St Timothy's School Vermont

Our return to onsite learning is welcomed by students, parents and teachers alike. 

St Timothy's teachers, parents and students have done an incredible job during remote learning. As partners in the journey, we have all learned a great deal from this experience. Our students have shown high levels of resilience, the ability to be self-motivated, working with their teachers, support staff and parents, achieving great outcomes. Despite these great achievements,  I'm sure everyone would have missed the onsite day to day learning and interactions with friends and teachers. We will continue to monitor, identify, consolidate and extend children's learning needs

Hopefully we will emerge from the current restrictions in the coming weeks allowing us more freedom to return to more normal school events. At this time, can we all commit to build up a safe and connected community.  

Our  Footy day will be next Thursday 22nd October. Whilst we would love to have our normal Footy Colours Day this year it will look a bit different, adhering to the restrictions set out by the Catholic Education Melbourne and Education Department. The children will wash and sanitise hands before and after the event/activities. There will be NO WHOLE school meeting as previous and no singing of theme songs are permitted. All equipment will be sanitised before and after use. I am confident the children can still enjoy the events of the day. School will provide a Hot Dog in a roll as a light lunch.

Our annual Book Week celebrations have been postponed many times this year. We have now moved to a VIRTUAL option , where children will view the performance from their classroom via a video link. This will take place on Thursday 29th October.

The children will also be given a window of time to ask questions to the performers.

As usual, we ask children to come dressed as their favourite book character on the day. There will be some other activities that are permissible within the restrictions. We look forward to an exciting day. 

Friday 6th November

We welcome all our students to St Timothy's Virtual Disco. Whilst we are not permitted to celebrate our yearly School Disco onsite this year, we can still get our children moving to the beat! 

As Bop till you Drop will be hosting the party, it is important to log in on time.

PASSWORD: BOPPARTY

It is that time of year again where we promote the Whitehorse Council 'Walk To School' initiative. It is a great opportunity when the sun is shinning for children to walk, ride or scoot to school/home either alone or with a friend. What a great way to have a chat in the morning and afternoon. Whilst this year we wont be funded, we will look to running our normal Walk to School Breakfast in December.

A letter was sent in your child's bag today with a fundraising order forms. Bakers Delight are offering the opportunity to purchase delicious Christmas tarts and cakes as a fundraising opportunity for Christmas. If you can help and would enjoy some tasty treats please fill out and return forms by the Friday 30th October.

I have included a digital copy via link to print and return.

Bakers Delight Order link

On Wednesday we had our first orders delivered from Classroom Cuisine. The children were all very excited and there was a wide range and choice of lunches. The children all seemed to be very happy with their lunch.

A reminder that although you can order 2 or 3 items , it is delivered after recess so children need to bring a snack for morning tea. 

Orders must be placed before 8:30 on Wednesdays and if ordered correctly you receive a confirmation email. Classroom Cuisine

I am very aware that there has been a great deal of communication between teachers and parents in regards to their child's work. This has been via phone calls, email, and Zoom sessions. We are planning to hold Parent Teacher interviews early in December (sending out reports a little earlier) to enable all parents to book a Parent Teacher Interview.

Naturally if you have any concerns , you are able to make a time to talk to teachers via Zoom before this time.

Whilst it is WONDERFUL to be  back at school, in order to maintain a healthy school environment , we MUST continue to practice good hygiene practices.

We are enforcing

• Hand washing and sanitising regularly throughout the day and at specific times e.g. before and after eating before and after play and lunch breaks
• Bubblers ( drinking fountain) and Adventure Playground out of action 
• Children located at own table and spaced over classroom spaces to cut down on multiple sanitising requirements
• Additional cleaning to cater for cleaning of high touch point areas  e.g light switches. door handles. shared spaces/furniture
• If children are sick with even mild symptoms of cold /flu they MUST stay home
• If children show symptoms of cold/flu parents will be contacted and they MUST be picked up
• Drop off ( Car Park) -No exiting from car by adults 
• Loop pick up  ( No exit from cars by adults & NO Car Park pick up) teachers will assist children into cars
• Walkers (Parents only permitted immediately inside grounds at gate and MUST practice Social Distancing)
• Children will be walked to gate at the end of the school day.

THERE IS NO NEED FOR :

Staggered play and lunch ( due to generous grounds)

Staggered start and end of day ( due to drop off and pick up window)

IF YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO TEACHER:

Parents are encouraged to email a teacher if they have any questions or concerns and the teacher will reply either by email or phone. The teacher should be the first point of call.   

As I am sure , everyone is aware, it is compulsory to wear a mask on school grounds for anyone over 12 ( excluding primary school children.). Please adhere to this restriction. It is particularly important for any parent/person over 12 picking up children at gates.

In line with health regulations we have posted several additional signs since Term 2. These have been mandated as a apart of our COVID 19 Plan. Signs reminding us to wash and sanitise hands, sneezing protocols, wearing a mask and social distancing  are positioned all around our school. We do have a lot of people on site after hours and on weekends so they are very important reminder for all.

Next time you enter our beautiful courtyard which is in full bloom, you will notice a new sign making our School Vision very clear for all who enter our school. We have also added to our School Child Safety signs highlighting our commitment to child safety and mottos  St Timothy's- A GREAT PLACE TO BE & EDUCATING THE MIND & HEART.

Amidst all the Remote Learning this year, St Timothy's has been preparing for their Review. The Review has two major component. A VRQA (Victorian Registration Qualifications Authority) and an Catholic Education Melbourne Educational review which looks at four spheres

• Religious Dimensions
• Learning & Teaching
• Wellbeing
• School Community
• Leadership and Management

We reflect on the past 4 years using a range of evidence e.g.  child, staff and parent surveys , academic results. This helps us identify strengths  and challenges and set future direction.

At the moment we are still unable to have any liturgies. Therefore it is likely that unless numbers allowed at church are increased that the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation will go ahead this year. The Sacraments instead will be celebrated in 2021. For our Year 6 group and Confirmation this means that they will be invited to return in 2021.

We will have a Graduation Mass in some form but at this stage it may be children only and streamed to families. We will not make  decision on this until later in the term in case restrictions change. We will work on a variety of scenarios  to provide a range of options and ability to make a late decision. The date will remain the same Tuesday 15th December.

I understand that parents are all looking forward to the end of the year and particularly our Year 6 families.  It is impossible to make long range plans at this stage as things can change day to day week to week or month to month.

As a result children, parents, staff are asked to brainstorm a range of alternatives/options to what Graduation Mass, Graduation Dinner and Celebrate the Learning Christmas Celebration might look like. It will be a positive experience but will be different to previous years. We need to simplify so we can spring into action regardless of the restrictions. Celebrate the Learning (TBC) Monday 14th December  Grade 6 Graduation Mass & Dinner (TBC) Tuesday 15th December   

A reminder that any volunteers are required to have a current Working With Children's Check. St Timothy's greatly appreciate all assistance provided but we MUST meet the guidelines to ensure a safe environment for our children.

Thank you