From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a great sight it was to see students and their families embracing the excitement and celebration of Footy Colours Day. Students from their homes and through onsite supervision were able to dress up and wear proudly their favorite football team’s colours or merchandise! The day was bolstered by lots of footy day activities available through a dedicated Google site including the St Simon’s School Handball Competition. Check out the Sports Page of the newsletter for the winning team. (clue: it wasn't Carlton!)
Finally, with all disappointments that Lockdown has brought, it was exciting to see over the weekend that two Victorian AFL teams have made it to the Grand Final. For me, I will be barracking for the Demons over Bulldogs on Grand Final day.
As we reach the last week of Term 3, I would like to share my appreciation to all of our families for all the different ways you have managed the ups and downs of Lockdown 6.0 and remote learning. As a school, we know that families are doing everything they can do to support their children during these periods.
I would also like to share how proud I am of every student at St Simon’s, for the way they are trying their best in times when so much of the usual activities and experiences of childhood have been disrupted. Collectively, there is a huge display of resilient behaviours and attitudes across the community.
Onsite Supervision Dismissal this Friday
Please note for families with students attending onsite supervision this Friday 17th September the dismissal time will be at 3:15 pm.
Term 4 Start
At the time of writing this newsletter, there is no further clarity regarding what the start of Term 4 will look like so in the absence of this, I am expecting we will resume Term 4 in the same way we are finishing Term 3. The State Government has announced that future announcements regarding the Lockdown will be made during the school holidays and so as information and directions come to light, I will communicate with the school community in due course.
Information for Parents - COVID and Children
Last Friday, the Royal Children’s Hospital hosted a one hour Facebook Live session titled Effects of COVID-19 on children's physical health.
The Q and A session gave some of the Hospital’s leading experts a chance to answer questions from parents about COVID19.
As a parent and an educator, I found this session insightful as we hopefully get closer to a return to school in the not too distant future. The forum gives an insight into how health care practitioners are managing and viewing the effects of COVID19 on children.
It talks about the vaccination risks and answers many questions related to the safe return to the school within the current pandemic.
The Resilience Project Partnership
The Resilience Project partnership that St Simon’s School has continues to offer “just in time” advice and strategies to help manage the day to day challenges of lockdown. Please see below
God bless
Tom Wursthorn
Principal