COVID UPDATE

Again, well done everyone. We have been able to settle the children into school routines without too much effort. We are now back to our normal dismissal time (2:55pm) and with everyone's cooperation we are able to send everyone off home within 10 mins.

Just remember when you pick up your child, please be patient, no car pick ups from the top of Lovell Pde gate, no leaving the queue until the car in front moves on. It helps if children who are to walk home know in advance. With everyone's cooperation we are able to shorten the wait time. 

Unfortunately, our surrounding areas are being fairly well represented in COVID exposures. It is important to keep safe and disciplined in our hygiene with hand washing and sanitizing, keeping our distance and wearing masks when required. Remember that children, and the parents, should stay at home if they are experiencing any symptoms. Children who present at school with symptoms will be required to go home and not return until a negative test result is provided.

Siblings of children in families of close contacts at other schools or exposure sites should also follow NSW Health advice in this regard, that is to isolate and be tested on day 2, day 6 and day 12 after the notification.

This information sheet from NSW Health will help answer some of the questions you might have.

From 8 Novemeber the school will move to LEVEL 3 restrictions which allows us to have more interaction for parents and carers. These will communicated to parents via COMPASS from the Director of Schools. This is certainly good news for our Orientation, Transition and Graduation programs.

In the words of William Wallace "......." -- maybe soon?

KINDER 2022 ORIENTATION

We will be welcoming our future Kinders to our school next week. COVID has forced us to change the Orientation process a little, so our first experiences with OLV will be without their parents. This will be a big step for these little folks, but I know they will feel welcomed and comfortable in their new setting. Yr 5/6 have been working on a "virtual tour" of  the school which will help in the transition process.

With restrictions being moved to Level 3 from next week we will be in a position to invite 1 fully vaccinate parent/carer onto the site to participate in the Orientation process. Our second day is planned for 25 November and then weekly from there, if parents wish to participate.

NEW CLASS

With our student numbers growing, we are in the fortunate position of adding another class to our school. We will be having 7 classes for 2022. A merit selection process has taken place and Mrs Lisa York has been appointed to our teaching staff. Mrs York comes very experienced and is excited to be joining us.

With the new class we are able to explore an exciting new class structure for our Stage 3 children in 2022 and beyond. More information on that next time.

STAFF CHANGES 2022

With the new class, and some staff movement next year, there will be some changes with class teachers. One significant change will be for Kinder in 2022. Mrs Dunn will be taking on the role of Kindergarten teacher. Mrs Carroll and Miss Morris will be taking extended Long Service Leave next year for terms 1 & 2. We are in the process of finding temporary replacements for them.

BUDDY TRAINING

The children in Years 4 & 5 will be undergoing "Buddy Training" tomorrow in preparation to welcoming and supporting the new cohort of children we are expecting next year. Its is always an exciting event for these children and we wish them well in their training. It is comforting to know our new Kinders will have such a wonderful bunch of leaders to help them settle into "big" school life.

BULLYING WEBINAR

It was encouraging to see so many parents tuning into the Bullying webinar presented by Craig Moore last Monday evening. Sadly, the time was short and I am sure there are many questions left unanswered. Apologies to those that couldn't make it and that we were unable to record the session. Craig has provided the PowerPoint slides of his presentation and would make good reading for those that couldn't tune in. Craig has also offered to answer any question that parents might like answered. You can email them directly to him at craig.moore@mn.catholic.edu.au

The next step in our review is to finalise the policy and implement and new Positive Behaviours 4 Learning program into the school life.

TELL THEM FORM ME SURVEY

In 2020 we asked parents and carers to participate in a survey conducted by Tell Them From Me®. (TTFM®). The survey data provided us with valuable feedback on what our students think about their faith, school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them.

The information gathered from this survey helps our school community to be better informed about what we are doing well, where we need to focus more attention and how we can sharpen our planning to ensure we achieve improved outcomes for our students. This year, we are seeking your help and participation to improve on our parent/carer response rate from 2020.

As parents and carers of students in our school, we deeply value your feedback and encourage you to partner with us and complete this survey. The information we gather is critical to us and allows us to hear directly from you and gain insight into what you think is important about the work we do, how we communicate with you and where you think we need to improve.

From the 2020 TTFM® survey data we learnt the following as both areas of strength and improvement:
What we learned:

1. Information about events or expectations was not getting to parents.
2. The two-way communication about your child’s progress and learning was limited.
3. Verbal and Social  Bullying were the main areas of concern for the safety and wellbeing of the children.

 
What we did:

1. Provide parents with information in a variety of formats including School Newsletter – online and paper on request, Facebook, COMPASS
2. Trialed child inclusive reporting  and feedback during Parent/Teacher interviews, added class programs overviews to newsletter at the beginning of each term.
3. Reviewed Anti-Bullying and Student Behaviour policies, engaged the Police Parent Liaison, engaged CSO Student Support Unit, provided counselling for children experiencing difficulties, investigating and developing a  new Positive Behaviour 4 Learning programs to develop respect and resilience in children.

As you can see, we use the feedback you provide us to action strategies.

We want all children in our schools to thrive and we know that working together, listening, and sharing ideas helps our schools to improve and grow as strong learning and faith communities.

The 2021 survey is now open and closes FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12. We welcome your timely feedback.
If you have questions about this survey, please don’t hesitate to email us at admin@shortland.catholic.edu.au
 
Please click on this link 
 http://tellthemfromme.com/olov1 and it will take you to the survey.?

CHILDREN'S TTFM

The children in Year 4-6 will have their say during next week. Parents were asked last week to "Opt Out" if they did not want their child to participate. Please send the return slip sent out last week back to school by Monday if you do not want your child to participate.

KINDER VIRTUAL EXCURSION

Our Kinders attended a Virtual Excursion to the Shortland Wetlands today. They become Geographers and explored the regions using maps and virtual tours of different places. Not as much fun as going in person but still very educational.