Dear Parents/Carers

Over the last two days we have welcomed back our Year 3 and Year 4 students to onsite learning and what a joy it has been to have multiple year levels back in the school. It gets better next week, with the full time return to onsite learning for all students commencing on Wednesday 3rd November. Please be aware that Monday 1st November is a pupil free day and the school will be closed.

During the past week, as we have seen our classrooms spring back to life once again, what has been abundantly clear is the significance of the students learning with and amongst their peer group. For our younger students, it has been quite the readjustment as they re-learn appropriate classroom behaviour, to take turns and play together. For our older students, it’s been getting past some awkward moments and being themselves. One of the funniest moments so far has been from Mrs Baker and her Prep class. At recess on the first day back onsite last week, Mrs Baker came into the office talking about how enthusiastic her class were to be back together again. Such was their enthusiasm, Mrs Baker was challenged by their constant need to share and be heard, that she went searching for the ‘mute’ button in her classroom. Much to her surprise, Mrs Baker couldn’t find the mute button and needed to revisit some of the expectations regarding sharing in the classroom. The smiles on the faces of our students, teachers and parents have been terrific to see in recent days and we look forward to what’s ahead.

Today, we received further information about what is possible this term from a school operations point of view. All schools will be able to recommence a range of activities, consistent with community settings and school vaccination requirements. This means that from Monday 1 November, schools will be able to:

hold graduations, liturgies and other assemblies consistent with community density limits
travel across Victoria for camps and excursions
resume interschool activities such as sport and debating
deliver the full range of curriculum programs, including music and performing arts
conduct transition programs for kindergarten students beginning Prep in 2022 and Year 6 students transitioning to Year 7 in 2022
have a range of visitors on-site, including photographers and guest speakers.

Head across to the events page of this newsletter for the most up to date information about upcoming events and changes - We will maintain this page for the remainder of the year.

Covid-Safe Steps

Hand hygiene: Students are required to wash hands/sanitise after each break and we have hand sanitizing stations located throughout the school.

Masks: Year 3- 6 will be required to wear masks indoors but not outdoors. Teachers must wear masks where practical and when it doesn’t impact effective communication.

Ventilation: Teachers will be asked to increase the airflow in classrooms by opening windows and doors.

Teaching spaces: where possible teachers will look for opportunities to teach outside, particularly as the weather warms up.

Social Distancing: Social distancing measures will be practised where practical and possible.

Parent Access: Parents/ guardians can enter the school grounds at drop off and pick-up time, but only enter the school building/classrooms if absolutely necessary. Please ensure social distancing at pick-up time. If you need to pop into the school building for any reason, please check first and use the QR code to check-in.

Vaccination: Staff, parents, visitors, contractors and volunteers are required to be vaccinated in order to enter school buildings.

Infection on-site

Last week in Victoria there were many schools that had to close due to having a member of the school community infected with Covid-19. The State Government has significantly changed the requirements for school if there is an infection. If a student or staff member tests positive for coronavirus and was onsite during their infectious period the following will apply:

Following advice from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), the school will close for 24 hours as a precaution to undergo necessary cleaning and to identify students or staff who may have had close contact with the case.
As a precaution, anyone who was onsite on the corresponding dates should limit their movements while contact identification is underway.
If we do not contact you the next day to say your child has been identified as a close contact, your child should return to school when the school reopens.
If we inform you that your child has been identified as a primary close contact, please ensure that your child limits their movement until you are contacted by the Department of Health directly. These calls or text messages can come from private or unknown numbers. Please answer these calls or follow the text message advice.
Primary Close Contacts will need to follow DH guidelines and quarantine for 14 days (or as advised by DHHS).
The rest of your family does not need to limit their movement at this stage.
If you or anyone in your family develop even the mildest of symptoms, they need to get tested.
Students who have NOT been identified as a close contact can return to school when it reopens.
For any students in quarantine, if you have been tested for COVID on or after Day 13 of your quarantine period and receive a negative result, you can stop quarantining immediately. You will not be contacted by the Department of Health. Your negative test result can act as proof that you have completed your quarantine period and can return to school.

