As the COVID drama seems to build each day now that Canberra is in a 7 Day lock down, it is important that we stay up-to-date with the latest information and directions. Currently we have been informed that if you were in Canberra after 5 August you are subject to stay at home orders. These mean you are required to stay at home at all times unless you attend essential work or school (which is classed as essential) and then return home. You must consult the ACT Health website to check that the nominated hot spots were not sites that you had visited whilst you were in the ACT. If this is the case then you are considered a close contact and must consult the NSW Health directives. If you are concerned then please contact the NSW COVID hotline to seek clarification. We are endeavouring to keep school open and COVID free so we would appreciate if you sourced the most current information around your travels. Please keep those impacted by COVID-19 in your prayers. We have many vulnerable people in our communities that are feeling the crushing effects of no employment, sickness or mental health because of the current COVID situation.

Attached to this newsletter are instructions that have been developed for parents and carers regarding the use of Microsoft Teams at home for iPads, laptops, desktop computers and chromebooks. While of general support for parents and carers, it will be especially useful to support students if remote learning is required. Over the past weeks and days staff have started to plan for the possibility of remote learning so all students have been instructed to down load the Microsoft TEAMS app onto their IPads to receive video calls and messages. In such a situation where we are in subject to a lockdown the school will move to remote learning as the only platform for teaching and learning. The school will only be open for children of EMERGENCY workers and vulnerable students and will operate on a skeleton staff. As in the ACT, staff will be given 2 days to prepare for remote learning and these will pupil-free days. The transition to remote learning is extensive and we are aiming to make it as seamless as it can be if lockdown is decided. We will keep you up-to-date with decisions as they come to hand and please be assured we will do everything we can to make sure that our students and community are safe but continue to learn.

Printable_Handout_for_Families_iPad.pdf

Printable_Handout_for_Families_Web_Client.pdf

Printable_Handout_for_Families_Chrome_Browser.pdf

At Sacred Heart our teachers take their responsibility to help our students very seriously and this flows over in to the professional accounting of a student’s behaviour, learning, application and relationships for Paediatrician appointments and medical referrals. To be thorough, honest and professional it takes considerable time to write an accurate letter to support an appointment. This is necessary to ensure that accurate information is communicated to the medical specialist to support their diagnosis, medication or referral process. It takes many months to secure an appointment and we would appreciate if the teachers were given sufficient time to write the letters. Two weeks’ notice of an impending appointment that requires a letter would be appreciated so that the teachers can gather the necessary data/information, construct the letter and have the appropriate signatories on the letter.  Thank you for your assistance with this workload on the staff.

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. The link will be emailed out on Monday to all families.

A reminder that in the coming weeks we will be conducting some practice runs at the lockdown (NOT COVID) drill and identify ways that we can improve and refine our procedure.

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!