Term 4 Week 4 Monday 24th October

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

Let us Pray.

We remember in our prayer:

Those whose lives have been devastated,
Those who are feeling vulnerable and weak. 
Those who are stranded
Those who are facing both long-term and short-term needs. 
Those who are homeless in this crippling time

We pray also for all those who are meeting needs at this time: 
Volunteers and community workers
Those working to rescue people who are stranded and feed the hungry. 
Those supplying food, water, equipment, money and urgent supplies
Those working to clear roadways and homes that have been damaged
Police officers, emergency personnel, medical and social welfare responders
Those seeking to offer protection from theft and fraud.

We pray that each of us will play our part in responding to the overwhelming conditions of this time, and particularly in reaching out to those who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

We pray too, that we will continue to urge the Government to play its part in strengthening structures that will heal our land, restore creation, and relieve those suffering homelessness and poverty.

We make all our prayers in the name of Jesus, who reached out always to those most in need.

Amen.

Jan Barnett rsj
Josephite Justice Co-ordinator
Josephite Justice Network

From the Principal

Dear Families,

After a long period of uncertainty, it was great to hear that a new principal has been appointed to St Colman's for the commencement of the 2023 school year. Janet Cain will be known to many of you as an experieced educator who has taughtat both St Pat's Camperdown and St Thomas' Terang. Janet is very excited and looking forward to meeting everyone at some stage.

The official announcement is linked below. 

It was great to be part of the Junior excursion to Halls Gap Zoo last week and to experience some sunshine. Hopefully it won't be too long before the sun returns. If your child is not able to use regular sunscreen, please consider putting some in their bag. If there is a particular allergy, it would be useful if this was added to their PAM medical record. 

Thank you to those families of senior students who have already completed their permissions for school camp. We need to provide final numbers to Grampians Retreat this week. 

I'm away at a Diocesan Leaders Gathering on Thursday and Friday. 

Enjoy the week. 

Kind regards, 

Stacey

Uniform reminders

At our most recent School Advisory Council meeting, the issue of uniforms was raised. It was agreed that the new rugby jumper was a great addition. 

Families are asked to be vigilent in the following areas:

* No jewellery except for studs or small sleepers.

* School sports shorts on sports day. 

* Black shoes.

Thanks for your support. 

Halls Gap Zoo

Proceed with caution- pictures of snakes! 

Well done to our Foundation/1/2 students who behaved exceptionally at the Halls Gap Zoo last week.  A great day was had by everyone. 

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 25

Next

Zooper Dooper Icy Poles

St Colman's Year 6 students will be selling Zooper Dooper Icy Poles at lunch time each day of the week. They will be 50c each with profits going towards charity. 

Your child can only have one icy pole per day and must put their rubbish in the red bin.  Any rubbish left in the yard may cause a ban on icy poles for a day or two. 

Icy poles will not be sold until after the eating bell has rung at 1.10pm. 

Thank you, from Ashlee, Indi, Layla and Zac. 

Out of School Care

Watch this space! More information about how St Colman's students can access out of school care will be coming in the next few weeks. 

Our Changing Bodies

As part of our relationships and sexuality curriculum the senior class will be taking part in puberty education classes. These will take place over three sessions beginning on Monday the 31st of October and will be run by Amanda Nash who is a qualified nurse and has delivered these programs to other local schools. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to make contact with myself or Rosie. 

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 4

20th October- Dental Van continues

28th October- Responsible Pet Ownership

2nd-4th November- Gr 5/6 Camp to Dunkeld

24th November- St Colman's Feast Day

5th and 6th December- Gr 3/4 Camp to Halls Gap

6th December- Global transition day (MRC and Mortlake College)

9th December- St Colman's Transition Day

13th December- Graduation and end of year celebrations

16th December- Last day for students. Mortlake Community Christmas Carols

Our Lady of Mercy Parish News

Bandari Project

Morton Cup- Tennis

Children's Art Colouring Competition on Saturday 19 November.

Pop this one in your diary. 

COVID Reminders

New settings are now in place. 

Most settings are changing from must to highly recommended.

For example, you must stay home when testing positive is changing to, it is highly recommended that you stay home.  

Changes to COVID-19 isolation requirements.

It is strongly recommended that students: 

• Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.
• Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should: 

• Be collected by their parents/carers.
• Undergo testing for COVID-19. 

It is strongly recommended that staff: 

• Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.
• Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

COVID-19 reporting requirements.

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household. 

Schools no longer have to alert their school community of positive cases. 

Face masks.

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors. 

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home. 

Additionally, the department recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.