Dear Parents/Caregivers,
PUPIL FREE DAY FIRST DAY OF TERM 3 – JULY 20th
Teachers will be working with other teachers from local partnership schools on LDAM. The OSHC will be open for child care that day. Please book in with Lissy or Sally on 8381 7577.
RECONCILIATION
Like me, you would have probably been affected by the images in the media of racial tensions in the USA during the last week. Closer to home, there have also been a number of media stories about indigenous Australians that have been equally thought provoking. At HCEPS Aboriginal perspectives and culture, other aspects of the Australian Curriculum and our values are all providing the basis for our students to learn about indigenous peoples, and respect, tolerance and fairness to ensure that as adults, students are able to live harmoniously with all Australians, both indigenous and non-indigenous. Reconciliation Week has just been commemorated in Australia. In the last newsletter, Andrea Hayden wrote about the history and meaning of Reconciliation in Australia. Last Friday, Jonathon Warren-White and House 9 teachers led most classes in a recreation of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk for Reconciliation held in 2000. Further down in the newsletter, 2 of our Communication leaders have written a report about this walk and there are photos after that.
STUDENTS WITH ILLNESS
We have many students who are sick at the moment and we thank all those parents who are doing the right thing and keeping them home until well. This is just a reminder that if your child is sick please keep him/her at home until well. If you have more than one child, you only need to keep the child who is sick at home, but if any other of your children show any illness symptoms you are then asked to keep them home as well. Because of the very close nature of working with others in a school, viruses spread very quickly and particularly in the winter months. We do need to be vigilant and especially during this pandemic.
As you know from previous Skoolbag notifications and from the media coverage, SA Health and Department for Education recommend testing for coronavirus if a sick child shows COVID like symptoms (eg sore throat).
YEAR 7 TO HIGH SCHOOL
As you may know, Year 7 is moving to high school in 2022. This means that if your child is in Year 5 or 6 this year, they will graduate from primary school next year. Having two year levels graduate at the same time is a unique situation and we want to assure you that our students will experience a positive and successful transition from primary to high school. To ensure the experience is memorable, we are considering how leadership opportunities, seniors’ jumpers, graduation ceremonies and participation in programs that were historically 'Year 7' events will include year 6 students. We will provide you with further information about our plans as time goes on.
REPEAT OF THE WEDNESDAY SKOOLBAG NOTICE ABOUT THE DROP ZONE
The following information is very important for all parents who at any time use the drop zone for dropping off for or picking up children from school. The afternoon session has always been very busy, but this term the morning session has also become very busy. I believe this is probably due to the fact that many parents are now just dropping off rather than parking somewhere and walking children into school, (due to COVID restrictions on parent access).
For the safety of our students and staff who have to monitor this zone, I have the following requests for both before and after school:
· Please remember that children can be impulsive, are still learning road rules and therefore may make unsafe decisions when crossing the road. It is very important that adults make the right decision at all times in the drop zone to help the staff member who is there to keep students safe.
· Please always stop and check the drop zone pedestrian crossing, both ways. (Cars that are stopped in the bays near the crossing also make it hard for both children and drivers to see each other.)
· Please always follow any directions of the staff member and especially if the person has walked out into the crossing to stop the traffic moving through
· Please move immediately up to the next available bay as you move through the zone, so as not to block traffic behind you
· Please do not stop to let your children out anywhere along the zone except in the designated stopping bays
· Please always drive slowly in the zone
At the busiest part of each session, this is a challenging duty for staff members but if all parents/caregivers do the right thing and follow these simple and obvious requests, it means staff just need to concentrate on students.
I thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
COVID UPDATE
From the media you would be aware that the government have allowed sports groups to recommence. With regard to our out of school sports programs (such as Soccer), the associated restrictions on how they can operate safely are still too difficult to manage. So these continue to be postponed until further restrictions are lifted. After 6pm Pavilion hirers, however, have been able to recommence within very strict guidelines relating to required data collection, numbers of people involved and specialised cleaning/hygiene requirements.
Other restrictions remain in place
Anne Rathjen
Principal
