life I Learned From A Jigsaw Puzzle

  1. Don’t force a fit. If something is meant to be, it will come together naturally.
  2. When things aren’t going so well, take a break. Everything will look different when you return.
  3. Be sure to look at the big picture. Getting hung up on the little pieces only leads to frustration.
  4. Perseverance pays off. Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece.
  5. When one spot stops working, move to another. But be sure to come back later (see #4).
  6. The Creator of the puzzle gave you the picture as a guidebook. Refer to the Creator’s guidebook often.
  7. Variety is the spice of life. It’s the different colors and patterns that make the puzzle interesting.
  8. Working together with friends and family makes any task fun.
  9. Establish the border first. Boundaries give a sense of security and order.
  10.  Don’t be afraid to try different combinations. Some matches are surprising.
  11. Take time often to celebrate your successes—even little ones.
  12.  Anything worth doing takes time and effort. A great puzzle can’t be rushed.

Adapted from Jacquie Sewell

Kind regards,

 

Steve Evans

Principal