From the Principal's desk
Last Thursday Junior School Councillors, school captains, and House captains attended the Numurkah Remembrance Day Ceremony. Noah and Jazmaine did an excellent job in reading "In Flander's Field" and laying the wreath at the cenotaph.
TheirCare - Before, After School, and Vacation Care
We were successful this year in gaining a government grant to assist us in setting up Out of Hours Care for students that attend our school in 2022 and beyond. We have now partnered with TheirCare to provide this service to our community. TheirCare will have a page in all our newsletters from now on. Please read this section for extra information. There will be a Webex online information night on Tuesday 23rd November at 7 pm. I shall post the links to this in a Compass Update in the next few days.
Orientation
Yesterday our Year 6 students attended an orientation day at Numurkah Secondary College. They have also participated in online transition activities prior to this but it was great for the students to finally be able to go on site. Students attending St Mary's in 2022 have also been participating in orientation at their future school. It is worth noting that we support all our students in Grade 6 no matter what school they will be attending in Year 7, and to date, no student has been refused entry to a secondary school of their choice.
Our future Preps have also been attending every Friday for transition and are settling in well with Mr. Wright.
Debating
Last week our Debating final for the Year 3 & 4 students concluded with Robinson's Stars claiming a narrow victory over Glorious Bananas. Congratulations to all the students who participated in this series of Debates. A more detailed report will be written up by our students in the next newsletter. We also recorded the debate and will post a link to it on our school Facebook shortly.
Vaccination requirements for parents and carers attending schools
All parents and carers attending schools, including for drop off and pick up must also adhere to physical distancing, density limits, face mask requirements and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene.
Parents and carers who enter school buildings must check in using the QR code.
Parents and carers who enter school buildings must also have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and must have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine by 29 November 2021 or have a valid medical exception with the following limited exceptions:
· when attending to administer medical treatment to their own child when the treatment cannot be administered by the school
· when attending to collect their child who is unwell and cannot leave the school building unaccompanied by their parent/carer.
· when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact with staff or students, for example, to collect a completed art project or similar
Parents and carers attending any event or activity inside a school building including, but not limited to tours, graduations, kindergarten transition, whole of school events are required to show evidence of vaccination.
Meetings and other discussions (such as Student Support Group meetings) with parents and carers who do not meet vaccination requirements should be held virtually.
Parents and carers attending school sites for drop-off and pick up who do not enter school buildings do not need to comply with vaccination requirements.
Masks
We have nearly depleted our supply of masks at school. Can parents of Years 3-6 please make sure they send their children with a mask every day. On a good note, I do hear there are going to be announcements soon regarding the lifting of some of the Covid restrictions including the wearing of masks. I will keep everyone updated on any changes.
Thank you to everyone supporting our school during this very busy Term 4. We also felt for our St Joseph's community this week and hope that normality is not far away for us all.
Keep Safe
Debbie Oliver
Principal
Numurkah Primary School