Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to term 4!

At the end of last term we said farewell to Mr Walker who is now enjoying his retirement on the South Coast. I have the privilege of relieving as Principal until which time the position is filled. Our Director of Educational Leadership, Ms Anne Bahnisch, has indicated this process will begin in Term 2, 2022.

Our teachers have worked extremely hard throughout term 3 to provide a continuity of learning across the curriculum. We are excited to have students back in the classroom this term where we know the best learning occurs.

Students will be returning to face-to-face learning with Covid safe practices in place from Monday.

Our students are returning in this order:

From 18 Oct 2021 - Kindergarten, Year 1
From 25 Oct 2021 - Years 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Under Level 3 restrictions parents and community members are not to enter school grounds.

Parents will drop off students at the school gates between 8.30am and 9.00am.

To help maintain physical distancing we will stagger the end of day dismissal. Students will leave school at the following times:

2.30pm Years 4, 5 and 6

2.45pm Years 2 and 3

3.00pm Kindergarten and Year 1

Parents will meet students at designated school gates each afternoon.

Please keep an eye on Seesaw as we send home updated important information regarding the return of students.

Please be assured that all school staff working onsite will be fully vaccinated before students return to school. This includes teachers, office staff and all support staff.

All staff are required to wear masks inside and outside classrooms and we strongly recommend students wear masks where possible.

The staggered return to school is a requirement of NSW Health and the Department of Education. Some families may have a child returning to school next week while their siblings remain learning from home. This may be difficult for families, but the staggered return will enable our school to prepare for the return of all students while we establish COVID safe procedures. Students should only return to school on the designated week for their grade.

During the holidays Year 3 and Year 5 received their NAPLAN results in the mail. Once again Girraween PS performed extremely well with our results scoring above state average. If your child did not receive their results please contact the office and a copy will be forwarded to you.

Due to current restrictions our end of year activities will look a little different this year. Our teachers are working extremely hard to prepare the usual term 4 activities following Covid safe practices. Our Presentation Day assemblies and Year 6 Graduation will be hosted via online platforms. Other events including the Year 6 farewell and class picnics will go ahead onsite following Covid safe plans.

We look forward to welcoming students back to term 4 with fun, engaging and challenging learning.

Nigel McClifty

Rel. Principal