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Welcome back to the school year everyone!
It’s been a mix of lots of the usual features of a fresh start and some adjustments to doing school community a la COVID 2022.
The start of a new year means a sudden speeding up for households as we shift gears and get used to daily school routines like ensuring there are enough uniform items for everyone each day, getting to school on time and responding to all the communications that help keep our activities running smoothly.
This is an exciting time as we welcome 150+ new students, particularly in Kindergarten and Years 7. The start of the year has been marked by a positive tone amongst our students getting back into regular rhythms of school life. I would like to encourage them to maintain the positive habits throughout the year.
The start of the year has also been flavoured by adjustments to help maintain the health and safety of our community. Rapid Antigen Home Tests were distributed very smoothly prior to the start of the year with a second round going out this week. I would like to acknowledge the work of our staff who made this smooth process possible including those who volunteered their time. Please keep engaging with this surveillance process and keep an eye out for any symptoms and stay home if you or your children are unwell.
I was speaking with a principal of a regional school this week who unfortunately has had to move two year groups (one being their Kindergarten) to learning from home while both large numbers of staff and students have positive test results. Thankfully we have avoided needing to take such steps to this point. This is a good reminder to keep vigilant and exercise good safety measures to help reduce the risk of large scale transmission.
It is for this reason we have worked to balance ‘school as normal’ with adjustments to our calendar of school activities. It is with great sadness we have decided to move the school musical to an alternate date, to avoid a possible peak in COVID transmission. This is particularly hard on the cast as they continue to rehearse for a opening night that has now been shifted twice. The school is waiting on confirmation of new dates. Once we have this confirmation we will let the community know. This will be a great production and worth the wait!
Our current climate also means that many of our school events will run in a modified form, including competitors only sports carnivals and adjusted camps programs in Term 1. Despite these changes the events themselves will prove to be times to celebrate school life.
Please ensure you can access the School App which is an essential communication tool for receiving updates, responding to absences, accessing calendar details, approving your child’s participation in activities, accessing key school documents and more. While many parents utilise Facebook as a means for finding out what is happening, the school uses this to post items of general interest and not specific event information in advance.
We are really looking forward to the year ahead, which will hold challenges of its own, just like any year, however coming out of the past two years we have great confidence that our students and staff will live out the school motto, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”
Yours in Christ
Keith McMullen
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23