Dear Parents and Carers,

A warm welcome to Term 3. These beautiful cold but sunny days are what are great about winter in Canberra. I am a person that doesn’t mind winter and loves nothing more than a sunny winter morning where the brisk air greets you as you walk out the door. As long as the sun is out winter in Canberra is enjoyable!

Welcome to our new student Harrison who joins us in Year 4. We look forward to learning more about you and your family as the term progresses.

COVID Update

Yesterday you received a letter from the Mr. Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn regarding the expected COVID-19 impacts on our schools for Term 3. Please note that the safety and welfare of students and staff will always be the priority for all decision making by Catholic Education and our school. In the ACT CECG COVID Plan for Term 3, you will notice some slight changes for this term.

Key points to note are:

• Social distancing and COVID cleaning and hygiene practices remain essential.
• Please keep your child/ren home if they are at all unwell. Parents will be notified and asked to collect their child/ren if they are exhibiting any symptoms of being unwell.
• Although not a requirement, staff and visitors are encouraged to wear masks.
• Rapid Antigen Tests are available for distribution on request. Please forward these requests to the front office.
• Schools will continue to communicate to their school communities when a significant number of COVID cases are recorded. Parents are asked to advise the school when their child tests positive.
• Limited parents and carers should be on site. All meetings should be remote—by exception parents/carers may attend on site if outside of hours.
• School Tuckshop will remain open.
• Parents and carers are not permitted to attend school assemblies or masses. Parents are able to attend morning assemblies but are asked to social distance and not congregate together.
• During school hours, parents and carers are not permitted to attend activities. Attendance after school hours is permitted if outdoors or ticketed (attendance numbers known and catered for).
• It is strongly recommended that all Community Council meetings are held remotely.
• Essential visitors (e.g. Allied Health professionals) and volunteers that provide a critical service are permitted to attend school sites.
• Any activity that takes a teacher off class or off site will not occur.
• There will be no school camps or excursions after week 2. This includes sporting events and gala days.
• School drop off and pick up arrangements will remain the same. Parents are encouraged to wait outside the gates for their children.
• Guidelines for household contacts remains the same.
• Where a student who is a household contact wishes to attend school, they must:
  • Undertake a COVID-19 test in the 24 hours prior to returning to school and then every 48 hours if ongoing attendance is required;
  • Only leave home if they are asymptomatic and a negative result is returned; if a positive result is returned, they must immediately comply with requirements for people who test positive for COVID-19.

We thank you for your continued assistance and support in keeping our school safe and open.

God bless.

Rachel Smith

Principal

Principal’s Notes

School Calendar

As you are aware we set our school calendar at the beginning of the school year, and it is readily available on our school website. Unfortunately, many of our planned events for Term 3 have had to be cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. We are currently finalising an updated calendar for Term 3 and will shortly amend our school calendar on the website. Please understand that as restrictions change in the ACT so may some of the calendar dates and events.

August is Hats ON again!

August is fast approaching, and although still cold, it is the month we start to witness a rise in UV levels in Canberra that warrants sensible sun protection during at least some periods of the day.

The beginning of August is Hats ON Again for all of us!

In Canberra average daily UV levels reach 3 and above for part or most of every day between August and May. When UV levels reach 3 and above, the Cancer Council recommends sun protection to reduce the potential risk of skin damage which lays the ground work for skin cancer later in life, including deadly melanoma.

From August through to the end of May each year St Clare of Assisi students will need to wear their hat as a form of sun protection. It may also be worth considering the use of sunscreen over the remaining winter and spring months.

Student Absences

Parents, please note that even if you have made a phone call informing the school that your child is away, we still need a written note or email upon their return explaining the absence, otherwise your child will be marked as ABSENT WITHOUT REASON in the Class Roll. If a child arrives at school after 9.00am they need to be signed in at the front office. St Clare of Assisi Primary School is regularly audited by the Education Department re - Student Absences. If you know in advance that you will need to pick your child up early from school, please notify your child’s teacher ahead of time via a note or email.

School Fees

Thank you to the many families who have finalised their fees for last term. Term 3 School Fees will be sent out shortly via email for the families that have selected this option otherwise they will be sent home as per normal. If you have not yet finalised your Term 2 fees, could you please attend to this as a matter of urgency. Should you be experiencing difficulty with the fees please come and make a time to speak with the school.

Uniform

As we return for the new term, I feel it is timely to remind our students and families about our school uniform policy. Below is an excerpt from the policy regarding student appearance. Please read through it and discuss it with your child.

Student Appearance

• All aspects of student’s appearance are gender inclusive i.e. apply to both girls and boys.
• Student’s hair should be clean and neat; fashionable extremes are not permitted. Shoulder length hair or longer must be tied back. Only natural, all-over hair colour is acceptable. The Principal or Assistant Principal will contact parents if other hair styles are of concern.
• Accessories are to match school colours (maroon, navy blue, yellow and white).
• No jewellery may be worn other than small, plain (silver or gold, no colour) ear studs, a watch or medical alert identification. Only one stud per ear (i.e. earlobe)
• Nail polish and make-up in any form are not part of the school uniform.
• Students out of uniform are required to bring a note from home on the day.
• If a student is out of uniform, parents may be contacted and requested to give a commitment to resolve the problem.

Leaving St Clare of Assisi

Don’t forget to let us know if you are planning to leave St Clare of Assisi at the end of the year. (Year 6 exempt of course!) Please use the link below.  We will soon commence the process of planning enrolments and class numbers for next year. 

https://stclareconder.schoolzineplus.com/form/10

Congratulations to the children who will be awarded white cards at the 8.45am Friday Morning assembly this week.

The link below is a user friendly guide for parents and families on managing Compass:

https://www.compass.education/guide

Please note the following functions are not yet utilised at SCA: Ordering Photos  and Wallet

As part of the SCA uniform children can now wear a SCA school bucket hat or the legionnaire hat.

Lowes/ Savvy now have School Bucket Hats for sale for $19.95.