St Andrew's Primary Marayong Newsletter

Our prayers are with our Year 12 students

We send to all our dear friends sitting the HSC this year our prayers and well wishes.  This upcoming student break is a key time for students to continue their study preparation time. May the Holy Spirit be with you always, giving you strength and guiding your thoughts, heart and action.

Celebrating the great learning this week

As a way of saying thank you to our awesome students, this week the children participated in a grade disco.  I wish to sincerely thank our great school community for the tireless effort to ensure that our students engage in exciting learning design, have abundant opportunity to live our Catholic faith and work together to continue to build our community and in doing so, the Kingdom of God.  All this would not be possible without our amazing teachers who are so committed and dedicated to our students and their families.  Congratulations to all and enjoy the next two weeks of relaxation and renewal. 

What will Term 4 look like for St Andrew’s Primary School

 As you are aware, this term new restrictions were introduced to try to prevent continued community transmission of COVID into communites.  As of today, CEDP and the NSW Government have not indicated that these restrictions will ease heading into Term 4.

My message to our community is to expect the same policies and procedures that we have implemented this term.

In saying this, the school has been working solidly to prepare for, if or when, we have a COVID positive case in our community.  The school is ready to continue with online learning and we have established a deep cleaning plan ready to execute. My only request is that you please contact the office if you have changed your email address or contact details in recent times.  The biggest variable we have is the ability to contact our families quickly in the case of any emergency.  I encourage all parents to download the Skoolbag App.  It is via this app and the SMS student attendance messaging system that the school is able to send out information to our parent body in quick time.  If you know that our information regarding your contact details is redundant, please contact the office to update it.

Once again, I wish to thank the many parents who have sent cards and treats reflecting your gratitude for all work the School has undertaken during this year.  These gestures of thanks are not necessary but your feedback is appreciated and important to us to maintain a safe learning and faith environment. 

School Photos

Our school photos are scheduled for Friday the 30th of October. Ordering envelopes will be sent home at the beginning of next term.  As with all businesses, the Company will have a Covid 19 safety plan and will adhere to the restrictions placed upon them as a business.  This means that as of today, the students will have head shots. A traditional class photo will not be possible. Of course, if restrictions to this business lifts over the coming weeks, then this may change.  Alternatively, if restrictions are tightened, school photos may not be able to take place at all. I just wish to share with our community that we are still working day to day and we need to continue to follow the advice from the Chief Medical Officer. I thank you for your understanding and support during this time. 

Children will need to be in full summer uniform for school photos.

P&F Meeting - Term 4

I advertised that we would have a P&F meeting in Term 4.  With current restrictions still in place, the P&F executive and myself will Zoom the meeting.  The purpose of this meeting is to prepare events for  the school calendar 2021. If you have any requests for fundraisers or community events, please contact the office and we will forward all information to Angela, our P&F President.

With the money raised so far this year, the school will install a water bottle filling station in the playground for children to use during the day to refill their water bottles.  We thank the parents for this suggestion.  The filling station should be completed by the end of the term.  

Building Child Safe Communities - Volunteer Undertaking

Dear Parents/Carers 

In Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta (CEDP), we see parents and carers as partners in your child's learning journey. Parents and carers are encouraged to become involved in our schools in many important ways such as supporting classroom learning, being part of advisory groups, mentoring programs, coaching sporting teams and supporting other extra-curricular activities, canteen support and other kinds of help.

 A range of checks and undertakings are required for people who work for or provide services to CEDP. These checks reduce potential risk and form part of our strategy to build child safe communities.

 CEDP has launched a new Building Child Safe Communities form and online training module that all volunteers are required to complete. 

The purpose of this training is to inform you of the standards of behaviour and other requirements that must be adhered to when volunteering for CEDP.

The undertaking should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and the training module      approximately 10 minutes. Once the form and training modules are submitted, an automated email will be sent to you within two business days to confirm the status of your submission.

The undertaking form will expire within two years or when your Working With Children Check expires (if applicable), whichever is sooner. At that time you will need to complete the undertaking form and training module again. You will receive an automatic reminder email when this occurs. 

Further information on the new online form and training module can be found at www.parra.catholic.edu.au and clicking on about us/building child safe communities. Within the form you will also find help sheets and a video tutorial to assist you. 

Thank you in advance for your support.