Principal Report
Welcome back
To all our amazing children and families and to our new children and families - WELCOME TO 2020. We look forward to a wonderful and exciting year ahead with new adventures, learning and fun.
We hope you have had a safe holiday and are ready for the year ahead.
Novel Coronavirus
As you may be aware, the situation regarding the emerging outbreak of novel coronavirus
has continued to evolve.
The Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and Victoria’s Chief Health Officer have yesterday afternoon recommended a stronger precautionary approach to managing coronavirus for travellers returned from Hubei province.
This recommendation is that parents/ guardians/ carers of students should ensure that any returning student is isolated at home and should not attend school for 14 days:
- following exposure to any confirmed novel coronavirus case; or
- after leaving Hubei Province.
The Chief Health Officer’s current advice is that staff and students do not need to be isolated at home if they have recently travelled in other parts of China or other countries and are not showing any symptoms of the virus.
As a school we would recommend that anyone who has visited China since December 2019 please contact the school for advice and take the necessary precautions such as staying home for the required 14 days.
If you think your child or a family member is showing relevant symptoms, please call the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to discuss further actions on 1300 651 160.
Thank you for your continued support to ensure the health and wellbeing of our school community.
This new advice is based on the latest expert recommendations of the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and Victoria’s Chief Health Officer.
Thank you for your cooperation in implementing these recommendations.
Chinese New Year 2020
Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is the most important celebration in the Chinese lunar calendar. Traditionally, it celebrates the start of the Spring: ploughing and sowing. Chinese New Year lasts 15 days and the Year of the Rat begins on January 25.
In Chinese astrology each zodiac year is associated with an animal sign. There are 12 zodiac animals in total. 2020 is the Year of the Rat. The Rat is a symbol of fertility and abundance. People born during this year are believed to be intelligent, creative, and resourceful, and have the ability to form strong social bonds.
Other Rat years include1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020. Favourite foods for Chinese New Year include fish 鱼for abundance, sticky rice cake 年糕for better life, vegetarian dumplings 饺子for troubleless, …
Dragon and lion dances are performed at Chinese New Year to bring rain and make crops prosper.
Red color symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. Decorate your house in red to bring good fortune.
Happy New Year
新年快乐 (Xin Nian Kuai Le)
Chinese New year Celebration Lunch
On Friday the 14th of February, we will be offering a special lunch order from the canteen to celebrate Chinese New Year. Keep your eye on Compass for more information!
Attendance
We are aiming at 100% for our children. If your children are away please ensure that you enter your absence on Compass (our preferred method) or contact the school.
Children should only be away if they are ill. We don't want to have children missing learning opportunities. Thank you for your support with this.
Sunsmart
Thank you to everyone for buying the school bucket hats to ensure children are sunsmart outside. We encourage you to apply sunscreen to your children before school and they are welcome to bring sunscreen to school to put on if they need to. We are working to try and provide some type of shade for the school. Unfortunately we do not have inside areas children can use during play and lunchtimes.
Uniform
Thank you to all of our families for the effort you made last year in having children in the correct uniform - the children look magnificent and we love the variety of wardrobe items we are seeing the children wear.
PLEASE ENSURE ALL UNIFORM ITEMS ARE LABELLED
Some reminders:
- Only school shirts or tshirts can be worn
- Hoodies are not part of the school uniform and can not be worn.
- Only blue leggings can be worn under tunics or skorts (patterned leggings are not part of the uniform)
- Navy headscarves and turbans can be worn.
- ribbons can be red blue or white
- socks must be white or navy
- black shoes should be worn
We have a uniform policy and appreciate your support in ensuring children are in correct uniform. We are able to support families if you need assistance with any items.
School Council Election
School Council Elections are coming soon! If you are interested in being a member of School Council in 2020 or would just like to know a bit more information on what is involved, please read the attachments below.