Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers, 

Welcome to Remote Learning 2.0. Not the news we were hoping for but I know that by working together we can support our students to be safe and well at the end of it. 

Since the announcement by Daniel Andrews on Sunday afternoon, the School Leadership team have been very busy preparing for what remote learning would look like this time. There is no doubt that we have learnt a lot during the last time and both parents and teachers have grown and adapted in what they are confident to provide. To ensure we have everything ready to go we have been given approval to have Wednesday as a school closure day as well. Remote learning will begin on Thursday 6th August. 

You will notice once we begin remote learning that this time there is an increased face to face component of the day where your child will be able to have increased connectivity with their teacher and peers through whole and small group activities.

Above all, the message is the same as last time – do what you can, we are all struggling to balance work, life and family the best that we can in these uncertain times and your child may be experiencing anxiety about what they hearing and seeing in the media. If all you are able to manage is the face to face component each day then that will be fine. The wellbeing of all your family is important. 

We are able to offer Term 3 fee concessions for families who are experiencing financial difficulties due to the implementation of stage 3 restrictions. The details are included in this newsletter in the Cancellation of Student Activities - Important message about  School Fees section.

On-site supervision will be available for P-6 students in the following categories, based on the following criteria:

·         children whose parents work in permitted industries

·          vulnerable children including:

• children in out-of-home care
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm
• children idenitified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service).
• children with a disability who also fit one of the above criteria.

The Victorian Government will provide further announcements in relation to the definition of a ‘permitted worker’ in the coming days and therefore, access to on-site Remote Schooling for your child(ren) may be subject to change.

There are very clear guidelines regarding who is able to access on-site supervision. The intent behind this measure is to ensure the safety of staff and students in schools by limiting who can attend, so it is not possible for all students to be here. If you are working from home, have a day off work, aren’t working at the moment, are studying or have access to alternative care arrangements then your child cannot be accessing the onsite supervision.

We know that some of you found it challenging to do remote learning at home and may feel that your child would do better being onsite at school. Again, this is not a valid reason to send your child. In order to keep everyone safe and stop the spread of the disease in the community we need to stay home as much as possible.  Please support us by adhering to the guidelines.

Stay safe and well so that we can be back together as a community as soon as possible!

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

Orders close on CDFpay tomorrow Wednesday 5th August at 10.00pm 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. 

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 between 2:30-3:30pm. Please remember to socially distance whilst waiting to collect your order!

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 3, Term 3 the School Wide Expectation focus was Safety.

I have the right to feel safe in our school environment.

The award winners for week 3 were:

Mt 14:13-21

After hearing of John the Baptist's death, Jesus went off to be on his own.  A large crowd of people, however, followed Jesus. They wanted Jesus to teach them and heal them. Instead of sending the crowd away Jesus put aside his own pain and sadness and not only healed the people but fed them with the loaves and the fishes. At times we, as parents, need to put aside our pain and weariness to care for our families. 

Talk to your child about how they can care for the people in their lives: their friends, their classmates, their family. How can they share the gifts that God has given them with others?

Answer from last week:

(25 x $40) + (50 x $65) + (25 x $92) =
$1000 + $3250 + $2300 = $6550
The charity dinner raised $6550

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.