14 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Dear Parents, caregivers and friends,

Welcome back to Term 4 after the holiday break which I genuinely hope provided a much-needed break from the demands of home learning and a chance to reset.

The last few months have without doubt presented real challenges for all families and I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude for your continued support. Many of you are eagerly awaiting the return to face-to-face learning which for all students will come into effect on Monday 25th October, following the staged transition for Kinder and Year 1 students next week. Other parents I realise, have voiced concerns with the lifting of restrictions and the increased contact with others. Feelings of relief, excitement, grief, fatigue, frustration, stress and sadness are all normal.

While many welcome the positive promise of the return to school and the classroom, there will undoubtedly be many students, teachers and families who will struggle with the upcoming phases of change. For those suffering from anxiety, stress or burnout related to the pandemic or otherwise, this final term of 2021 will be difficult.

After months of remote learning, settling back into both classroom routines and the regular routines that support the return to school, may take days or weeks for some families. Meanwhile, teachers who have battled through the challenges of the last 18 months may be at best fatigued, and at worst, experiencing high levels of stress and burnout.

The key message for all of us now and for the next period is flexibility. Even though we have a 'roadmap' of moving out of lockdown, the last few weeks have shown us that decisions can change radically at the last moment. It is critical that we remain flexible to accept that the decisions made by governments are out of our control and we need to move with them, especially as they are aimed at keeping everyone safe.

At the school level, we will keep you updated about the procedures that we have in place to comply with the restrictions, thus keeping students, staff and families safe. As these procedures will be new and untested, they will call for flexibility as we make any necessary changes to solve any problems we may come across.

Also, there is still uncertainty when it comes to planning for significant events that were due to take place during Term 4. All of these remain on hold and will, once again, require flexibility and understanding when final decisions become clear.

This prayer may help us all as we look for flexibility and patience:

"Lord, the World as we knew it is gone, and for what feels like such a long time we have experienced so much hardship during this lockdown. As we prepare to walk into the future we pray for the "new normal" to come. May our hearts be unified in you more than ever. May the tender moments of seeing someone again in person be all the more rich and treasured. May the reunions, interactions, and moments ahead be held with more meaning and may we turn to you in sincere gratitude. Help us to come out of this lockdown better, not bitter. Help us to become more considerate and patient of others, more mindful of how we can help one another, and how we can serve you. We thank you that no matter how dark the night may get, there is the hope of the dawn to come. Amen."

Please be reassured that the following measures are being employed to foster the safety and wellbeing of our school community:

All schools are required to follow the Public Health Orders for Education and Care which are stricter than the community orders and are in place until 26/3/22. It is recognised that these orders could be extended beyond this date. As a school we have developed procedures that reflect what is reasonably practical for our unique setting.

It is recognised (and widely publicised) that the potential to contract Covid has increased with the relaxation of community restrictions and increased interactions between people in many settings. Staff of St Patrick’s have surety that all adults entering our site will be fully vaccinated by 8/11 and parents can be assured that our school is committed to taking the outlined steps to minimise widespread interactions between staff, students and parents.

• Classroom spaces are well ventilated with doors and windows kept open as much as possible
• Air conditioners have been serviced and checked. Use will be considered for more extreme weather conditions
• All children and staff are encouraged to practice good hygiene routines
• Fixed equipment can be used. Children are to sanitise hands before access
• Preparations to install automatic/free standing hand sanitiser stations for the playground and COLA are underway
• Staff will wear masks inside and outside, when interacting with others and in shared spaces. When delivering lessons, teachers are able to temporarily remove their mask, if deemed necessary to aid communication
• Primary school students may wear masks, as directed by parents, however it is noted that the effectiveness of a mask may be compromised by regular handling and adjusting or incorrect placement. St Patrick’s will not provide masks for general student use. Masks are unsuitable when actively playing.

I understand we are all desperate to return to life as normal, and it will happen. For now, we need to maintain our vigilance and compliance in relation to the public health orders, until we are advised of changes by CSNSW and the Diocese.

It is important to recognise that the staff of St Patrick’s will continue to encourage and monitor practices to comply with our levelled restrictions.

