~ Positive Education for Life ~

~ Every Person Known, Encouraged, Challenged ~

Dear Parents and Friends of St Brendan’s,

It gives me great pleasure to say ‘Welcome to the new school year!’ Your children have made a beautifully settled start and their teachers and I are extremely proud of them all. We look forward to working with each of them and encouraging them to ‘stretch’ to be their very best selves in all that they do.

New Students

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new students and their families:

Judd Bozelle Year 3/4 BT

Tyler Rei Year 3/4 T

Antoinette Cennachi Year 3/4 T

Georgia Cennachi Year 3/4 B

Tahlia Martin Year 5/6 C

Bushfires

I’m sure all of you were extremely moved by the plight of many Australians who were devastated by bushfire this summer. Some families from our own community were evacuated from holiday destinations around the country. If you feel that your children are not coping after this event, please inform their classroom teacher or me and we will provide whatever support we can. Our school leaders and SRC students will organise a fundraising event to support others affected in our Australian community.

Foundation Students

We couldn’t be prouder or more pleased with the way our beautiful new students have settled into school life. They are a credit to their families and to their dedicated teacher, Loren and the LSO’s, Jenny and Tracey. We look forward to watching them develop and flourish over their first year at school.

Coronavirus

As you may be aware, the situation regarding the emerging outbreak of novel coronavirus has continued to evolve.

The Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and Victoria’s Chief Health Officer recommended a stronger precautionary approach to managing coronavirus for travellers returned from Hubei province.

This recommendation is that parents/guardians/carers of students should ensure that any returning student is isolated at home and should not attend school for 14 days:

· following exposure to any confirmed novel coronavirus case; or

· after leaving Hubei Province.

This same advice applies to any staff who have returned or are returning from Hubei province.

The Chief Health Officer’s current advice is that staff and students do not need to be isolated at home if they have recently travelled in other parts of China or other countries and are not showing any symptoms of the virus.

Next Steps

If you think your child is showing relevant symptoms, please call the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to discuss further actions on 1300 651 160.

The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria has prepared the following fact sheet for me to share with you all.

Additional advice and information on the steps to take can be found on the Department of Health and Human Services coronavirus web page which also includes advice on:

· continuity of learning for students who are not attending school

· international students and families hosting

· international travel

· maintaining good health hygiene at school

· health promotion posters and materials

· information, resources and contacts related to coronavirus.

This new advice is based on the latest expert recommendations of the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and Victoria’s Chief Health Officer.

(Please find more information below)

School Priority for 2020

Continuing our School Improvement Plan and developing our Annual Action Plan for 2020, we recognise that our number one priority is:

Growth and progress for all students in the area of reading and reading comprehension

We look forward to targeting the comprehension skills of all students in all grades at St Brendan’s The middle and senior school teachers will provide extension opportunities for students in these areas through Book Clubs and a variety of other means. Mrs Kay Donovan will provide Literacy extension for students in Years One and Two.The selection of students for these programs will be based on student data collected by the teachers.

World Read Aloud Day - Wednesday 5th February 2020

The value of reading aloud to and with children cannot be underestimated. Increasingly, we see children listening to stories that are digital recordings. Whilst these experiences are valid and absolutely have their place, nothing can replace the intimate sharing experience that occurs when two or more people, especially parents and children experience, explore and enjoy a book together.

On Wednesday 5th February, the senior students will read aloud with junior students. The teachers may swap classrooms to share a story with another class. What a beautiful way to teach a session in our school and build a love of reading with all children.

At 8:45 am on this day, Sue Slavin and I will be reading aloud to toddlers, pre-schoolers, babies and their parents/grandparents in the school library. All are welcome to join us after you have dropped your children at school. It will be a short session of probably 30 minutes. Sue and I look forward to welcoming you. Please remember that there is ‘no app to replace the lap!’

Welcome BBQ and Kaboom Sports

We warmly invite all parents and their children to attend our Welcome BBQ and Kaboom Sports afternoon. Please come along and meet other members of our community.It will be held on Thursday 13th February from 4:30 pm. The children will gather in their House Teams and participate in a variety of child friendly activities. They are asked to wear their P.E shorts/skirts and to wear a tee shirt in their house colour. Teachers will remind children of which house they are in. All Foundation students will receive a note informing their parents of the house they belong to. Please bring a picnic rug or some chairs, some drinks and nibbles. Please note that due to the Child Safety laws, this will be an alcohol free event. Sausages,hamburgers and soft drinks will be on sale at this event.

I require a number of parent helpers to assist with cooking the BBQ and selling the food and drink. If you are able to assist me, I invite you to complete the eform on Skoolbag titled, Welcome BBQ and Kaboom Sports.

I also require all families to complete the eform on skoolbag to let us know how many adults and children will be in attendance on the night. This will assist us with catering. Please note if the weather is wet, the event will be cancelled.

Meet the Teacher - Tuesday 18th February from 4.00pm - 7.50pm

This year, we have decided to hold meet the teacher sessions in order to provide parents with an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher and to provide them with any information they feel may be relevant at the commencement of the new school year. This session is not compulsory but highly beneficial as teachers work to support the children in their classrooms. Please note that parents of Foundation students are not required to attend as they will have the opportunity to speak with Loren Kondarios at their child’s Wednesday testing session. Please book for these sessions on School Interviews, please follow the below instructions.

Class Representatives

Every year, each class has one or two parent representatives who are a connection point for the parents in that class. These people do a wonderful job of making sure the class community is really connected and ‘in the loop’. They often organise a database of names and phone numbers of parents who are willing to be in touch with each other for play dates, social catch ups for parents etc. They also often organise to purchase a small gift for the teacher/LSO for their birthday. I am really hopeful that we will have representatives for every class. Please complete the eform on Skoolbag titled, Classroom Representative 2020, Thank you.

Social and Fundraising

With the departure of Maria Troppeano at the end of last year, we are without a coordinator/coordinators for our social and fundraising events. If you are interested in being involved in this vital part of the school, please come and see me for a chat and we can share ideas about how we move forward. I look forward to having a coffee with any parent who wishes to help out in this area. Please complete the eform on Skoolbag titled, Social and Fundraising Coordinator 2020. Thank you.

School Education Board

The first meeting of our school Education Board wi

Coronavirus (additional information)

Dear parents and carers,

Further to my message last week, I am writing to provide you with updated advice about the novel coronavirus outbreak relating to people arriving in Australia from mainland China.

Any child returning from mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) who was in mainland China on or after 1 February 2020 is to be isolated at home and should not attend school until 14 days after they were last in mainland China.

This recommendation applies only to children who were in mainland China on or after 1 February 2020. It does not apply to students that left mainland China before 1 February 2020.

As previously advised, parents of students that have been exposed to a confirmed coronavirus case or that have arrived in Australia from Hubei Province should ensure that their child is isolated at home and does not attend school for 14 days.

Attached is an updated factsheet provided by the Victorian Government providing advice and information about the novel coronavirus.

You can also access further information and updates from the following websites:

For Victorian updates to the current incident, go to: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/novelcoronavirus
For national updates: https://www.health.gov.au/news/latest-information-about-novel-coronavirus
For international updates: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/novel-coronavirus
WHO resources: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

The well-being of your child continues to be of paramount importance to me and our school staff. I will continue to share information and advice about the coronavirus outbreak as it becomes available.

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