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

The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Loving God,

Help us to remember that we are the Body of Christ.

Christ's hands to do your work.

Christ's hearts to give your love.

Christ's eyes to see those in need.

Amen

From the Principal

Dear Families,

Good luck to everyone who has bought a ticket in the Raffle. We'll be drawing the raffle today at 3pm. Please come along if you'd like to be at school for the draw or tune into facebook, where we'll be going live.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join in our Trivia Night, it was great to get together, have a few laughs and test our knowledge.

The whole school will be heading to Warrnambool on Thursday to see Annie. This will be a great chance to celebrate everyone's hard work over the first half of the year.

On another note, we have been told that we will continue to receive RATs after the holidays, so we'll continue to distribute these. The advice is that they are only needed for children who are symptomatic.

Have a great break and enjoy whatever it is that you do to recharge your families batteries after a big term.

School reports are now available via PAM. Bookings are also open for Parent Teacher Interviews in Term 3.

Kind regards,

Stacey

Term 2 Staffing Update

Children in the Junior Room will receive a letter today outlining that Mrs Shandell Moloney will be taking some Long Service Leave during Term 3. During this time Mrs Anna Bourke will be taking the class. Anna is a regular relief teacher at St Colman's and well know to both staff and children. We wish Shandell all the best for her time off.

Jane will also be taking some leave during the first two weeks of term. Jane will be performing some of her tasks remotely, but will not be in the office or on the phone during those two weeks. If you have any specific requests for Jane please get in touch prior to the holidays.

Trivia Night 2022

Our Trivia Night was a great success. Congratulations to our winners, the Staff, who managed to scrape through with the win after a few years in the wilderness.

A big thank you to everyone who made the night possible. Thanks, in particular, to Paul Brown, our compliance officer, who stepped up to MC the night. Thanks to the St Colman's staff and students who helped to dismantle their classrooms and set them up for the night.

A number of local businesses also supported the night including Jo Wallis, who generously donated a yoga class and massage, the newsagency and Mac's Hotel.

Hopefully it won't be as long until the next one!

Screen Time

Thanks to Clare Jehu, our Pastoral Care Worker, for sharing this article about Screen Time. Some parents may find this article useful in the lead up to the holidays.

Screen time and your kids

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

Footy Tipping Competition 2022

Round 14 certainly provided some surprises! Although this tipster went with the Saints, I shouldn't have been surprised with the result. No one managed to tip 6 and only 2 people, Lachie Barr and Spencer, managed to tip 5.

Stacey, Jenn and Smith Pies are still at the top and with the results being a little unpredictable, perhaps the upcoming school holidays is a great opportunity for somone to take some risks!

Well done to Arlo, Nat and Remy who are leading the race amongst the students.

2022 footy ladder

Community News

Moyne Shire Council is holding a Mortlake Town Pulse Session on Wednesday 29 June 2022 between 3pm and 6:30pm at the Soldiers Memorial Hall in Shaw Street. The Town Pulse Session is intended to give community members and landholders the chance to discuss their views on housing opportunities in Mortlake with Insight Planning Consultants.

Council wishes to better understand barriers and issues regarding the provision of housing in Mortlake and this town pulse session is a key part of gaining that understanding from the community.

Please note that the session is being held on a ‘drop in’ basis and not as a public/town hall meeting.

In addition, you are welcome to complete a short online survey accessible via this link:

https://www.moyne.vic.gov.au/Your-Say/Mortlake-Town-Pulse

Mortlake Town Pulse Session

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 2

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.

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

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 9 Monday 20th June