Term 2 Community Update: Tuesday 26 April
Covid Update
FACE MASKS
From 11.59 pm Friday 22 April, face masks, while recommended, are not required in any school setting. This means students in grades 3 to 6, staff and visitors in primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. Any student or staff member who wishes to wear a mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.
SCREENING REQUIREMENTS
Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, and have completed their 7-day isolation period, now do not need to undertake rapid antigen test (RAT) screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. This was previously 8 weeks.
HOUSEHOLD CONTACTS
Students and staff who are household contacts of a COVID-19 case are no longer required to quarantine. Household or household-like contacts can return to school as long as they undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) 5 times within their 7-day period and wear face masks indoors if they are aged 8 and above unless they have a valid exemption.
If any household contact returns a positive RAT result during this period, they must isolate for 7 days and not attend school.
VACCINATION
Vaccination requirements for visitors to schools: Parents, carers and other adult visitors not performing work are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Parents that are performing work, will be asked to show evidence of vaccination, to a school office staff member, next time they are on-site.
PARENTS ON-SITE: ASSEMBLIES, MEETINGS, DROP OFF/PICK UP
All staff, students and visitors to schools should practise good hand hygiene, particularly on
arrival to school, before and after eating, after blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using
the toilet.
All parents who intend to perform work on-site are required to have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine unless a medical exemption applies.
In light of the latest vaccination requirements, if a parent is attending the site, but is not performing work, they can enter the buildings and attend events such as Prayer Gatherings in the Church.
RAPID ANTIGEN TESTING
The supply of RATs will continue for the first 4 weeks of this term. The screening recommendations remain the same (ie testing twice weekly).
Please continue to report any positive cases to the school via email - office@spmonbulk.
Parents and Friends (P&F) Update: AGM
A reminder that ANY parent is welcome to join the P&F!
We have started planning for:
- MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST AND MOTHER'S DAY STALL: Please save the date! Mum's will be invited to Mother's Day Breakfast on the morning of Friday 6 May. We will also host a Mother's Day Stall on the day where students can buy gifts for Mum!
- HOT LUNCH DAYS TO RETURN: I am very excited to announce that our Hot Lunch Days will return next term! I wish to acknowledge Jodie, Gabi's (Year 4) Mum, for offering to take on the Hot Lunch Co-ordinator role. We reassured Jodie that she is not alone! There will be many helpers, but it is fantastic to have a person willing to get the Hot Lunch Days up and running again.
- 2023 COUNTRY FAIR: The biennial Country Fair will run in February, 2023. Preparations will soon begin!
NOTICE OF P&F ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The St Paul’s Parents and Friends Committee (P&F) will be holding its Annual General Meeting this Thursday 28 April at 9.00am in the Meeting Room. The P&F is eagerly seeking additional members to join our re-established committee. Please come along for a cuppa and see what the P&F is all about. If you would like further information, ask Helen at reception for a copy of the St Paul’s Parents & Friends Constitution.
School Car Park Procedure
With regard to safety within the school, you may be aware that our school basketball court/car park lines are in the process of being re-done. Please note the following:
- Children, regardless of age, must always be accompanied by an adult when walking through the car park to the school or vice versa (In other words, hold the hands of young children. Older children should never be more than 1m away from an adult.)
- Children and adults should always use the designated pathways - please do not stand and talk on the asphalt basketball court before or after school when it is used for parking
- Please stay with your car if you stop in the drop off zone (under the basketball rings - quick drop off only)
- At the conclusion of the school day, when children have been collected from their classroom, they should never be allowed to go to their vehicle unaccompanied by an adult, regardless of their age.
These regulations exist to ensure the safety of all children and adults within the car park area.
Over the holidays we have made some changes to our school car park. These changes are indicated by painting blue lines for our car park bays, directional lines and crossing spaces. A new car park map is provided below - please note the traffic flow requirements carefully. In summary, the following changes have been made to our asphalt area:
- Car park bays at the centre and edges of the court are painted in blue
- Crossing/walking paths have been painted to indicate safe walking areas (note: some of these paths are being finished off in the coming days/weeks, weather dependent)
- There is now NO REVERSE PARKING at the bottom of our asphalt area - this has been removed in the best interest of safety.
Uniform Update
FROM SUMMER TO WINTER UNIFORM
The St Paul’s school uniform communicates a sense of identity and school pride. Our Uniform Shop is well stocked, and happily staffed, to ensure that all children are appropriately dressed. We also have secondhand uniform of particularly good quality. The staff appreciates the support of parents in ensuring the students are in the correct and appropriate uniform.
Particularly I wish to thank our families for providing the correct black leather school shoes. Some shoe companies (just like our children!), push the boundaries as to what is acceptable and challenge us as parents. We all know what the correct black leather school shoes look like, and we are very grateful to our families for setting high standards on this.
As has been the practice in the past, students can wear summer uniform if they wish for the first 2 weeks of Term 2, until the weather cools down. Parets and students can decide between summer and winter uniform at the beginning of this term, depending on the weather forecast. We do not require hats to be worn on the yard during Term 2 and Term 3.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school and we look forward to another great term at St Paul's.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Watt