A prayer for those seeking a cure to COVID-19

Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten the minds of women and men of medical science who are working to find a solution to this viral infection. Guide their research and help them discover what you provide in creation, sure ways of control, protection, inoculation and healing. Strengthen them in their tiring work and enrich in them the virtue of hope.

Amen.

Dear Families,

WHAT A REMARKABLE TERM!  Remote School was an emergency response to school closures and presented many challenges and opportunities.  There is much that we can all be proud of when reflecting on how we responded as a school commuity.  I want to acknowledge and thank you all; students, families and staff for your incredible efforts over the last few months.  

On Saturday I had the privelege of showing new and prospective families through the school.  We are unable to hold our usual open day to showcase the great things happening at St. Patrick's so provided the opportunity for families to have a walk through on a weekend.  The response to the tours was excellent and the feedback from those who visited very postive.  As is sometimes the case there were parents who had attended St. Patrick's themselves and it is always great to see the strong affinity they have with the school.  Enrolments for 2021 Foundation are being accepted and families are urged to get enrolment forms in ASAP.

Student reports have been sent home and as was earlier communicated they are reflective of the uniqueness of the year so far.  Under normal circumstances the reports would include greater detail about your child, however this simply wasn't possible at this point in time.  A key part of communication about student progress will be parent teacher meetings early next term.  Since returning to face to face learning we have invested significant time in checking in on student learning, with particular focus on the areas of literacy and numeracy.  The evidence of learning has been incredibly positive across the school and this information will inform planning for next term and will be referred to in parent teacher meetings. As a staff we recognise the added importance of these meetings given recent history. Details about parent teacher meetings will be held in the second week of next term and booking details will be emailed at the start of term.  

This week we have distributed a survey about before and after school care.  This is an initial step in investigating the interest and need for the service.  There has been a great response so far, including some insightful comments for consideration.  It is worth knowing that I am working with the principal of Stratford Primary School to ascertain the need and begin working on a solution.

Next term school protocolos will continue to be adjusted in reponse to COVID-19. Families can expect detailed information to be emailed before the commencement of Term 3.  We do expect that restrictions on adults coming onsite will continue to be in place for the start of Term 3.  Increased cleaning of the school will continue, cleaning which includes high touch areas, classroom furniture and toilets.  

Congratulations to Allison (Miss Bigham) and Taylor on the safe arrival of Elkie Rose Collins last week.  We wish Alli, Taylor and Elkie all God's blessings.   

Wishing everyone a healthy and safe holidays,

Nick  

Enrolments for 2021 are now open.  Please see the Enrolling Your Child page under the Parent tab on the website for more information. 

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Thanks to families who have found the Absence Notification on our website.  This can be found on the home page.

Please see the calendar included in the website to stay up to date with forthcoming events.