Parents and carers are asked to maintain the following to observe the conditions of our current restrictions:

Maintain personal distance from each other when waiting at collection points and avoid gathering in groups

• Wear a mask when on school grounds, including designated drop-off and collection areas
• Use the QR code if you are entering the school administration office and observe limits in the space
• Remain outside of the school gates and leave the school grounds as soon as possible once you have collected your child

CHANGES TO PROCESSES

Changes to pick up and delivery processes- TERM 4

BUS ARRIVALS- All students arriving by bus will access the school via the COLA gates or Highway (as per existing arrangements). Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 will be seated under the COLA on the silver seats, segregated by grade. Years 3-6 will go to the hall, and will be separated by grade, to wait until the duty teacher dismisses them at 8.30am.

PARENT DROP-OFFS will be via the HALL GATE ONLY between 8.30 and 8.50am. All gates will be locked at 8.50am.

Students registered to attend school next week (beginning 18th October) will no longer use the admin block entry. All students MUST be signed in at the hall gate.

STUDENTS REQUIRING SCHOOL SUPERVISION WEEK 3

While the staggered return to school will begin for students in Kindergarten and Year 1 from 18th October, I am aware that with the reopening of some businesses prior, there may be families who are now unable to access care and will need to send their child/ren to school for supervision. Please remember, any student who returns before their official return date will be supervised as they complete remote learning activities at school. Students will not participate in face-to-face learning until their staged return date.

We are asking that you pre-register by completing the form on Compass, if one of the following reasons applies to you:

1. All adults in your household are essential workers that must physically attend a workplace.
2. Your family has extenuating circumstances that have been approved by Mrs Wilkinson (Principal)

Please return the completed Supervision Request Form to admin@lochinvarsp.catholic.edu.au to enable planning for an appropriate level of supervision of students.

FEE COLLECTION

As we head into Term 4, it is an important time for parents and carers to review their current fee balance and payment plan. The Catholic Schools Office has advised that they did not move to implement a centralised Covid-19 concession, as occurred last year, as it is recognised that school fee payments should have been established and honoured all year with the introduction of annual billing and periodic payments. It is recognised that some parents may have felt varying degrees of financial pressure or stress, related to changed work conditions, and opportunities to access specific government support could have been explored to offset loss of hours.

If you are experiencing genuine hardship, it is important that you call the school office without delay, to speak with Sally to review your current payment options and plan. Appointments can also be arranged, if necessary, to speak with Mrs Wilkinson regarding your individual circumstances.

2022 SCHOOL FEE INFORMATION FORM

Attached is the 2022 School Fee Information Form. The form is in PDF format so that you can complete this electronically, and return at your earliest convenience to finance@lochinvarsp.catholic.edu.au.

It is important that this form is returned by every family to every Catholic school your child/ren is/are attending to ensure the correct billing for 2022. All details are checked, including email address, payment intentions, eligibility for health care/pension card discount and family discount.

NOTE: THE FEE PAYER IS BASED ON YOUR CHILD’S ENROLMENT FORM. If the nominated person responsible for school fees is written differently on this form, you will be contacted to verify the correct details.

CALENDAR EVENTS

All events for Term 4 are on hold. Please await further communication regarding the status of scheduled events.

ENROLMENTS 2022

If you know that your child will not be returning to St Patrick’s in 2022, would you please notify the school, in writing, as we require this information to assist with our planning for the new school year.

CURRICULUM NEWS

TELL THEM FROM ME SURVEY

Survey now open!

Parents are invited to participate in our community consultation survey. This is an initiative of the Diocese of Maitland Newcastle and is being enacted by all of our catholic schools, despite the current situation.

It is recognised that our school year has been significantly impacted by change and the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown. It is also understood that your ability to answer the questions will be clouded by your experiences during the period of remote learning. If you choose to take part, I urge you to take the time to reflect on the first semester of 2021, when things were a little more ‘normal’.

The survey is anonymous, voluntary and easy to use. It takes about 20 minutes to complete and covers parents’ perceptions of the school’s support for learning, positive behaviours, and the promotion of safety and inclusion.

As parents and carers of students in our school, we deeply value your feedback and encourage you to partner with us and complete this survey. The information we gather is critical to us and allows us to hear directly from you and gain insight into what you think is important about the work we do, how we communicate with you and where you think we need to improve.

