From the Principal

Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Plans to return to School.

We are very excited to have a timeline for the return to school this term. While we have done exceptionally well as a school community providing on-going learning remotely, we can all agree there is nothing like face to face teaching!!

We certainly have all missed the sense of community and the personal connections. We pride ourselves on the personalised learning we provide. I am sure as parents you have seen the lengths teacher have gone online despite the limitations. There is nothing like being able to adjust the task to respond to the needs of the child as they are presented. We all know one size does not fit all. The art of agile thinking and making adjustments to ensure success is what we do best face to face. It is all the little signs that are key to supporting a child’s learning development, sense of wellbeing and ultimate success.

So we are all shifting gears and preparing for the transition back to school. Our juniors are commencing on Tuesday 26 May. This gives us time to settle our juniors back to the routines of school life after this very long break. Seniors will commence on the 9th June. Once a year level has returned, all students will be expected to attend school as normal. This means if you choose to keep your child/children home after their year level has returned to onsite schooling, we can no longer support their learning from home.

From Tuesday 9th June, the staggered drop off and pick ups will commence. In addition staggered lunch breaks will commence so that we comply with the advice of the government, Catholic Education Melbourne and that from the Victorian Chief Health Officer. The timetabling of this is being organised and will be published once finalised.

We are in the process of refining processes for the way we will need to adjust to ensure the safety of all. Some of our immediate adjustments to guidelines requires:

• all students to drink only from water bottles not shared taps. Parents will need to ensure each child has at least one or more reusable drink bottle for water each day. You might like to start to get this organised if your child does not have a water bottle. Please ensure it is clearly labelled and easily identifiable.
• restrictions on access to the school site for anyone other than immediate school staff and students. Parents must enter the school grounds only when essential. We encourage you to use the pickup Zone after school, stay in your car, walk or have children ride a bike if this is possible. If you do have to be onsite, parents must minimise their time and practice physical distancing. Parents must not enter the Learning Spaces. Parents are requested to avoid or minimise entering the school office. We ask you to consider safe options. If it is essential for you to enter the administration building, hand sanitise on entry and practice social distancing. Wait in the marked spots with just two adults waiting for assistance.

Our key objective is safety and ensuring the children’s learning continues and flourishes. We have been amazing as a community and have worked so well in partnership to ensure learning continues with the minimum interruptions. This is now a new phase to show our community spirit, our shared values and our ability to work together to maximise the learning opportunities for the children. Time to be alert and not complacent. We can certainly do this. You have got this!

Staff News

A very BIG thank you to Meg who commenced Maternity leave on Tuesday. We wish Meg the very BEST as she prepares for the birth of her second child. We have loved having Meg back with us and look forward to hearing the exciting news in the next few weeks.

Tim has already commenced with us to replace Meg each Monday and Tuesday. He will be working with Amy with remote learning next week and he will be ready for face to face teaching with the children in AM on the 26 May. 

New Newsletter

We are excited to launch a new electronic newsletter today!!

Our new newsletter looks and feels different. It has easy access to navigate to various pages, quick and easy links to emails and websites. It will have the potential to add good quality photos, galleries and even videos!!

There are lots of possibilities for future publications, to grow our readership and the effectiveness of our communication.

We look forward to embracing the potential of this new platform to provide you with a user friendly contemporary experience that is in keeping with our contemporary school at St Francis de Sales.

The latest edition of the newsletter will always be available on our website. In addition there will be an archive link to access previous editions.

We look forward to hearing your feedback.

Have a great family weekend.

Regards

Christine