Term 3 Week 4 Monday 1st August

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,

Thank you to everyone who shuffled things around to support our school closure day today. A reminder that the Circuit Breaker weekend is fast approaching, with the school closing on August 12th and 15th.  I recognise that having a number of days off within a tight timeframe is not ideal and sincerely thank everyone for your support. 

Thanks to everyone who was able to get to a Parent Teacher Interview. These are important opportunities for parents, carers and teachers to meet together and discuss how we can work together to support the children of our school. Please remember that teachers are always happy to meet with parents so please feel free to make contact at any stage. 

There is a lot happening over the rest of the term so please read our newsletter carefully. 

Schoolzine seems to have experienced some issues over the weekend, so please sing out if there's anything we can do to help you with this important form of communication. 

I'll be away Thursday and Friday at the Diocesan Leaders Gathering in Horsham, Rosie will be Acting Principal during this time. 

Kind regards, 

Stacey

School Advisory Council Update

The SAC met on Wednesday night. A number of important items were discussed. A report from the meeting is linked here. 

Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

The St Colman's Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy has been updated and can now be found on our website. https://www.scmortlake.catholic.edu.au/child-safety 

The purpose of this policy is to demonstrate the strong commitment of St Colman’s School to the care, safety and wellbeing of all children and young people at school. It provides an outline of the policies, procedures and strategies developed to keep children and young people safe from harm, including all forms of abuse in the school environment, online and in other locations provided by the school.

This policy takes into account relevant legislative requirements within the state of Victoria, including the specific requirements of the Victorian Child Safe Standards as set out in Ministerial Order No. 1359 . DOBCEL, as governing authority, and the principal have direct responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of MO (Ministerial Order) No 1359 are met within the school.

This policy applies to all school staff, including school employees, volunteers, contractors, and those in religious ministry.

School Closure Day August 1st

A big thank you for supporting our school closure day today. Staff members participated in vital training to ensure that our first aid requirements are up to date. 

Thanks to Nicole Gleeson at Rhythm First Aid for facilitating the day. 

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 Lacey who celebrates her birthday on the weekend. 

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. 

New sign

Have you noticed our new sign? 

As a school, we value being part of the Hampden Catholic Schools Network (HCSN) and are proud to promote our involvement. 

Anxiety in Children Part 2

Thanks to Clare Jehu for providing another article that families may find useful. 

Footy Tipping Competition

Tension is certainly building in the Footy Tipping Competition with time running out for tippers to make their move. A number of close games certainly have us all on the edge of our seats. 

The top 3 remain the same, Stacey closely followed by Joshj and Ticketyboo6. 

Well done to those tippers who managed to tip 8 this round, which was the best score. Sheedsiscrazy, tommydale, archiedale11, Sharyn Grinter, methodicalFlameThrower and Alison Greig were on the right side of the close games. 

Tensions are also growing in the office as St Kilda and Richmond battle it out for 8th position. 

If all else fails, at least we can watch the swimming! 

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 3

5th August- 5/6 All Stars Basketball

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 Basketball

2nd September- Father's Day Breakfast

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

12th September- MRC Discovery Day 

Our Lady of Mercy Parish News

Little Athletics

MRC Care Raffle

COVID Reminders

A few reminders:

* Masks are highly encouraged but not mandated.  They are required on the bus. 

* 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. 

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). If you require RATs please contact the school. 

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.