Dear Parents/ Carers,

We are getting closer to the end of term. The last day of Term 1 is next Friday 8 April, 2022. This will be the last newsletter for Term 1.

STAFF NEWS

Next Friday we say farewell to Mrs Afnaan Alkakouni. Mrs Alkakouni commenced her time at Fairvale PS last year with a final practicum before becoming a buddy teacher on 1/2G with Miss Rosic. This term Mrs Alkakouni has been working with students learning English in her role as support teacher. We thank her for her time at Fairvale PS and wish her well in her career as she moves interstate. Other staffing news will be shared next term.

CONGRATULATIONS MRS KARAM!

We must also say a big congratulations to Mrs Laura Karam, Deputy Principal at Fairvale PS, who has been successful at merit selection in gaining the permanent position as Principal at Lansvale PS. As many of you will remember, Mrs Karam has been relieving in this position for over 12 months. It is a well-deserved promotion and although we will miss her dearly, we thank you for the wonderful contribution she has made to our school in various roles between 2015-2021 – Assistant Principal, Instructional Leader, relieving Deputy Principal, Deputy Principal and relieving Principal. Next Wednesday 6 April, 2022 we have invited Mrs Karam back to our school for an official farewell assembly commencing at 2pm.

RATs GOING HOME

Thank you for your cooperation with the distribution of the extra (final) round of Rapid Antigen Test (RATs) kits for Term 1. All RATs went home with children yesterday. Please make sure the kits are not left in bags and are in a safe and secure location, ready to be used when required. Remember, you only need to use a RAT if your child is not well. All families should have enough RATs to continue to use in the school holidays if needed.

BIKE VISITS WITH MR PITT

This week I visited primary EAL/D sessions. EAL/D stands for English as an additional Language and/or dialect. As you are aware, many of our community members come from an EAL/D background and our school receives additional funding to support these students. Due to staff and student absences, I was only able to visit 2 withdrawal groups over the fortnight:

Mrs McKenzie’s group completed information reports when I arrived. It was pleasing to see the group complete the tasks with confidence. After this, the group named things (nouns) by looking at the initial sound of each word. The children were also able to locate and use their own words with the matching initial sound. My favourite part was when we had the chance to play bingo and use all of our knowledge of initial sounds.
Mrs Sheppard’s group were completing English activities connected to the informative text they have been learning about. It was great to see the children use devices to assist them to locate synonyms, antonyms and other word features. Plenty of in task engagement was evident and it impressed me that the students could talk about their learning with each other.

Thank you everyone, I had a great time visiting your EAL/D sessions! Check out some of the pics in this edition of the newsletter.

K-6 EASTER HAT PARADE/ EASTER RAFFLE

We are lucky to be having our annual K-6 Easter Hat Parade and Easter Raffle draw on Thursday 7 April, 2022 from 9.15am. A COVID-Smart school plan has been completed and a maximum of 2 adults can attend the event. We ask that these adults remain seated during the event and if unable to maintain adequate distance, to wear a mask. You will find on most occasions Fairvale staff continue to wear masks as one form of added protection. Rest assured lots of photos will be taken and uploaded to Facebook.

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DAY (SDD) TERM 2.

On Tuesday 26 April, 2022, staff will participate in a school development day (SDD). This day will allow teachers an opportunity to gain review of the schools 2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan, attend targeted differentiated sessions on various forms of data analysis, seesaw, occupational therapy and CV writing. Students return to school on Wednesday 27 April, 2022.

TERM 1 REVIEW

As Term 1 ends, it is time to mention some of the highlights. It has been a very busy term! Check it out.

Fifty-five Kindergarten students successfully completed the Best Start Assessment and settled in well to school at Fairvale
COVID-Smart stage-based assemblies commenced on Fridays (we get revert to our usual assembly plan from next term)
Confident Fairvale swimmers took part in the School Swimming Carnival. Many students went on to represent the school at the Zone Carnival, with three students successfully representing our school and zone at the Regional Carnival
We launched our recorded Meet the Teacher sessions for parents/ carers
A COVID-Smart PSSA competition was designed (although the horrendous weather has stopped us from participating)
Stage 3 Leaders attended the GRIP Leadership Conference with Miss Huynh
Miss Michelle, Miss Samira and I recorded monthly events on our school Facebook page as well as Parent Café clips shared on the Seesaw parent page
We have held special days – Induction Assembly, Clean Up Fairvale Day and Harmony Day
We end the term next week with our annual Easter festivities and Anzac Day special assembly.

It has been a challenging term for us all as we tried to return to a sense of normality at Fairvale PS. Once again, I am so very proud of our learning community for remaining COVID-Smart and by keeping up to date with the latest advice around the COVID-Smart guidelines. We have had many families and staff impacted in one way or another, but resilience is one word that comes to mind to describe the Fairvale staff. Every staff member has played their role in ensuring our school continued to remain COVID-Smart.

I will communicate any changes to Term 2 COVID-Smart guidelines over the holiday period.

COVID-19 SELF-ISOLATION UPDATE

If a person in your household tests positive to COVID-19, they must self-isolate away from everyone else in the house for 7 days from the date of their positive test. They must follow the advice for people testing positive to COVID-19 which includes, how to self-isolate effectively. If the person is unable to safely self-isolate by themselves (e.g. due to their young age), a parent or carer should self-isolate with them.

The entire household must also self-isolate for 7 days from the date of the positive person’s test. They should follow the advice for people exposed to COVID-19 and take a test as soon as possible, have another test on Day 6 and at any time COVID-19 symptoms appear.
If another person in your household tests positive to COVID-19, that person must restart their 7 day self-isolation period from the date of their positive test, even if they don’t have any symptoms.
Other household members who test negative, do not need to re-start their 7 day self-isolation period. They also do not have to self-isolate again anytime in the following 14 days unless they test positive.
People who test positive to COVID-19 and complete their 7-day self-isolation period do not have to test or self-isolate as any type of contact for 12 weeks after their release.
Self-isolation means staying at home or at your accommodation. This means you cannot drive your children to school or day care; you must ask someone else to do this. You must only leave self-isolation to get medical care or in an emergency. For more information, read the self-isolation rules.

COVID-19 Family Bulletin

Check out the COVID-10 Family Bulletin to support teachers, educators, children and their families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Click on the link > https://bit.ly/3IK5d8A

REPEATED: STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK

All adults on site will be healthy and ready to work and we expect the same for our children and their families. If they are unwell at school you or your nominated emergency contact will need to collect them immediately. Please make sure your contact details are up to date. Check out the link below.

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/infectious/influenza/Pages/default.aspx

For the those in our community that participate in Easter festivities—Happy Easter to you all! Remember to relax, have fun and most importantly stay safe during the holiday period!

Anthony Pitt

Principal

I respect and acknowledge Aboriginal people as the traditional owners of the land on which I work, live and visit.

ArabicExternal link, BanglaExternal link, Chinese – SimplifiedExternal link, Chinese - TraditionalExternal link, EnglishExternal link, GreekExternal link, HindiExternal link, ItalianExternal link, KhmerExternal link, KoreanExternal link, NepaliExternal link, PunjabiExternal link, SpanishExternal link, TamilExternal link, ThaiExternal link, VietnameseExternal link

https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/rights-and-accountability/complaints-compliments-and-suggestions/guide-for-parents-carers-and-students

Relieving Deputy Principal -Miss Stiles