The feedback you provide is used to action strategies for improvement and will close on Friday 29th October.

How to access the survey

Parents/carers can access the survey by clicking this link:

If you have any problems or queries about the survey, please contact Mr Nolan.

CLASS PLACEMENT 2022

Planning for the coming school year has already begun and the process for student class placement will commence shortly. One complex process involves assigning students to classes. Many factors need to be taken into consideration including:

• the student’s intellectual, social, emotional, and behavioural developmental levels & needs
• the student’s physical and social maturity
• the student’s interactions with other students
• the age of the student
• the “social dynamics” factors within the class
• clustering of children with exceptionalities
• learning support needs
• the male/female balance in each class
• the balance of leaders in each class
• the number of years the student has been with the teacher
• student friendships

If there are any special considerations or concerns that parents/carers feel the school should take into consideration, please put them in writing and send them to school no later than Monday 1st November . Letters should be addressed ‘Attention: Jacqueline Wilkinson’ and marked ‘Confidential’.

Please note, this is not the opportunity to request friendship groupings or specific teachers for your child. While all requests will be noted and discussed, final decisions on placements will be made following careful consultation with teachers. Information provided after Monday 1st November will not be considered and parents should not assume that previous requests or communication will suffice, as situations do change over time.

SEMESTER 2 MODIFIED REPORTS

In response to the situation created by COVID-19, which resulted in Home Learning being implemented again this year, the Diocese of Maitland Newcastle has developed a modified report for Semester 2 2021. The Semester 2 Report is focused on the Religion, English and Mathematics outcomes and content taught between when the Semester 1 Reports were written and the timing of the reports in Term 4.

Of note:

• The Commitment to Learning is a scale from Emerging to High and based on RE, English and Maths.
• The Student Achievement in these same subjects will be recorded as working towards, working at or working beyond class expectations for the semester.
• The Learner Profile Section includes Personal and Social Development as well as Learning Dispositions on a scale from ‘Requires Support’ through to ‘Consistently’.
• There will be opportunity for teachers to provide a comment for parents identifying a student’s strengths and any challenges that can be developed in coming months. These will continue to link learning between the school and home as we transition to the new year.

Reports will provide a simple summary and published in Week 9 of this term.

ORGANISATION & MANAGEMENT

SUMMER SCHOOL UNIFORM

For your convenience, Ken Lane Menswear is now selling all St Patrick's Lochinvar uniform items ONLINE at the link below.

On the Homepage you will find links to "Schoolwear" and "St Patrick's Primary" under the Main Menu.

Summer uniforms are now in stock. Click and collect is available Mon-Fri between 9am-12pm or have your school clothing posted home.

• STANDARDS

As we prepare to return to school, I suspect everyone is looking forward to the post-pandemic haircut. As you schedule a cut for your children, please remember that radical hairstyles including mullets are not permitted at St Patrick’s. Extreme cuts or styles including undercuts and designs do not fit with our uniform expectations or standards, do not maintain our fine reputation, or generate positive comments from the community.

• HAIR

Hair needs to be neat and tidy at all times and must remain a reasonably natural colour and style. Hair MUST be worn away from the face and eyes. ANY hair with the potential to hang in the eyes MUST be tied back or clipped back.  Any hair accessories used MUST be in the school colours and allow a hat to be worn as necessary.  These are also available for purchase on QkR.

• HATS

Parents are reminded that our scheduled return to school will coincide with the summer heat. It is compulsory at St Patrick’s for the children to wear their hats to protect their skin. Students who don’t wear hats will not be allowed to play out in the sunshine, and they will stay under sheltered areas. Hats are often the first item of the uniform to go missing so please name/rename your child’s hat with their name and class so that lost hats can be returned to their owners. New hats are available from the school office and can be purchased on QkR.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Please be advised that the delivery of photo orders has been delayed due to the lockdown. We will provide updates as they become available.

CANTEEN SUPERVISOR POSITION

St Patrick's is currently advertising for a new Canteen Supervisor following the resignation of Julie Lawrence. Julie has filled this role for many years. I extend my thanks and gratitude to Julie for her efforts in providing this valuable service to our school community and the relationship she fostered with many parent volunteers. We wish Julie the very best for the future.

COMMUNITY NEWS