Principal's Update
Angelika Ireland

Family Fun Night

What an amazing event it was!! The weather was perfect, the food was abundant and the activities were enjoyed by all! It was fabulous to see so many families in attendance. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the organisation of the event in particular the Community Links Committee, all the parent helpers and to the staff. A big thank you also to the community groups who came and supported the night.

COVID-19 Update

As a school, we receive regular updates and advice from the Education Department about COVID-19 and implement these as required.

The Education Department continues to monitor the progress and implications for schools due to COVID-19. They will respond to the advice and direction given by the Victorian Chief Health Officer and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and then inform all schools as to these expectations.

Following is some important information and updates about COVID-19

SCHOOL CLOSURES - No government school is currently closed or in the process of being closed. Schools will be informed directly if there is any prospect that they need to be closed, either as a stand-alone school closure or as part of a local or area-based closure. You will be informed if that is the case for us.
School excursions to local parks and sporting facilities regularly used by the school, can continue. All other excursions must be cancelled or postponed.
All schools camps must be cancelled or postponed.
Any school event that involves attendance by community members who are not students or staff, and where total attendance will exceed 500, should not proceed.
Everyone arriving into Australia from overseas from midnight on 15 March are required to self-isolate for 14 days. This obviously includes students and staff who may be returning from overseas excursions or other travel. Importantly, it also includes parents and carers and any other relatives or friends of your students who are returning from overseas travel. As they are required to self-isolate, they must not visit the school to pick up children or for any other reason.
Based on advice from the Commonwealth Government to protect vulnerable Australians, schools should not visit residential aged care facilities.
It is imperative that you inform the school if your child falls into one of the categories below.

Categories for contacting DHHS:

The person is a confirmed case of COVID-19.
The person is a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

‘Close contact’ is defined by DHHS as someone who has had at least 15 minutes of face-to-face contact with a confirmed case, or shared a closed space with someone for more than two hours with a confirmed case.

8. Hygiene is an important factor in managing the spread of any disease, including COVID-19. Here are some tips that we all can follow:

Cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing with a tissue, or cough into your elbow.
Dispose of the tissue into a bin and then wash your hands afterwards.
Wash your hands regularly using soap and water, including after using the toilet, and before eating. Please refer to the Department’s coronavirus web page for the latest advice and information.

Insurance

Personal Accident

Just a reminder to all families that the DET does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and guardians of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students whilst at school, including the cost of ambulance attendance / transport and any other transport costs. Student accident insurance/ambulance cover policies are available from some commercial insurers.

Personal Property

Personal property is often brought to school by students, staff and visitors. This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. As the Department does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property students are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.

Reminders

School Council AGM - the School Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was to be held at 6:00pm on Tuesday, 24th March has been postponed.
Early School Finish – Just a reminder that on the last day of term, Friday 27th March, school finishes at 1:30pm.

As this is the last Newsletter for the term, I hope you have a safe holiday break with your children. School resumes on Tuesday 14 April.

Food for Thought:

Regards