What a difference a week makes. We thought last week was bad in response to the coronavirus but this week we have seen unprecedented panic buying and the cancellation of nearly all activities that involve groups of people gathering together. For the last couple of days email after email filled our inboxes with new cancellations and dire warnings

At this time of writing there are no plans to close the school. We are definitely putting measures in place in the event that we need to close because of contact with a COVID-19 case, or we are operationally unable to fulfil our duty of care (eg too many staff away). We are putting planning in place to continue to provide quality educational outcomes if there is reason to close the school for any period of time. We will be gathering information about internet access, availability of technology and email addresses “just in case” we are told to close. We are putting different contingencies in place so that we can continue to meet the educational needs of our students. As you would be aware, this is a totally new prospect for our teachers and staff. It is a totally unprecedented space where we are trying to prepare as best we can for a classroom we never thought we would be providing. Catholic Education and the Department of Education are collaborating and working very hard to supply the resources that teachers will need to provide lessons. We will be sending out information on expectations of teachers, students and parents in such an event that we are required to close the school. Please be patient as we work in this unfamiliar space.

We will definitely keep our community informed of developments as they happen. I have regular online meetings with Canberra to make sure we know what support is available and what are the latest recommendations for schools. Our Director Ross Fox is in daily contact with the Directors of all other Catholic sectors and the Government and Independent equivalents. All discussions are based around a nation as a whole response to issues like NAPLAN, closures, remote learning.

Please know that the wellbeing of students, families and staff is paramount in all our decision making.  If you have any concerns or issues please feel free to email me. I will endeavour to reply as soon as I possibly can.

We have shared letters on schoolzine with the latest information coming from Catholic Education. I have included, once more, the instructions that were forwarded last week in terms of best practice around protocols and management.

 The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has received advice from medical experts that we should employ best practice and be prudent in preventing the transmission of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Please read the information below that has been sent through from Catholic Education in regards to the response to the current situation.

Advice on School Closures for Non-Government Schools

Current advice is that mass school closures are unlikely. The Director is the only person who has the authority to close a school. Schools should not unilaterally close and will only close after consultation with CECG and NSW / ACT Health.

Sending Home Sick Students and Staff

As the impact of the virus on children and healthy adults can be quite mild there may be a tendency to continue working and attending school and hence increase the risk of infecting others. This is in contrast to SARS and Swine, where most people were quite unwell if infected. The advice from Health is that schools should be very strong on sending home staff and students who have the slightest sign of illness. This is not a time for soldiering on with coughs and colds.

NSW School Attendance Patterns

NSW Health wants CSNSW to monitor anything unexpected in school attendance levels of students and staff. It is a reasonable expectation there are far more cases in the community than have been identified and they are keen to get the earliest read they can on breakouts and hotspots. 

Hygiene 

Good hygiene remains the best protective measure against the spread of the virus:

• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water or hand sanitiser (for 20 seconds).
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue (dispose tissue into the bin) and then wash hands thoroughly.
• Avoid close contact with anyone displaying cold or flu-like symptoms and stay away from others if you are unwell.

Our school vision to “Learn, Lead, Live” should continue to inspire and motivate each of us every day as we strive to build a community with a common destiny.

Remember if you have to choose between being exceptional or kind, be exceptionally kind!

God Bless

Mrs Nicky Trinder

Principal

NAPLAN 2020

Dear Parents / Carers,

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy – important skills that each child needs to succeed in school and life. The NAPLAN tests are designed to help us make sure students are on track with their literacy and numeracy development. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in NAPLAN tests for reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

Between Monday 23rd March and Friday 3rd April, our school will participate in NAPLAN Practice Tests, which are designed to give students, teachers and systems an opportunity to practice administering and participating in the online testing environment. The practice tests consist of a Writing Test for Years 5, 7, & 9, and an Omnibus Test (a combination of reading, conventions of language and numeracy) for Years 3, 5, 7 & 9. As this is intended to practice participation, the questions are not equivalent to NAPLAN testing in May, and no results are available from the Practice Tests.

To see the types of interactive features of NAPLAN Online, visit the public demonstration site.

