Dear Parents

I can’t believe we are at the beginning of Week 4 already! Students have settled back into school routines well. Each morning as I greet students, I am continually impressed by the beautiful manners that our students display. It is a real credit to our parents as they respectfully engage with our staff and greet us each day.

Last week, all Catholic schools and Dioceses across Queensland celebrated Catholic Education Week. This year marks the 175^th anniversary of Catholic Schooling in Queensland. So, what does it mean for us to be a Catholic School?

• We will be an inclusive school – we will welcome all who share our values and wish to be part of the community – there won’t be selection on “merit”
• We welcome those at risk
• No one will be turned away because of financial need
• Justice and accountability will be a feature of all we do
• Positive and valued relationships between all will be vital
• We will be practical and committed to doing all we can to assist the development of young people
• We will be committed to those who are less fortunate than us

• We however set high standards in academic pursuit, respect each other and are strong ambassadors of our school
• We will want to make a difference

Our mission demands that our school be committed to the education and wellbeing of each child and this is what makes our schools great places to be at. What Catholic schools remind all of us is that one person, even in the face of overwhelming odds, can make a difference.

Catholic Education is a big organisation. With 1 in 5 school age children attending a catholic school across Australia and with over 70,000 people employed nationwide, we really do have a lot to be proud of.

Catholic schools are not private schools. Private schools are exclusive by nature. In other words, they choose who they want to be part of their school community. As I mentioned above, each Catholic school in Australia by their individual charism are inclusive, where all who share our values and wish to be part of the community, are welcomed.

It has been wonderful to come together as a school lately for a couple of events after a long hiatus of not being able to gather. This week we will continue to celebrate the mission and identity of our school at a whole school liturgy. With COVID-19 precautions in place parents will not be able to attend but we will upload a video to our next newsletter.

Thank you, parents, for your patience with the ‘stop, drop and go’ system. As you are all aware COVID is in its 2^nd wave so until we have further directive from the government, all of our current ‘keeping safe’ practices will remain in place.

We are now entering the traditional cold and flu season and I remind everyone that it is very important that students exhibiting flu like symptoms remain at home. Hopefully, we will see Queensland continue to effectively manage the virus over the term and we will be able to progressively move to normalise our school’s operations.

COVID-19 UPDATES FOR SCHOOL

School restrictions continue to stay in place during Term 3 until further notice, especially in line with recent COVID hot spots emerging:

• Assembly outside with only parents of weekly award recipients attending

Public Health Rules:

• Physical distancing
• 5m per person indoors (adults)
• Hand hygiene
• Respiratory hygiene
• Frequent cleaning and disinfecting

Staff will continue to ask children to:

• wash their hands regularly with soap and water, particularly before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
• use alcohol-based hand sanitiser every 30 mins
• cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow
• dispose of used tissues in the bin immediately
• apply social distancing as far as possible at school

 Parents are asked to monitor children and if your child develops flu like symptoms, please:

• keep the child at home and seek advice about undergoing COVID testing
• contact your doctor or contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) immediately
• call ahead to the medical centre or doctor’s surgery, advising of your child’s symptoms

PREP ENROLMENTS 2021

Thank you to those families who have submitted their application for Prep 2021. Only a couple of places left. Prep interviews are currently being conducted and will be finalised by week 7. If you have a child or know a friend or family member that have a child eligible for Prep next year, please contact the School Office ASAP.

ASSEMBLY ‘Counting Every Blessing’

Last week’s Assembly was presented by Year 4. They reminded us that we all have so many things to be grateful for and enthusiastically shared with us their blessings. 

Many blessings and thanks for reading,

Megan Pearce