Volunteers
This term we have needed to rely heavily on our amazing volunteers. We would like to thank you all for actively accepting the new process that we have been mandated to use by the Department for Education. If any members of our community would like to become a volunteer we run weekly sessions on Wednesdays at 2:30pm. Next week we are running an additional after hours session on Tuesday 24 March in the STEM room from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. There is no need to book, just pop in and we can get you started on the process or take the next step.
Harmony Day and National Day of Action Against Bullying
A huge congratulations to Mr. J and our school ambassadors, who have successfully applied for and been awarded a grant of $2000 to put towards “Action against Bullying.” This is a great example of how staff and students work together to create opportunities.
At St Leonards Primary we provide a safe environment that promotes positive relationships, safety and well-being. Our school values; Respect, Readiness and Resilience, are used in innovative ways to provide opportunities for students to learn and practise skills that support positive relationships, problem solving and conflict resolution whilst challenging disrespectful or aggressive behaviours. We do this on a daily basis by capturing incidental learning opportunities and through targeted learning programs.
Every year, we take the time to acknowledge The National Day of Action against Bullying, Friday 20 March and Harmony Day, Saturday 21 March in some way. Due to swimming, we celebrated Harmony Day during student messages today, and next week we will take a stance against bullying.
We continually strive to make St Leonards a strong community that stands together.
Three Way Conferences
Three-Way Conferences with your child/ren and their teacher/s will commence between Monday 23 March and Friday 3 April.
This approach to reporting on your child’s learning strengthens relationships, becomes an important learning experience for our learners, and aligns with our school motto, “Learning Together”.
Evidence of your child/ren’s learning will be presented at the Conferences where progress of their learning and “where to next” will form the basis of discussions. Your child will lead the conversation about their learning, their strengths and areas for improvement.
When students participate in such conferences, they are encouraged to think about their learning, assessment and progress in a way that supports metacognition (thinking about thinking). The research is very clear that metacognition has a significantly positive impact on learning outcomes – details about this are easy to find online via Google. Students also make extremely realistic self-assessments of their progress and behaviour, which provides productive discussion points.
We are using the School Interviews online booking system again this year. You will need to use the following code in the website link below to create a booking (bookings open 5pm Monday 16 March).
COVID-19 Update
While there have so far been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Department for Education sites, we are prepared for the possibility and have protocols in place at St Leonards in readiness for this. For the safety of our community and the wider public, the following measures are in place to support the containment of COVID-19.
Current advice on self-isolation and staying at home
In-line with Commonwealth advice, the current advice from the South Australian Department for Education for parents, students and staff is:
· Any student or staff member who has travelled in or transited through mainland China, Iran, South Korea or Italy must self-isolate for 14 days after leaving the high risk country.
· Close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 must self-isolate for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case.
· All returned travellers who develop symptoms (especially fever and cough) within 14 days of returning from anywhere overseas should seek testing for COVID-19, and self-isolate while awaiting test results.
· Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded from school/childcare/the workplace until they are medically cleared to return.
· Students and staff who have returned to Australia from anywhere else overseas and have no symptoms are able to return to school or work.
Consistent with current guidelines, all children, students and staff who are unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve.
Visit the SA Health website for more information on home isolation.
Hygiene standards
Personal hygiene and the hygiene standards in our is critical to reducing the risk of infection.
All children and staff are being encouraged to:
- wash their hands regularly, particularly after using the toilet and before eating
- avoid spreading infections to others by staying home if they are unwell
- cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue
Resources and posters are being displayed prominently at St Leonards as prompts to maintain good personal hygiene.
Parents seeking more information are encouraged to call the National Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080, or visit: www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-schools-and-early-childhood-centres
Jo Meredith, Acting Principal
Kathy Baker, Inclusive Education Coordinator
