COVID-19 Update 23/03/2020
School will close today March 23, and holidays will begin early. At the moment school will resume for students on Wed April 15.
COVID-19
At the start of the week I had to cancel or postpone a number of upcoming events at school because of the COVID - 19 virus. The decision was made after much thought and discussion.
It is sad for the children that they will miss out on activities that teachers had planned for them but we cannot take any chances with their health. Any time the children leave the school on an excursion or we have a celebration like Harmony Day there is a lot of organisation and paperwork to keep the children safe. I would like to thank the teachers for their efforts in organising these events and excur-sions, particularly Elke Hayen (Sports Carnival) and Connie Drossaert (Harmony Day). We look forward to holding these events later in the year. There has been a lot of discussion around whether schools will close early for the school holidays. We received correspondence from the Catholic Education Office has informed us this was highly unlikely to happen. At the start of next term we will reassess the situation and go ahead with some of our postponed events.
School Masses and Assemblies
All school Masses and Assemblies have been postponed until further notice.
School Camps
During week three of next term we have our Grade 3/4 and our Grade 5/6 camps. The camps are an important part of the school year, with planning and preparation well underway. School camps are a great opportunity for the children to interact and learn together in a different setting to the classroom. The final decision as to whether the two camps will go ahead will be made during the first week back at school after Easter. At that time I will take advice from the Catholic Education Of-fice Melbourne. The health of all our students and families is a very important fac-tor and we would never compromise this. If going to camp is considered unsafe because of COVID-19 we will cancel it.
Term 2
As winter approaches in term 2 we will need to be very careful with illness. Staff and children who are unwell will need to stay at home especially under the current circumstances. We will be more vigilant than normal with this, and we will be con-tacting parents of any children who come to school sick.
Next week is the last week of term 1. I hope that everyone has a restful break and comes back safe and well for term 2. Easter is at the end of the school holidays so Monday the 13th of April is Easter Monday and part of the school holidays. The first day of term 2 is Tuesday the 14th of April. Communication
Please make sure that you check SeeSaw as we will be using this online platform during the holidays if we need to communicate with families. Thank you
Thank you to our teachers, learning support officers and volunteers who put in a phenomenal effort to support the children and ensure growth and success for all.
Wishing you all a happy Easter.
Steve Twomey
