St Colman's School Mortlake eNewsletter

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

God, we celebrate all that you are. You are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Open our minds and hearts so that we may encounter you in our everyday moments and be enriched by your presence in our lives.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen

From the Principal

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a chance to recharge over the long weekend. From today we only have 9 days left until the holidays, the term is certainly flying. There is still a lot happening, so please read the newsletter carefully.

Our classroom teachers have been busily preparing the mid-year reports. These will be released via PAM next week. We'll let you know when they become available. Parents will have the opportunity to catch up with classroom teachers about these reports next term.

As communicated, there were a number of COVID cases in our school. Thank you to everyone who is conducting RATs when children are symptomatic and keeping sick children at home. More RATs will be sent home today.

Don't forget to support both the Raffle and our Trivia Night. We rely on your support to ensure their success.

Fingers crossed that the road outside the school has progressed a little further today. Thank you to everyone for your patience. Hopefully it's not too much longer.

Kind regards,

Stacey

2022 Online Raffle- LAST WEEK!

Thanks to everyone who has already bought a ticket, sold a ticket or shared a post about our raffle.

WE HAVE SOLD 321 TICKETS SO FAR. LAST YEAR WE SOLD 521 SO PLEASE HELP US TO SELL ANOTHER 200 BEFORE THE DRAW NEXT MONDAY.

Remember, there are a maximum of 600 tickets sold so your chances are good and you get the opportunity to support our school.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Trivia Night 2022

After a false start last year, the St Colman's Trivia Night is back! Get some friends together and book a table for a night of trivia and laughs.

$20 includes all costs for the evening, including games throughout the night. No extra coins required.

If you or anyone you know, would like to donate a prize please contact us at school. A shout out on our newsletter and social media is included for local businesses.

New Pole Covers

Thanks to N&J Covers in Camperdown for custom making and installing the pole covers for our new court cover. Not only do they look great, but they will help keep everyone safe.

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

Thanks to those people who have already donated.

Vinnies are once again conducting their Winter Appeal. There are many ways to support the great work that the St Vincent de Paul Conference of Terang/Mortlake do to support people who are doing it tough in our community.

This year, we will be collecting non-perishable goods to support this appeal. For example, tins of food, pasta, tea and coffee.

We will be accepting donations at school and then presenting these local Vinnies members.

Donations can also be made via their website https://donate.vinnies.org.au/winter-appeal

Awards

Better late than never, here's our award winners from week 6.

Congratulations Alex, Milana, Gus, Dakota, William, Imogen, Jack, Kate, Cooper, Dom, Blair, Noah, Nat and Char.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Liam who celebrates his birthday this weekend.

Footy Tipping Competition 2022

Congratulations to the 3 courageous tippers who went against Melbourne and managed to tip 6/6. Brianna09, Geoff91 and JohnFlynn29 showed that taking a punt can pay off or perhaps they are diehard Collingwood supporters? Plenty of tippers scored 5, which means that not much has changed on the ladder.

Don't forget that it is already Tuesday and the next round will be upon us quickly, so get those tips in.

A reminder about the entry fee of $20. If you haven't already paid, can you please transfer at your earliest convenience. If you are unsure if you have paid or not please Brianna bbarr@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 2

13th June- Public Holiday

17th June-School Trivia Night

20th June- Raffle drawn today

23rd June- Whole School Excursion to Annie the Musical (Warrnambool)

24th June- Last Day of Term

Term 3

11th July- Term 3 begins

28th July- SAC Meeting

28th July- Parent Teacher Interviews

1st August- School Closure: First Aid Training

15th August- Feast of the Assumption Celebration

19th August- Grade 3/4 Rookies Basketball

25th August- SAC Meeting

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

Term 4

17th October- School Closure-Literacy

Our Schoolzine calendar is now operational so there's numerous dates available on the app.

Parish News

Parish Bulletin 12th June 2022

MERCY REGIONAL COLLEGE - 2023 ENROLMENTS

The Mercy Regional College enrolment applications for Year 7 2023 are closing on Friday 24 June.

The College would like to invite prospective Year 7 families to complete an enrolment application form through the new enrolment portal - Enrolment Information. If you require any further assistance completing the form please do not hesitate to contact MRC Registrar Nicole Darcy at ndarcy@mercy.vic.edu.au or 03 5593 2011.

Our Junior O’Keeffe Campus will be open for tours throughout Term 2, to welcome those families who could not attend the MRC Open Day and O’Keeffe Afternoon in March. Please visit the following link to register - O'Keeffe Campus Tours.

Mercy Regional College understands that choosing a school is one of the most important things you will do for your child’s education and welcomes all enquiries about enrolment at Mercy.

Kindergarten 2023

Kinder 2023

NCCD

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on School Students with a Disability:

What is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data? Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or 'help' at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability. For more information click on the link below to read the NCCD Information Sheet.

NCCD Information for Parents

Holiday Program

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.

Vaccination

Triple vaccination status will continue to be a requirement for all staff onsite with students and will be required for any volunteers and visiting workers. This will include:

Parents assisting in classrooms.
Visiting medical and allied health professionals.
Visiting speakers, presenters and performers.
Student teachers.

Parents visiting the school to attend school events (ie sports, performances, classroom visits) will not be required to declare their vaccination status.

Rapid Antigen Tests

RATs will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7-day period) or who have symptoms.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.

Staff or students who have previously had a positive COVID test are not required to test for 12 weeks after their initial positive result.

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.

In the event that school receives notification that a staff member or student was infectious while onsite:

All staff must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
All students must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
Where a positive case is recorded from a staff member or student who has been on site, the school community will be notified. Personal information will not be released in this communication.

If a staff member or student tests positive with a rapid antigen test but does not have symptoms or has not been in contact with a positive case, a PCR test is recommended. If a subsequent PCR shows a negative result the staff member or student can return to school.

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.

Masks

Masks are no longer required to be worn by students, staff or visitors. However the wearing of masks continues to be a recommended practice which will still be required in certain circumstances including bus travel or a period of high levels of prolonged transmission.

Any staff of students who are identified as close contacts must wear a mask indoors.

RAT tests will be sent home tomorrow. If you do not wish to receive these please make contact with the school.

Term 2 Week 8 Tuesday 14th June