Principal's Report
Principal's Message
Dear Families
What a joy it was on Tuesday to see the return of our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 Students. Many friendships were re-established and the overwhelming feeling of happiness was palpable across the school. My sincere thanks go to all of the St. Finbar's Staff for their dedication and professionalism to the school families. I believe that the curriculum and online learning we provided was second to none during this time. My sincere thanks also goes to all of the St. Finbar's Parents for your teaching and supervision of the children during this very difficult time. Our Year 3 - 6 students are still learning online with a scheduled finishing date of Thursday 4th June for them. Normal classroom learning will resume back at school for all students on Tuesday 9th June. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the incredible work of Mrs Cathy Ferrari and Ms Michelle Hill, our school Deputy principals, who have been a tower of strength to myself and all school staff during the past 7 weeks. Much of our success is owed to these two dedicated school leaders.
Office EFTPOS facilities
This week we have added an EFTPOS machine to the school office to streamline our fee and bill paying services. Special thanks to Mrs Libby Thomas for organising this convenient feature for our office.
Return to School Information
Before School Procedures:
Drive through, Wallen St and School Foyer will be open for entry from 8:30am.
Out of Hours Care is available in the afternoons as per normal procedure.
Children will Hand Sanitise upon entry to the school.
No Parents/Carers are allowed to enter school buildings or playgrounds.
Please do not congregate outside the pick up and drop off areas.
There is to be NO overtaking or U-Turns on Wallen St. Additional instruction listed below.
Parents are requested to remain in cars and to observe all social distancing requirements.
Children will line up as normal and the Day will begin at 8:50am.
After School Procedures:
Drive through, Wallen St and School Foyer will be open for exit from 3:20pm.
Preps (and their older siblings) will be dismissed at 3:20pm.
Year 1’s (and their older Siblings) will be dismissed at 3:25pm.
Year 2’s (and Year’s 3-6 who are onsite) will be dismissed at 3:30pm.
Children who depart via the front school door will wait on the steps until collected by an adult.
Out of Hours Care is available in the afternoons as per normal procedure.
There is to be NO overtaking or U-Turns on Wallen St. Additional instruction listed below.
Children will Hand Sanitise before leaving the classroom each afternoon.
No parents/Carers are allowed to enter school buildings or playgrounds.
Please do not congregate outside the pick up and drop off areas.
Parents are requested to remain in cars and to observe all social distancing requirements.
Wallen Street:
There is “NO PARKING” on the school side of Wallen Street as this is a “drop off” zone only. Parking is permitted opposite the school. Parents are asked to drive as far as possible down Wallen St, adjacent to the hall building, to ensure that a bank up of cars does not occur at Ward Street. This area is strictly a “Kiss & Drop” zone and parents are asked NOT TO GET OUT OF THE CAR. Please use patience when dropping off on Wallen St. Please do not overtake other cars who are picking up or dropping off children. Students should have their bags accessible to collect (not in the boot). There is a turning point at the end of Wallen Street and parents are reminded NEVER to do a U turn in Wallen Street. Please ensure your children practice entering and exiting your family car on their own to enable an efficient pick up and drop off process at school.
Drive Through:
Cars are to enter via the staff car park and through the electric gate and veer towards the hall and around to the grassed steps/witches hats zone where children can be dropped off or picked up. Please ensure you drive up to the first witch's hat before stopping your car to enable multiple cars to pick up and drop off at the same time. We can fit 3 cars in this zone and this is also strictly a “Kiss & Drop” zone. Parents are asked NOT TO GET OUT OF THE CAR and students should have their bags accessible to collect (not in the boot). Please ensure your children practise entering and exiting your family car on their own to enable an efficient pick up and drop off process at school. The exit is via the electric gate through the staff car park and front of the church. Please note that there is NO RIGHT HAND TURN out of the driveway during drop off and pick up hours.
General Notes:
Every child must have their own labelled water bottle.
