Week 1 Update
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back for the start of Term 2. As you would know, the state government has announced a range of easing of Covid restrictions. Please see full details below.
Our first week back has been very busy, and it has been great to see all of our students returning to school. We have had a number of new families join us over the holidays and I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new students, I know that they are being welcomed into their individual classrooms and our students are doing a great job of ensuring our new students are feeling welcomed into their new school.
AIEO
I would also like to welcome on board our newest staff member, Mrs Chantelle Burgess. Chantelle joins us this term as the Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer and will be working with us each Tuesday and Wednesday. Rubeun who has been working with us during Term 1 as the AIEO has decided to pursue his painting on a more permanent basis and I would like to thank him for the work that he has completed at our school. Our Aboriginal art mural is looking fantastic and Rubeun will still continue to work on this with our students.
ANZAC Ceremony
On Wednesday 27 April, our student leaders participated in our Dianella Education Precinct commemorative ANZAC ceremony. Due to Covid restrictions, the ceremony was filmed and the streamed into the classrooms. Vince Connelly, Federal Member for Stirling, was our special guest at the ceremony. Vince who is a returned serviceman, spoke about his experiences in East Timor and also presented each of the schools with a new flag, thank you Vince for sharing your experiences and addressing the ceremony. Our students did an outstanding job demonstrating their leadership capabilities in confident and respectful manner. Well done. Please see photos below.
Dance Till You Drop
On Friday the 29 April we held our whole school Dance Till You Drop performance. It was an outstanding success and the parent turn out certainly justified the postponing of the performance. Our students under the guidance of Ms Dakota, did an amazing job presenting their choregraphed performances of dancing through the ages. It was very rewarding to see our student shine so brightly in the arts. Each of the individual class performances have been filmed and your child's classroom teacher will upload the video file to their individual Connect page. Make sure you log onto Connect to see your child's dance performance, there are some photos from the day included below.
Saver Plus
Would you like up to $500 of matched savings that can be used for any school based expenses, such as uniforms, school supplies, camps or excursions? Do you have a Health Care Card or a Pensioner Card? If so, you may be eligible to participate in the Smith Family Saver Plus Program. The Smith family will be running an online information session on Friday the 27 May about this program. Please see flier attached for full details.
Interschool Sport
This Friday our senior students will participate in our first game on interschool sport for the year. This week we will be taking on students from Roseworth Primary School in Netball, Soccer and AFL football. This is very exciting for our students as this is the first time in over two years that we have been able to participate in Interschool sport, good luck to all of our competitors on Friday.
Covid Restrictions
The state government has announced that public health and social measures were eased from 12.01am Friday 29 April (details at wa.gov.au).
For schools, these changes include:
· masks no longer mandatory at school except for in specific settings and circumstances. Masks are encouraged for staff and students (Year 7 and above) where physical distancing is not possible.
· density and capacity limits no longer apply to school activities
· asymptomatic close contacts no longer required to isolate (see requirements below)
· an additional supply of RATs for all students and staff.
If your child becomes an asymptomatic close contact, due to a person in your household being COVID-19 positive, they will no longer have to isolate for 7 days. They will be required to:
· do a daily Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and receive a negative result each day to attend school
· wear a mask at school (for students in Year 7 and above) and when travelling on public transport or ride-share.
We will let you know when you can collect the free RATs the state government is providing for all students. In the meantime, if your child becomes symptomatic or a household close contact, please contact us.
All school activities can resume, and we will continue to follow COVID-19 safe measures:
· all staff and regular workers (including regular volunteers) at school are double dose vaccinated (third dose vaccinated within one month of being eligible)
· adequate ventilation in each classroom, in line with health advice
· enhanced cleaning remains in place.
If your child becomes symptomatic they should stay home and be tested for COVID-19. Refer to healthywa.wa.gov.au for information on close contact definition, testing and isolation requirements. You should notify the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19.
Thank you for your continued efforts in keeping our school COVID-19 safe.
Kind Regards
Anthony Middleton
