Bulletin Term 4, Week 1 2021
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
Welcome back to Term 4, let’s hope that this term is less tumultuous than Term 3! It was wonderful to see the smiling faces of students (and parents!) as students returned to school.
As you are aware the school has resumed under Level 3 restrictions. Essentially, this restricts parents from coming on site and prohibits certain school activities e.g. school assemblies, sport, excursions, camps and some musical activities.
The NSW Government is developing a roadmap out of COVID -19, this will mean the easing of some restrictions. As soon as these occur they will obviously be adopted and implemented by the school, you will be informed of these changes accordingly.
The school will continue to implement COVID-19 safe practices - sanitising hands, social distancing, increasing class ventilation, mask wearing by staff, additional cleaning etc. As of the 8th November any person who carries out work at a school (teachers, admin staff, school maintenance workers, contractors, volunteers, allied services, tutors etc) must either be fully vaccinated for COVID - 19 or have a medical contraindication certificate.
With the current restrictions, this has unfortunately effected of a number of proposed school events:
SPRING FAIR: scheduled for tomorrow (9th October) has had to be postponed. The Parent Forum are now looking at rescheduling this for next year, with a tentative date being Saturday 2nd April 2022. Can I express my sincere gratitude to the organising committee of this event, who put in so many hours preparing and organising for this event only to have it postponed. I am sure that as a school community we are all very grateful to all involved and as a school community we will certainly get behind and fully support our fair next year.
SPORT ELECTIVES: in Term 4 the school offers sport electives to our Year 3 - 6 students. This was to run for 5 weeks and included sports such as surfing, skateboard riding, kayaking, yoga, dance, tennis, games, etc. Unfortunately due to the current restrictions these cannot take place. Hopefully we can reschedule some events for later in the term.
SCHOOL CAMPS (Years 4, 5 & 6): At this point school camps cannot go ahead; however we are planning for this in the hope that restrictions will be lifted, which will enable these to happen - fingers crossed!!!
PLANNED EVENTS: we have scheduled events such as Grandparents / Friends Day, Kindergarten Orientation, Book Fair & Parade, School Graduations, Presentation days and much more. We are hoping to conduct these events but clearly this will be dependent on the restrictions at the time.
Term 4 is always very busy with lots happening. I would strongly encourage you to familiarise yourself with our school calendar so that you are aware and can plan for upcoming events.
ADMIN NEWS: The school has just changed its operating system moving from SAS to COMPASS. You will now receive the majority of school correspondence via COMPASS. As we are still in the changeover period, we are still utilising Flexischools and SeeSaw. Eventually COMPASS will be a “one stop shop” for all communication/transactions. Eventually lunch orders placed through Flexischools will be replaced by Compass Canteen which will be located within COMPASS. SeeSaw will be retained as an electronic student portfolio only. Parent/Teacher/School communication will happen via COMPASS. No doubt there will be a few hiccups along the way, I ask for your patience and understanding (and keep our Office Ladies in your thoughts!). As changes occur you will be notified and given support in the transition.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS: During the holidays the school had an awning attached to the outside of the drama room. This was constructed to provide additional shade and a barrier to the natural elements; rain and in particular from the morning sun, which caused the room to become exceptionally hot in the summer months.
PARENT FORUM: our next Parent Forum meeting will be held on Wednesday night at 6.30pm. Due to current restrictions the meeting is restricted to committee members only being in attendance. The meeting will be live streamed on Facebook if you would like to listen in and contribute on line.
MONSTER RAFFLE: Our Monster Raffle is drawing to a conclusion. Many thanks to all families for your support, this a major fundraising event for the Parent Forum. The raffle will be drawn on our Grandparents & Friends Day on 29th October. If you still have tickets could you please return them prior to cut off date 18th October (sold or unsold!).
No doubt all families have to deal with the effects of COVID-19, be it with social/emotional wellbeing, financial concerns and mixed levels of anxiety. As mentioned previously I have been approached by numerous families and businesses who have asked me if they can support the school or any families. If you require support or assistance in any way, you can contact the school or speak to me personally. All matters will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Please be assured we have a wonderful school community who can help!
This term we have two new families who have joined our school community. We welcome:
- Grace (K) and Indiah (Yr 2)
- Isabella (Yr 1)
To their respective parents Tennille and Dean & Rebecca and Sam, we welcome you and trust that your association with St Ambrose will be a long and rewarding one!
On the staff front we extend our congratulations to:
- Mrs Tori Martin (Kindergarten) and her husband Josh as they announced the impending birth of their first child in February next year.
- Congratulations to Miss Marin (Year 3) who announced her engagement during the holidays to Rory.
- Congratulations to Miss Fisher who announced her engagement to Kane at the end of last term.
I am sure you join with me in wishing them all the very best!
As mentioned it is wonderful to see everyone back at school and we look forward to a fabulous Term 4.
Warm Regards,
Brian Laybutt
Principal
School News
World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day – 10 October – is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. The theme for this year's campaign is to encourage people to “Look up, look out, and look forward!” by noticing their surroundings, taking care of others, and having activities on the horizon to feel enthusiastic about.
There has recently been media attention around the negative impact of social media on young people. To learn practical strategies to support your children to have a positive experience when online, register for one of the numerous free eSafety parent webinars on Digital technologies and Mental Health and Online Gaming.
Parent Forum Info
Community News
“Registrations are still open and being accepted. The season is expected to commence on 24th October or 31st October pending NSW Health Order update.
We have another registration assistance, pool proficiency and ocean proficiency day this Saturday 9th October from 8.30am at the Cudgen Surf Club. All are welcome.
Like us on Facebook – ‘Cudgen Nippers’ for more information.”