Unlabelled water bottles will be disposed of daily.
School drinking taps will be closed until further notice.
Any child that is presenting with cold or flu like symptoms will not be allowed entry to the school.
Children who are unwell during the day will be sent home as required.
Catholic Education Melbourne has advised us at this stage that temperature checks will not be taken. This may change in the future.
Children will hand sanitise regularly during the day but especially before eating.
Mid Year School Reports and Student Led Conferences
Classroom and Specialist staff have begun the process of collating the mid year school reports. Our reports will look different for this current reporting semester due to the COVID-19 restrictions on teaching and learning. The reports will consist of a description of work covered in Term 1 and work offered in Term 2, as well as a detailed general comment about student achievement and work completed from the classroom teacher. There will also be a student comment about their progress during Semester 1. We will not be assigning a progression point for any subjects for Semester 1. All things being well, and we maintain a return to normal schooling in Semester 2, we will return to our regular reporting process as per previous years.
Student Led Conferences (Parent/Teacher/Student interviews) that are normally at the end of Term 2 will be moved to Week 8 of Term 3. More information regarding this will be communicated next term.
New Families and School Enrolments
I would like to welcome the following Students and Families to St. Finbar's community who have started this week. We also have 2 additional students beginning with us at the start of Term 3. We will officially welcome our new students when assemblies resume next term.
- Jacob K: Prep H
- Jason K: Year 3A
- Dain K: Year 6D
- Raphael P: Year 1L
- Luciano P: Year 3J
- Lachlan H: Year 1I
- Joaquin V: Year 2H
- Felicity O'D-L: Year 1L
I am also very please to report that our Prep 2021 class intake is now full. I have capped the classes at 26 (recommended government maximum for Junior P-2 classes) for next year and we have already reached this quota! This is a great acknowledgement of the quality teaching and learning that has been happening in our classrooms over the past few years. St. Finbar's is in high demand in the local Bayside community!
Our total school enrolments have now reached 345 students. That is an average class size of 24.6 students across the school.
School Cleaning
Extended and increased cleaning arrangements will continue, in addition to St. Finbar’s normal cleaning activity. Classroom tables and high contact surfaces will be wiped down frequently with approved anti-bacterial spray. Specifically for St Finbar's, our nightly cleaners are currently completing the standard cleaning regime as per their scope, empty bins, vacuum, dust in classrooms etc, this is then followed up with an additional disinfectant cleaning of all touch points, door handles, railings, desks, etc. Toilets also get the standard clean, which will kill any virus, then also has a secondary disinfectant clean to all touch points.
John Ashe Playground Update
Work is continuing steadily on the John Ashe Playground with large slate rocks on order to be installed in the coming weeks. Our indigenous outdoor classroom/meeting place is starting to take shape! Thanks to Steve May our school maintenance and handyman for coordinating this.
Solar Panels and Light Replacement Program
New solar panels will be installed on the hall roof during the upcoming holidays with a return on investment over the next 25 years estimated to be worth over $950,000.00 of savings to the school. We are also going to be replacing the old fluorescent lights throughout the school and hall (free of charge) with an estimated savings of $185,000.00 over the next 10 years. Not only will we be saving money, the classroom will be brighter during the winter months.
Cancellation of Grandparents Day Mass and Celebration
After careful consideration, and after discussion with the P & F Exec team, we have unfortunately decided to cancel the Grandparents Mass and Morning Tea for 2020. These decisions are not made lightly, but in the interest of community health and safety it is necessary.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the Coyle Family on the recent safe arrival of Oliver. A brother for Henry and Xavier.
Junior Classroom Furniture
The Prep and Year 1 new classroom furniture is expected to be delivered on Friday 5th June (School Closure Day). Fingers crossed the COVID-19 delays have finished!
Thanks to everyone for your positivity. It has been fantastic to see our junior students again and I look forward to see what the remainder of this term has to offer our amazing community.
God Bless,
Pat Berlingeri
Principal