Term 3 Week 2 Monday July 18th

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 Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Prayer for Peace and Justice in Ukraine

 God of peace and justice,
 who change the hardened heart and break the power of violence,
 we entrust the people of Ukraine to you.
 Protect them in this time of peril;
 let them know not death but life, not slavery but freedom.
 You are Father of all;
 we are brothers and sisters.
 Give us the strength to live that truth in love,
 choosing peace not war.

 Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

From the Principal

Dear Families,

As you are aware, St Colman's has had a number of Covid cases as well as other illness at the start of the term. Thank you to those families who are closely monitoring children for symptoms and keeping sick children at home. Hopefully this passes quickly. 

Bookings are still open for Parent Teacher interviews, so please remember to book your slot. 

It would also be helpful if existing families could fill in their enrolment forms for 2023- it will be here before we know it. 

Keep warm! 

Kind regards, 

Stacey 

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. 

Out of School Care

Thank you to those people who have already replied to this survey. If out of school care is something that would benefit your family, please fill in the attached survey. 

I'll now follow this up with local providers to assess what our options are. 

Congratulations Arlo

Congratulations to Arlo who has been slected as one of 40 up-and-coming junior cricketers who will get access to specialised coaching through the Warrnambool District Cricket Association's development pathways. 

If you have any good news to share please feel free to send me an email. principal@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au 

Footy Tipping Competition

Round 18 provided some more interesting results.  11 tippers managed the top score of 7 with pippakate, sheedsiscrazy and Refuse Rodent being closest to the margin. 

Interesting fact, no one managed to tip North Melbourne. 

Joshj is making a play for top spot and is only 1 off the pace. Ticketyboo and jenn finn are also vying for top position. However, I'm still one clear (but starting to break into a sweat). 

Commiserations to all the Saints supporters. I feel your pain. 

New Lunch Order Menu

Please find attached an updated Lunch Order Menu. 

These new prices begin at the start of this term. 

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 3

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- SAC Meeting

26th August- 3/4 Rookies

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

Anxiety

Please find attached an article on anxiety provided by our pastoral care worker, Clare Jehu. 

Many families may find this helpful. 

Catholic School Parents Victoria

MRC Care Raffle

Circuit Breaker Long Weekend Term 3

A reminder that a circuit breaker long weeked has been scheduled for half way through this term. 

Please find attached correspondence from Tom Sexton, the Executive Director of Catholic Education Ballarat. It has been decided to schedule a long weekend in Term 3 to help support student and staff health wellbeing during the winter months. 

This means that our school will close on Friday 12 August and Monday 15 August.

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

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. 

The following updates to COVID regulations have taken place over the break:

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.

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.