Dear Parents,

Firstly, congratulations and well done! You made it through the term. We are very grateful for your support and work as we faced so many challenges this term. We are also very appreciative of all the positive feedback we have received about our Learning@Home approach. It is now time for everyone to have a break from online learning, Google Meets and all things school related. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work dedication, flexibility adaptability and professionalism of our staff who have ensured that our students have remained connected and were active in their learning in very difficult and challenging circumstances. I hope that they too manage some time away from the learning and can recharge their batteries as we head into Term 4.

On behalf of Fr Leo and the staff thank you so much for you all you have done and accomplished throughout the term. Term 3 officially finishes at 1:00 pm this Friday.

Term 4.

I will be sending out a more detailed letter in regards to the arrangements for Term 4 later today. This will be particularly relevant to Years 3-6.

The situation changes almost daily sometimes even hourly, so please be aware that it is the information is as we know it now.

Term 4 begins for all students on Monday 5th October. This will be a Learning@Home week for all students and grids will be sent to you on Friday 2nd October.

On Monday 12th October students from Foundation and Years 1 and 2 will all return to school. We will provide further information regarding drop off and pick up times and other requirements during the first week of term. (Monday 5th-October- Friday 9th October).

Students from Years 3-6 will continue with Learning@Home. We hope they will return to on site learning on Monday 26th October but this date is yet to be confirmed.

There will be supervision on site for families/students who meet the criteria and detailed information will be sent out about this. Please follow the requirements of this letter if you believe you may be eligible. You will be asked to provide this information and documentation as soon as possible. You will be notified as to whether or not you meet the criteria by Wednesday 7th October. The Government has set very strict requirements around this as they aim to minimise the number of students and staff onsite.

Public Holidays and Professional Development Day

The Government has moved the Grand Final public holiday to Friday 23rd October so therefore the school will be closed on this day to all students. We also have a planned Professional Development day on Monday 2nd November. This date was set at the beginning of the year. We have not taken the planned days for staff professional learning during Terms 2 & 3 as we felt it was unfair to add another pressure to families. We cannot change the date of this PD day, without causing more disruption to learning and have no control over the government’s change of date, therefore having the days so close . This day however, is one that we need to have as we navigate the reporting and assessment requirement for this semester.

Disco

It was wonderful to hear about how much the disco was enjoyed by our students and their families. The photos and videos show that the party spirit was alive and well in some households last Saturday. Many thanks to those who sent us photos and videos, some of which are below.

Lockdown Fatigue Article

The following link is to an article by the Australian Psychological Society about managing lockdown fatigue. It may be of some interest given all that families have had to and continue to deal with.

https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/74e7a437-997c-4eea-a49c-30726ce94cf0/20APS-IS-COVID-19-Public-Lockdown-fatigue.pdf

'Something to think about'

Really the only thing to think about today, is saying thank you to parents and staff.

So a very big thank you!

To parents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuB8oL1ytTk

To teachers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqmLCMiUrdo

Yours Sincerely

Joanne Doherty

Principal

Bernardo

St Bernard's... where you are known.

Issue 46 · 16 Sep 2020

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