Dear Parents and Caregivers,

I would like to thank all families for the beautiful way the children have returned to school in Week 3 in their winter school uniform. I am aware that there has been a supply issue with the girl’s uniform in particular, and thank parents for doing their best. It may be worth checking our preloved uniforms near the school office. With the change of weather, the winter uniforms are being worn at the right time.  

All of our staff and students were so excited to welcome parents, grandparents and friends to the Mothers Day celebration last Friday. The prayer service led by the students and staff certainly paid great homage to the role of mothers in our society. A special thank you to those who attended and remained afterwards to have time with the children. Thank you to all staff and students, especially Mrs Mathieson, Mrs Royston, Mr Anderson and the Year 2W class. 

As we move forward from COVID19, the school will be engaging with staff and families regarding the reintroduction of infants/primary assemblies as well as movement by parents and caregivers back on to the school playground before and after school. To achieve success in these areas, some new procedures will need to be implemented to assist students and families. These will be introduced firstly to the students and practiced prior to implementation. A measured reintroduction will allow the present calm environment to be maintained. 

This week the students in Year 3 and year 5 have commenced NAPLAN. This testing program gathers information from a moment in time in the areas of numeracy and literacy. Students who miss out on the testing on a given day, are given the opportunity to do the testing when they return to school from illness or other reasons. NAPLAN provides families and the school with individual feedback and trends in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Please keep these students and staff in your prayers during this next week and a half. 

This coming Saturday 14 May 2022, a number of our leadership team, SSOs and AEAs will be assisting me to interview students for Kindergarten 2023. Based on our early enrolments, we are expecting all Kindergarten classes to be full for 2023. If you have friends, family or your own children who would like to be enrolled in our Kindergarten 2023 class, please ensure that an enrolment form is returned to the school. We will continue to interview prospective Kindergarten students after this coming Saturday, but places will certainly be limited for 2023.

A number of our students are currently trying out for various representative sporting teams. Good luck to these students and their families who are transporting them as far away as Forbes! We are still hoping that the Diocesan Cross Country will occur on Tuesday 24 May 2022 at Willandra. Improved weather over the next two weeks is required. Thank you to Mr Allmark for coordinating all of the sporting events. 

The car park opposite the Church still continues to provide challenges for families. The recent rain has created a bit of a quagmire on the lower end of the carpark. It may assist to consider parking in the public carpark off Osborne St as an alternative to the school carpark. To allow more teaching time in the afternoon, all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 are dismissed at the same time at 3pm. Students whose parents are not at school by 3pm are supervised at the crossing until parents arrive. If you wish to avoid the congestion, aim to be at school by 3.10pm. Many families have departed by then and your children will remain safe and supervised. 

Yours in Faith and Virtue,

Christopher Paton

Principal