Term 3 Week 3 Monday July 25th July

Acknowledgement of Country

St Colman’s acknowledges the Girai wurung people as the traditional owners of the land on which our school stands and we respectfully recognise elders both past and present.

Our Prayer this Week

From the Principal

Dear Families,

Winter is certainly upon us and with that comes winter bugs. Thank you to those people who are keeping children at home when they are sick. This certainly helps to contribute to the wellbeing of the wider community. 

There are lots of important updates in this newsletter so please take the time to read it carefully. 

A reminder that next Monday is our school closure day and that our SAC will be meeting on this Wednesday night. 

Thank you to everyone who has been able to book in for a Parent Teacher interview. We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.  Bookings can still be made through PAM.  

Kind regards, 

Stacey 

Staffing Update

Welcome back this week to Jane (Monday) and Shandell (Wednesday).

I’m sure that they've both had a lovely break.

Thanks to Anna Bourke for stepping into the junior room during Shandell's leave. Anna has embraced every challenge with positivity and has worked hard to ensure that learning has continued in the junior room with children coming in and out. We are grateful for all that Anna has contributed to our school during this time and we look forward to the next time that she is here. 

This week we also farewell Charlotte Dorey. Charlotte has worked at St Colman's since the beginning of 2022 as our trainee. Charlotte has stepped down from her position due to personal reasons. We wish Charlotte all the best and thank her for all that she has done to support the students in our school. 

We welcome Ashlee Pearson as our new trainee. Ashlee has previously worked at both St Thomas' and Mercy. We look forward to working with Ashlee as she continues her traineeship with us. 

Covid Update

A few reminders:

* Masks are highly encouraged but not mandated. 

* Positive cases must isolate for 7 days and report these cases to school.

* Positive cases do not need to test again for 4 weeks. 

* RATs are still available and are to be used when someone has Covid symptoms. 

* Close contacts can attend school if they test negative on a RAT each school day. Close contacts must wear a mask indoors. 

School Closure Day August 1st

A reminder that next Monday, August 1st, is a school closure day. During this time, staff will be updating their First Aid qualifications, including CPR.

We are mandated to complete CPR training every 12 months and to have an up to date level 2 First Aid training. 

Classroom Awards

Congratulations to our award winners this week. 

Remy, Alex, Spencer, William, Connor, Milana, Mason, Zoe, Isabella and Imogen.

Book Week

This year Book Week will be celebrated during week 7, August 22-25.

There will be a number of activities that will take place throughout the week with the highlight being our annual dress up day on Thursday August 25th.

On this day children are invited to dress up as their favourite book character or as the theme for Book Week, which is 'Dreaming with Eyes Open'. 

It is important to remember that this is not meant to cause stress in families but that it is an opportunity to celebrate books and the joy that they bring.

When selecting a costume, please remember that some children may be scared by things that other children enjoy including characters from scary movies or tv shows (such as Pennywise). We want to ensure that our Book Week celebration is enjoyable for everyone. 

More information will be circulated in the lead up to the event. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Leo G, Spencer and Zoe F who are the only students who have birthdays in July and are all this week. We're sure they'll all have a great day. 

Enrolments now open

Enrolments for the 2023 school year are now open. New and existing families are invited to obtain an enrolment form from the school office or kindergartens to indicate your intention to send your child to St Colman's next year.  

Tours can be made by contacting the office. 

Please consider sharing our social media posts. 

Footy Tipping Competition

I hope everyone is ok after some nail biting results on the weekend. The draw between Richmond and Freo certainly divided the tippers which could have changed the footy tipping ladder considerably, but alas, everyone was a winner in the end! 

Well done to Steff and John Flynn who managed to tip 9 by tipping the Bulldogs. 

The round average was 6.9 so a great effort all round. Get ready for plenty more upsets over the last 4 rounds! 

Anxiety in Children

Please find following an article on anxiety in children supplied by Clare Jehu, our pastoral care worker.  Some families may find this useful. 

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 3

Wednesay 27th July- SAC Meeting

28th July- Parent Teacher Interviews

1st August- School Closure: First Aid Training

12th-15th August-Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

18th August- Kaboom Sports at St Thomas'

25th August- Book Week Dress Up Day 

25th August- SAC Meeting

26th August- 3/4 Rookies

8th September- School Closure: Liturgy (Religious Education) 

Our Lady of Mercy Parish News

With our 2 Parishes merging (St Thomas’ Terang & St Colman’s Mortlake), we now have a new Parish name & email address.

The postal address & phone number will stay the same.

 Our Lady of Mercy Parish

hampden@ballarat.catholic.org.au

Please find following a letter to parishioners and the latest bulletin. 

Little Athletics

MRC Care Raffle

COVID Reminders

A reminder that all students who travel on buses are still required to wear masks. 

Children who are close contacts are permitted to come to school as long as they have a negative RAT result. Adults and children who are in Grade 3-6 who are close contacts are also required to wear a mask at school (indoors only). 

It is still a requirement that if your child tests positive for Covid-19 that you inform the school and isolate for 7 days. 

Vaccination requirements.

There are no longer any mandatory vaccination requirements for staff or visitors working or attending mainstream schools.

Rapid Antigen Tests.

The Victorian Government is continuing to provide Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) in Term 3 and again in Term 4 to schools. Household contacts are required to test negative using a rapid antigen test on at least 5 out of 7 if they are attending or working at a school onsite.

Schools will be able to provide these RATs to parents/carers, staff or students on request, as the previous settings that required weekly or daily testing of students and staff have ceased. 

Staff and students are only required to test for COVID when symptomatic or if they are a close contact of a confirmed case. Individuals who have tested positive are not required to test for 4 weeks (note this has been 12 weeks during last term).

Face Masks.

We have been asked to remind staff, students and families that the current advice from the Victorian government is that it is recommended face masks are worn in indoor settings (except for close contacts, who must wear a mask indoors unless an exception applies). Everyone including students aged 8 years and above must wear a face mask when travelling on public transport, taxis or ride share vehicles.

COVID-19 reporting to the school community.

Principals must notify staff and the school community through a daily email (where applicable) when a student(s) or staff member(s) have returned a positive COVID-19 test result and had attended the school.

The following still apply:

Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 

As soon as a staff member or student becomes aware of being a suspected case - that is symptomatic (fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell or taste):

• The suspected case is required to leave the school site, or be isolated on-site until they are able to leave.
• The suspected case is required to be tested with a rapid antigen test (if at home). A positive test result must be reported to the Department of Health.
• Positive cases must be isolated for 7 days.
• Positive cases can exit isolation after 7 days without testing. 

Close Contacts

A close contact (a person who has spent more than four hours with someone who has COVID 19 inside a house, accommodation or care facility) is no longer required to isolate as long as they follow the additional safety measures:

• Notify the school if returning within the 7 day period.
• Undertake RAT testing on school days within the 7 day period (unless the 12 week exemption applies)
• Wear a mask indoors if an adult or a student Yr 3-6.
• Not visit hospitals or care facilities.
• Avoid contact with people at higher risk of infection.
• If symptomatic take a RAT or PCR test.