Returning School Resources

With remote learning coming to a close, we ask that students/families please return all school resources back to school:

For students in Years 1, 2, 5 and 6, this will be tomorrow - Thursday 28th October.
For students in Prep, Years 3 and 4, this will be on Wednesday 3rd November.

Upon their return to school, students should ensure they return:

Pencil Case
Workbooks, including handwriting books
School books and novels sent home
Intervention resources and texts
Chromebook and Charger (Years 2-6 only)
iPads and chargers (for those who borrowed)

Year 3 and 4 Camps to Melbourne Zoo

Despite recently updated advice, this camp has been cancelled on us by Melbourne Zoo. A credit will be applied to the school fees accounts for those families affected.

School Production - Cinderella and Rockerfella

We are moving forward with our School Production of Cinderella and Rockerfella. We have moved the performance to a one-time event in the evening of Thursday 9th December, taking the place of our Christmas Carols. It will be an outdoor, picnic style showcase of our students' prowess in the Performing Arts. This will also be a terrific occasion for our school community to gather together with the children front and centre.

Refurbishment Works - Exciting times!

As you may be aware our school is currently working on plans for a major refurbishment of our ground level classrooms and ground floor Administration area. The plans have been developed in line with the school’s master plan from 2018, updated to suit our current context and needs. I have included some screenshots of the plans below to give you an idea of how our classrooms will look once this project is complete. These plans are also on display in the school office and on the pinboard in the main courtyard of the school. We are in the detailed planning phase at the moment and will look to finalise these before the end of the year. It is my hope that the project will go out to tender in January, for an April/May commencement of works. After multiple unsuccessful applications to the State Government Grants program, our school has secured $900,000 in funding support from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and we will also take out a loan of $950,000 to fund this project.

Staffing for 2022

I have had some parents enquire about staffing allocations for 2022. We are still finalising these arrangements and they will be announced in a few weeks time. It is important that these announcements are made at an appropriate time, as they are subject to late change. Along with our new Deputy Principal Louisa Di Pietro, we have appointed classroom teacher Kristy Sly to join our staff next year. Kristy has around 5 years teaching experience and comes to us from Christ Our Holy Redeemer in Oakleigh. We are excited by what these two educators will bring to our school.

MACSSIS - School Improvement Survey

We invite all parents to complete the MACSSIS School Improvement Survey which was emailed to families on Friday 8th October from newsletter@sahighett.catholic.edu.au. This survey is usually completed annually but was not completed in 2020. As a school, we are eager to understand the things we are doing well, the areas we can improve and we would appreciate your feedback. The survey will take only 10-12 minutes of your time and will provide us with valuable feedback. The survey window closes tomorrow (Thursday 28th October), so we invite you to undertake this before then. If you have not received a copy of the survey, please contact our Deputy Principal John Whitten (jwhitten@sahighett.catholic.edu.au).

Term Four School Fees

Term Four school fees are now overdue and payable over the phone, via EFT or direct debit. Please contact Naomi in the office (nfield@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) to finalise your payments for the year.

St Agnes’ Tuckshop

The tuckshop will resume this Friday, 29th October. Previous orders not filled due to snap lockdowns can be redeemed - New orders can be placed online: https://www.salutecatering.com.au/tuckshop (password - lunch2021). Please contact Sally if you have any queries (sally@salutecatering.com.au).

Assembly

This week will be the last time we have an assembly on a Friday at 1pm. It will return to Wednesday afternoons from next week onwards. Our assemblies will still be online

Below are the dates for each classes presentation and the link remains the same (https://meet.google.com/yky-vuzo-sry)

Friday 15th Oct - Year 4

Friday 22nd Oct - Year 3

Friday 29th Oct - Year 2

Wed 3rd Nov - Year 1

Wed 10th Nov - Year 5

Wed 17th Nov - Prep

Wed 24 Nov - Year 3

Wed 1st Dec - Year 4

Wed 8th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly

Kind regards,

Lachie Foott

PARISH NEWSLETTER