If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online, please contact your child’s teacher.

For more info:

•       How to support your child during NAPLAN
•       Watch a video that explains NAPLAN Online
•       Subscribe to ACARA’s monthly parent newsletter, Parent Update

Kind Regards 

Mrs Katie Thompson

(NAPLAN Co-ordinator for Sacred Heart)

Safe On Social - Parent Resources

We hosted Kirra Pendergast from Safe on Social this week and she spoke with our primary students (Year 4, 5 & 6), our secondary students (Year 7, 8, 9 & 10), staff and then our parents. Her key message was to keep ourselves, our students and our children SAFE on Social Media and her presentations were age appropriate, real and honest.  

The topics she covered in these student and parent/community presentations included:

• What you signed up for - we explain terms and conditions of use and what they mean.
• Keeping personal information private.
• Online stranger danger (online grooming).
• Ethics for when posting and sharing photos.
• Child exploitation/pornography, sexting, sextortion and image-based abuse (age appropriate).
• Creating a positive digital footprint and curating your online image.
• Cyber-bullying, online harassment, what it is and what to do.
• Legal responsibilities.
• Privacy settings.
• Online gaming safety.
• Strategies to build resilient digital citizens.

Kirra also covered the most popular social media apps being used in our school, such as Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Tic Tok and others (after discussing with the students what they are using in the first 5 mins of the presentation) - what they are, how they work, security and privacy tips for safe usage.

We have a special offer that is available to all families in our school. Kirra has just launched a brand-new online safety program for parents and school students called “The Safe on Social Toolkit”. How do you access this site:

• Visit her site at safeonsocialtoolkit.com
• The annual subs are $97 per year (with a 20% discount using the access code sacredheart
• You will get access to all her cheat sheets, 50 videos, webinars and any questions you have will be answered via email. 

Mrs Katie Thompson

Third  Week of Lent
(School week beginning 16^th March)

Project Compassion, Week 3, brings you the story of Barry, a Gamilaroi man originally from western NSW. Barry is a father of four and he embodies resilience and strength. Growing up in a tough environment, he had to look inside himself to make the right choices for himself and his family.

Your support of Project compassion can help build a brighter future for people like Barry through the Red Dust Healing program.

Let’s Go Further, Together! lent.caritas.org.au

Primary Sport

More information regarding the wonderful events by competitors at the Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival last week in Narooma. 

The Senior Boys Relay broke the record by 5 seconds and Halle Johnson broke the Junior Girls Breaststroke record.

Secondary Sport

Biathlon

Friday 6th March, secondary students participated in their Biathlon event from the town pool. Students ran or walked a 2km course around the creek and then swam 140m around the pool to complete the course. Congratulations to all who competed and especially to the following place getters:

sec biathlon photos https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1OubdCCFQe7O61-9Rfdpmt38hh-MS8vv4

Opens League Tag

Congratulations to the Open Girls League Tag team that played in Young last Tuesday. The girls first game against Temora High was a solid display of teamwork and determination wh9ich saw them come away with a win. A strong kicking game from Piper Scott was supported by powerful runs from Alex Oliver, Claudia McLeod and Maddie Gillies. Jacinta Watson’s passing game moved the ball across the field and tight defence from Ellie Miller, Marley Menzies and Laura Ward kept Temora from scoring. The second game against overall competition winners, Boorowa, was a tough encounter in the heat. India Bodycott and Frankie Scott had some effective breaks and the last minute defence of Nici Gale, Abbey Gammon and Emily Bodycott kept the score tight. Congratulations to the girls for a lovely day in the sun, and thank you to the parents who drove the girls over. 

Wagga/Canberra Goulburn Touch Trials

Congratulations to Darcey O’Toole and India Bodycott for trialling at the Canberra Goulburn/Wagga Dioceses Touch trials last Wednesday.

Secondary Sport Dates

Please see letter within Principal’s Report regarding the 

cancellation and postponement of all sporting events. 

**Parents of competitors, please ensure that you have registered your child online via https://csnsw.sport/. Please register your interest regardless of the trials going ahead. Trials may be run later or a paper trial may be required.