Principal's News

Welcome back everyone to term 4. 

It is great having the children back this week. All the staff have been looking forward to this week for a long time. During the lockdown, there were only a few of us here at school, and it was very different without all the children. We will all need to get used to being back at school. The children have enjoyed catching up with their friends face to face instead of online. 

The Coronavirus and all the restrictions have created a difficult time for many people in our community. As an adult, it can be a hard thing to get your head around and even more difficult for children. Many families have experienced a lot of hardship over this year. Everyone has lost nearly a year's worth of interactions with friends and family. We can repay the financial cost to the country over time, but we cannot replace the missed opportunities for children to be with friends and family. 

Catholic Education Melbourne has asked all schools to focus on three priorities this term which is very much in line with what we had already planned to do as a school.

Priority 1 – Mental Health and Wellbeing

The highest priority is the mental health, safety and wellbeing of every student and member of staff. Encouraging and sustaining motivation for learning, re-engaging students and families where needed, and supporting the social and emotional learning of children and young people alongside curriculum-based learning will be paramount over the next few weeks. 

Priority 2 – Learning and Excellence

Some students have been better able to progress in their learning in the remote and flexible learning environment while others have maintained their rate of progress. And some, despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers, fallen behind.

Our priority is to ensure those who have fallen behind can catch up and those who have progressed significantly can continue to be extended and stretched in their learning. Literacy and numeracy across the curriculum remain a focus, with the school also adapting their teaching and learning program in term 4 to be responsive to student needs.

Priority 3 - Transition

Term 4 is a critical period, particularly for the children moving from kindergarten into Prep and from Grade 6 into Year 7. Students in other year levels will also prepare for the transition to the next year level at the end of term 4.

End of the School Year

The end of the school year will be different than usual due to the restrictions placed on what we can do in school. We know that we can not take the children swimming and at this stage, we will not be able to have our school photos this year. As restrictions ease, we will have a better idea about how the end of year events will look. We will communicate this to parents as soon as possible.

Prep enrolments for 2021 are open! If you have a child or know of someone with a school-aged child who would like to attend our school, please email me at principal@hfdoveton.catholic.edu.au. 

Also if your child is not returning to Holy Family in 2021 could you please let me know as soon as possible.

I hope everyone has had a great start to the term.

God Bless.

Steve Twomey

Principal