We made the claim last year, many times, that a day is a long time in a pandemic. We are reliving many of those experiences and emotions this year and it is not over yet. As we nervously watch the numbers of the virus rise in Greater Sydney we hope and pray that we can escape unscathed, without having to operate under lock down conditions. However, that being said, we are still preparing for the possibility and Catholic Education and our teachers are preparing for the possibility of a return to remote learning. If it does eventuate then we will remain open for children of emergency workers only and there will only be a skeleton staff on site on a rotational basis. The newest protocols released by Catholic Education are: minimal participation in external cultural and sporting events, cleaning and social distancing to be maintained, use of the QR check-in app, mask wearing recommended, COVID safe plans to be developed. Currently permission has been given for the interschool sporting pathways to continue for now – allowing us to attend the Small Schools Final and Trent Barrett (please note this is subject to immediate change if circumstances are no longer favourable) and staff are no longer permitted to travel and all Professional Learning is now virtual. As with last year we will keep you informed of any changes or updates and we will work to make this as stress-less as we can manage.

Our enrolments for 2022 are looking very positive and we are grateful for those who have booked interviews to prepare for the 2022 transition to ES1 or Year 7. In line with COVID directions we will be conducting our Year 7 Information Session virtually and information and links to the presentation will be sent out prior to the night. This has necessitated a change in date for the presentation from the 10^th August to the 17^th August to allow preparation of the presentation. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. We are still hopeful of being able to stage our Kinder Information session at the end of the month but we will just have to wait and see. Stay tuned for updates.

We welcomed our school Counsellor Mrs Price back to school this week and we are very glad to have her back supporting our students. We wish her husband a speedy recovery. Samantha’s caseload is very full currently as so many of our students are making the most of her excellent skills. Please be patient as she triages students and makes contact with as many students and parents as she is able.

REMINDER that with our new COMPASS system there is a requirement that parents sign in their children when they are late to school. As a duty-of-care requirement we need to have parents’ confirmation that the students were with them and to explain the absence. Please do not just drop them off and permit the student to sign themselves in. Thank you for your support in this matter.

After much discussion with students, staff and other schools, collectively we have decided to draw a very definite line when it comes to vaping and those who are involved (whether they are smoking or not). There will be quite strict suspensions around bringing a prohibited substance to school and smoking in the toilet or being actively present when others are smoking. We will always involve the parents in the discussions with the students if they are implicated in the activity. This may also necessitate that there are ‘at home’ suspensions that will require adult supervision to reinforce the strong stance that we are taking, as a school, to the issue of vaping. We are concerned that this illegal practice has been occurring across all years in secondary and I would encourage you to have some serious conversations with your children about this issue and the dangers of vaping and the seriousness of the consequences. In line with other schools in the region we will be issuing multi day suspensions and mandating parent interviews to help the student recognise that we take our duty-of-care very seriously.

This last week we have finalised our revision of our mandatory Lockdown policy (lockdown in terms of an external threat coming onto the school campus). As determined by law we are required to practice the necessary drills for fire, evacuation and lockdown in the case of a threat to the school community. All students across the school have been instructed in the procedure should there be the need to lock our students away from a threat or harm. All students have been taken through the process, been allowed to ask questions, identified the safe areas and the response that we expect from students and from staff if such a situation was to arise. Over the coming weeks we will have some practice runs at the drill and identify ways that we can improve and refine our procedure. In the event of a lockdown, for safety reasons students are asked to turn off their phones, refrain from using smart watches and all communication to the community/parents will go through nominated people. The police have assisted us in developing our procedure and have been involved in a site survey to make sure that we have the best safety measures in place. We will always place a message on schoolzine to indicate when we have a lockdown drill and when it has finished so that parents are aware of what has transpired at school.

NOTE from the Canteen: Please remember to have online orders for the canteen MUST be in by 9.30am to ensure that they are prepared ready for an 11.05 lunch. Thank you

Remember: If you can be anything…be kind!

God Bless!