Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

The AFL have had the mantra since they started this year’s football season that the league needed to be agile and flexible in how they approached and adapted to the changes that would occur throughout the season. It has become a very apt saying as we find ourselves continually having to adapt and accept the guidelines that keep changing. We know these changes can be challenging but our priority is to keep everyone safe.

Each day I receive an update from CEO Sale that has current advice about the COVID situation. Where it impacts the school, the information gets shared via the school website and school app. Please make sure you have downloaded the current school app. The details how to do this are included below.

https://stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au/szapp 

Key points from yesterday’s update for parents to be aware of are:

Testing for COVID-19

This is available for people who are displaying symptoms of coronavirus including fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, and loss of sense of smell or taste.

If parents, guardians or carers who are feeling unwell and are undergoing testing for COVID-19, all children of the parent, guardian or carer who attend the school should remain absent from school until the parent, guardian or carer receives a negative test result.

This advice also applies to students who are unwell and are undergoing testing for COVID-19 and have siblings who attend the school. The siblings (that may not be displaying any symptoms) should also remain at home until a negative test result is provided for the student awaiting a test result.

If students who are being tested for COVID-19 have siblings who attend a school managed and operated by the Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL), then the siblings should also remain at home until a negative test result is provided for the student awaiting a test result.

If any child presents as being unwell at school then the family will be contacted to collect them.  Children should not attend school if they are unwell.

Face Masks

In regards to masks, the advice from the Chief Health Officer is that primary students are not required to wear a face covering at school irrespective of their age.

Visitors to school grounds

Visitors to school grounds should be limited to those delivering or supporting essential school services and operations, such as school staff, student health and wellbeing service providers, pre-service teachers undertaking placements, external support services, cleaners and essential facilities and capital works and maintenance staff.

Additional staff, including parent volunteers, are discouraged from attending school at this time. Activities dependent on and involving parents (e.g. specialist programs, 1:1 reading) should not take place at this time.

The Parents and Friends have advised that based on this advice they will be cancelling Hot Lunches until further notice.

Finally, congratulations to Louise, Conor, Dermot and Charlie Clarke who welcomed their new baby daughter and sister, Evelyn over the weekend. All are well.

Kind regards

Jodie

As per the fee letter sent to families on 6th April 2020, Important Message about School Fees, there will not be an automatic reduction in school fees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

School fees are an essential portion of resources for the operation of our school and assist our leaders and staff to enhance curriculum and teaching programs.  Therefore, we are asking, for those who can, to continue to support the school financially.

If you have concerns about your financial situation, please contact Maria Churton, School Administration Officer at office@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements to enable your child(ren)’s education at our school to continue.

Cancellation of Student Activities

As advised in last week's newsletter, school camps for the remainder of 2020 have been cancelled. This includes the Gr 3, 4 and 6 camps. Swimming programs (Gr 3-6) scheduled for term 3 have also been cancelled. Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL) will continue to monitor the advice of the Victorian Government to ensure that the health and safety of staff and students remains the highest priority. This may mean that swimming programs and excursions remain suspended during Term 4, 2020.

Credits for camps were applied to fee accounts last week and fee statements will be sent showing the updated outstanding amount due. Further credits will be applied as activities are cancelled. If this credit results in your fee account being overpaid a refund may be requested. Such requests must be submitted in writing from the responsible fee payer and include the bank details for the refund. Alternatively the credit can be applied against 2021 school fees.

Direct debits will be revised and written notification of any changes to payment amounts will be provided once this has been completed.

Pie Drive

There is just 1 week left to get your orders in for the Yarragon Country Style Bakery Pie Drive. There is a great variety of pies, pasties, sausage rolls and fruit pies available, baked fresh right here in Traralgon! This is a perfect opportunity to stock up the freezer for cold winter nights and it’s open to anyone, so ask your family, friends, next door neighbours or workmates. Orders close on CDFPay Wednesday the 5^th of August at 10pm.

Due to the advice from DOSCEL regarding no parent helpers to be onsite the pie orders will be packed offsite and delivered to the school.

Pie orders will be available for collection from the school hall on Thursday the 13^th of August from the Church Street Hall entrance 2:30-3:45pm and via the hall playground entrance from 3:15 - 3:45pm.

Answer from last week:

198 + 139 + 55 = 392
15 + 22 + 18 = 55
392 – 55 = 337
There were 337 pieces of fruit available on Tuesday.

Mt 13:44-52

In today's world our children can be very easily misled as to just which gifts are of value. Solomon's gift of wisdom may be a pale comparison to a child's request for the latest ‘must have’ toy or gadget. Talk with your children this week about what they think gifts of value are. Ask them what their gifts of value are? Share with them what gifts of value you seek. Lastly, remember, these gifts are only possible through God.

Each week students from each class are awarded Student of the Week certificates. These children are nominated for the example they have been within the school based on the School Wide Expectation focus for that week. The weekly focus will be from Wednesday until Tuesday the following week. Awards will be presented to students in class until assemblies can resume.

In Week 2, Term 3 the School Wide Expectation focus was Respect.

I treat my peers, teachers and learning environment with respect.

I show appreciation for the efforts of others.

I speak kindly to others.

I show justice and fairness to all.

I listen carefully to others.

The award winners for week 2 were: 

Welcome to the 2020 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St. Michael’s Primary School is excited to be participating. A new application is being used this year that offers a range of exciting features including: 

• access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
• a modern user-friendly interface
• rewarding  students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
• the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review 

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 19th September 2020. 

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books. 

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers. 

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit:www.education.vic.gov.au/prc 

As you know, reading helps ensure children develop important foundational skills –
setting them up for school and for life. Just as importantly, reading also helps our kids imagine, explore and learn more about the world around them.
This year, everyone who completes the Challenge will receive a Certificate of
Achievement – and with more than 12,000 titles on the Challenge’s reading list, there really is a book for everyone.
For children not yet at school, the Challenge invites parents and carers to experience
40 books with their child. For students from Prep to Year 2, the Challenge is to read or experience 30 books and for students in Years 3 to 10, the Challenge is to read 15 books.
I also encourage you to visit the Challenge Facebook page: facebook.com.au/VicPRC
There you can join the community of avid readers to share stories, stay informed and
recommend books.

2020 Premiers’ Reading Challenge has been extended by two weeks.