Dear Parents 

The official enrolment period concludes on Friday 22 May. Enrolment applications can be submitted online, please share this information with neighbours and friends. This year, due to socual distancing restrictions, I will be conducting virtual tours, via Zoom, to share all the wonderful qualities St Monica's has to offer with new families. Spread the word! https://www.stmonicas.act.edu.au/enrolments

Return to Face to Face Teaching 

We currently have three staff members who will not be returning for the next few weeks due to medical or personal circumstances. This has meant we have had to look at how we best staff each group. The teachers involved are Mrs Susan Carswell, Mrs Anne Hodgkin and Mrs Cerryanne Kelly. The following arrangements have been put in place from next week.

3CD - Mrs Melinda Brown (4 days) and Mr Luke Donnelly (1 day) will share the class

3GB - Mrs Kirsty Godschalx will teacher full time 

3L - Mrs Mira Lustica will work with a relief teacher who will cover each Tuesday

Japanese - Mrs Jodie May will supervise the work provided by Mrs Hodgkin for the Japanese groups on Thursdays and Fridays

Last week we welcomed back Mrs Miraim Hilton who was very proud to announce she is expecting her second child later in the year. 

Changed Drop Off and Pick Up Arrangements - Update 

Children to be dropped off in the hall car park or at the top of the ramp to the basketball courts between 8.25am and 8.50am. A teacher will be available to supervise the children crossing the staff car park crossing near the office. Please display extra car etiquette during this difficult time as your child’s safety must come first.

Afternoon Arrangements

Pick Up – Front of School

Commencing at 3.00pm prior to the 3.10pm bell.

• Families with K, 1 and siblings to drive through the staff carpark, enter from Moynihan Street.
• Clearly display your family name in the passenger window.
• Suggestion: Place baby or toddler seat on the righthand side so children can access the car from the left-hand side.

3.10pm Bell and dismissal for Years 2 – 6 and all other children from K – 2 not being picked up from the front of the school.

3.15pm Drive through pick up for Year 2 & 3 and siblings

3.20pm Drive through pick up for families with children in Years 4 – 6. 

Chomley Carpark - A teacher will walk the children across to the carpark. Adults are asked to remain in their car. Suggestion - families with children in Years 3 - 6 use Chomley 

Copland College Carpark – this carpark will not be supervised.

Walkers and Bike Riders – Children will be dismissed as usual. Parents can wait at the boundary of the school to collect their child/ren; please remember social distancing while you wait.

Bus Travellers - Moynihan and Copland Bus Stops will be supervised.

SMOOSH – will be collected at the Kinder play equipment and supervised across the crossing near the office.

School Fees

As you are aware the CE requested that schools delay the invoicing of fees until this week to allow families, whose work arrangements were impacted by COVID -19, to apply for fee support and to see if they were entitled to JobKeeper or JobSeeker. Due to additional online programs purchased for the children to use for remote learning,  material supplied and the increased cleaning required we are currently not in a position to reduce our local levies for this term. Should you require fee support please email me directly for the required application carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au. 

Uniform

Thank you to our new uniform team for their efforts over the last few weeks. All children need to move into their winter uniform, now the weather is turning cold. Uniforms can be ordered via Qkr. Orders placed by Thursday evening will be filled and ready to be picked up after 11am from the Front Office on a Friday. Orders are generally sent home with the children on a Friday unless other arrangements are made. Please do not hesitate to contact the team, via email, should you have an issue or query. stmonsuniform@gmail.com 

Baby News

Congratulations to the Bassi family - Anandvir (1R) on the arrival of a new baby brother born on Tuesday.

Canteen

The Canteen will remain closed until further notice. We will consider opening later in the term depending on social distancing rules for adults.   

Multipurpose Wipes, Hand Towels and Tissues

To maintain a clean and healthy environment for the children and staff we have increased the level of cleaning around the school including the wiping down of desks, doors, ledges etc. As we continue to provide hand sanitiser and packs of anti-bacterial wipes to the classrooms, it would be great if the children could also bring in their own pack of anti-bacterial wipes to sit on their desk. A roll of paper towel and tissues, per family, would also be appreciated. 

We have acquired small packs of wipes for the children to purchase for $1.00. The senior students will take around a collection tin each day for anyone who would like to purchase some for their desk. No change will be given as we need to reduce the handling of cash. 

The staff loved their morning tea!

To all the families who provided morning tea for the staff today, they loved the surprise and are feeling very special.  We very much appreciate the support given by all our beautiful families, especially over the last few weeks as we worked to maintain a positive learning experience for your children. We are all in this together. 

Continue to stay safe and healthy. 

Principal