Term 4 Week 3 Tuesday 18th October

Acknowledgement of Country

St Colman’s acknowledges the Girai wurung people as the traditional owners of the land on which our school stands and we respectfully recognise elders both past and present.

Our Prayer this Week

Let us Pray.

Love all God’s creation,
The whole and every grain of sand in it
Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light.
Love the animals, love the plants, love everything.
If you love everything,
You will perceive the divine mystery in things.
Once you perceive it,
You will begin to comprehend it better everyday.
And you will come at least to love the whole world
With an all embracing love.

Amen.

Feodor Dostoevski

From the Principal

Dear Families,

I hope everyone is ok after the weather events of the last few days. We understand that these can be frustrating and uncertain times. Buses have been particularly tricky. We are thankful to Mortlake College who, as the coordinating school, have been dealing with this changing situation. We'll also pass on any information that we receive and support families in the best way that we can during this time. 

Today, parents of Grade 5/6 students will receive a note in regards to the students upcoming school camp. It would be appreciated if parents could give permission via PAM as soon as possible. This will allow us to communicate any particular needs to the camp as soon as possible. 

A reminder to SAC members that our next meeting is 6.30pm this Wednesday night at MACs Hotel. 

Kind regards, 

Stacey

School Closure

Thank you to everyone for your support of our school closure day yesterday. During this day we were able to focus on some big picture thinking in regards to both Teaching and Learning and Family Engagement. 

These are important opportunities for staff to work collaboratively.

There are no more school closures this year. 

Out of School Care

Watch this space! More information about how St Colman's students can access out of school care will be coming in the next few weeks. 

Artist in Residence

A massive thank you to Emma Stenhouse who taught us all so much during her week at St Colman's and supported us to create this amazing piece of artwork that represents our school and community. I invite you to ask your child what it means to them and how they helped to create it. 

We can't wait to see it hanging in the foyer and hope, like the quilt in the corridor, that it will be a talking point for many years to come. 

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 14

Next

Our Changing Bodies

As part of our relationships and sexuality curriculum the senior class will be taking part in puberty education classes. These will take place over three sessions beginning on Monday the 31st of October and will be run by Amanda Nash who is a qualified nurse and has delivered these programs to other local schools. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to make contact with myself or Rosie. 

Junior Excursion to Halls Gap Z00

We're sure that everyone has had a great day today. 

Thanks to everyone for your support and to Shandell for her organisation and to Jenny and Ashlee for their support of the children. 

Award Winners

Congratulations to our award winners this week. Billie, Will, Charlotte, Kate, Ivy, Archie, Isabella, Scarlett, Leo, Blair and Milana. 

Congratulations to our MiniLit group, Archie, Char and Isabella, who are flying through the program. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Scarlett, we hope you've had a great day. 

Feeling Positive about Camp

Thanks to Clare Jehu for providing this article that many parents will find useful. 

Key Dates for the Diary

Term 4

18th October- Junior Excursion to Halls Gap

19th October -SAC meeting at MACs, 6.30pm

24th October- Dental Van arrives

28th October- Responsible Pet Ownership

2nd-4th November- Gr 5/6 Camp to Dunkeld

24th November- St Colman's Feast Day

5th and 6th December- Gr 3/4 Camp to Halls Gap

6th December- Global transition day (MRC and Mortlake College)

9th December- St Colman's Transition Day

16th December- Last day for students

Our Lady of Mercy Parish News

Children's Art Colouring Competition on Saturday 19 November.

Pop this one in your diary. 

COVID Reminders

New settings are now in place. 

Most settings are changing from must to highly recommended.

For example, you must stay home when testing positive is changing to, it is highly recommended that you stay home.  

Changes to COVID-19 isolation requirements.

It is strongly recommended that students: 

• Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.
• Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should: 

• Be collected by their parents/carers.
• Undergo testing for COVID-19. 

It is strongly recommended that staff: 

• Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.
• Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

COVID-19 reporting requirements.

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household. 

Schools no longer have to alert their school community of positive cases. 

Face masks.

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors. 

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home. 

Additionally, the department recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.