Dear Parents

It was wonderful to see all the children return on Monday eager to get back into their learning. This week we welcomed back Susan Carswell. For this semester Melinda Brown will be teaching in 3L on a Tuesday as Cerryanne Kelly has elected to take leave for the remainder of the year due to changes with their family’s childcare arrangements.  

How quickly the state of the nation can change. In the ACT we have been paused from moving to Stage 3 of our Roadmap. This means we are still limited with some of the community events that we can do. Unfortunately, plans for a disco need to go on hold however we will continue to do some draft planning for our walkathon, in the hope that by the time it is due, we will be at Stage 3 of Easing of Restrictions for the ACT. Fingers crossed as we are all missing our community events.

With the current concerns regarding COVID-19 across NSW and Victoria, we are still not permitted to host large gatherings. This means we are unable to come together for our Monday morning gatherings, weekly school prayer or school assemblies. We will continue to present our awards over the PA capturing the special moment for parents by emailing a photo home. Should you still be waiting for the award photo please email carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au to ensure I have your correct email.

Today the children were issued with their Semester One Report. As advised last term and in the letter accompanying the report, several areas in the report have not been assessed due to difficulties carrying out informative assessment due to the interruptions to the learning program. Please refer to the Summary of Teaching and Learning, also enclosed with the report, for the aspects the teachers focused on for assessment during the Semester. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher. Our next round of interview will be held later this term. Where a child lives between two homes a second report has either been sent home or posted depending on previous arrangements. 

Canteen

This week we welcome back Wendy Regan, our Canteen Manager. For the time being our canteen will only be operating on Fridays. Please refer to Qkr for our weekly sale items. The menu will be restricted but will offer new meal ideas. All orders will be via Qkr for morning tea and lunch items. Once again, we need to restrict the handling of cash and the number of volunteers considering the size of our canteen. Thank you to everyone who responded to our Canteen Survey.

Water Bottles

As we have had to continue to restrict the use of our bubblers the children must bring their own drink bottle for use during the day. Bottles can be filled from taps in the classrooms.

Access to the School

Parents, family members and volunteers will be restricted from entering the school unless prior arrangements have been made (to see a teacher etc). Everyone must sign in at the Front Office for tracing purposes and follow hygiene procedures. Parent-teacher interviews can resume in a face-to-face format, with physical distancing and hygiene measures in place (i.e. hand sanitiser available on entry/exit). External doors, except the front office access, will be locked once the children enter following the morning bell.

Open Council Meeting

We are planning an open Community Council meeting for Thursday 30 July. Due to the ongoing restrictions, we will host our open session via Zoom with the meeting occurring between 6.30pm – 8.00pm. This is an opportunity to bring people together to hear how we are going as a school, what is in the planning phase, response to our Remote Learning Review and Canteen Survey, and share ideas. If you are interested in zooming in please email carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au so a link can be sent to your nominated email on the day prior to the meeting. Any suggested concerns or topics please let me know so they can be added to the agenda.

Families Leaving 

To help with class planning for 2021 please advise the school in writing if you do not intend returning to St Monica's in 2021.

Late Arrivals - What you need to know!

Children arriving after the 8.55am bell MUST walk through the foyer to access their classroom. Children arriving late are to be signed in by a parent/carer at the Front Office. Do not just drop them off. The information documented on a late slip is now transferred to our new student roll data system to accurately record all arrival and departure times. The class roll is now taken each morning by 9.05am. Any child arriving after 9.05am will be documented as arriving late for school.  Eventually, an automated SMS notification will be added to our system which will advise a parent when a child has not been accounted for at school. 

Families should receive their Building Fund Statement early next week as they have been posted. Don't forget you can claim the payments when processing your 2019/2020 tax return. 

Sport and Library Days Term 3

Our Three Key Improvement Goals 

Continue to stay safe and healthy. 

Principal