Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back after the two week break. As I indicated last term, we will trial the school newsletter going home each fortnight rather than weekly.  The newsletter will go home in Weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. This is due to the improved ability to communicate to families via Compass. Towards the end of term, I will ask for family feedback to assist planning for newsletter regularity in Term 4.

The first few days of the new term have been very settled and students have certainly returned to school ready for learning. We have a couple of staff adjustments for Term 3 and 4. I was informed last week by Mrs Margaret Webster that she has been advised to take leave from teaching until the end of the year. Mrs Webster has been experiencing some health issues for a short period of time and will require leave until the start of the 2021 school year. The following teacher arrangements have been made for the remainder of the year. Mrs Christine Hart has accepted the role of 5R teacher from Monday to Thursday each week. Our Middle Leader Mr Pat Douglas will teach in 5R each Friday as well as some mornings to support Mrs Hart and the students. A number of staff have been moved into new roles to accommodate this change of teacher.  

• Mrs Bessell-Browne will take up Mrs Hart’s role in the Good Samaritan Centre each Thursday and Friday
• Mr Dylan Anderson will take up Mrs Hart’s role in 2R each Tuesday
• Mrs Tara King-Gee will take up Mr Douglas’ role in 3R each Wednesday. 

I am grateful for the goodwill of all staff involved in these changes for Term 3 and 4. We will continue to keep Mrs Webster in our prayers.

All families received communication from our Director Peter Hill and me towards the end of the holidays. In this letter we reiterated the protocols that will be continued to ensure our students, staff and families remain safe from COVID. The increased cleaning procedures at school have remained in place and social distancing is an absolute must. Mrs Rutkowski and I reviewed our afternoon dismissal processes earlier in the week and we are pleased by the circular flow of parents into and out of the school in the afternoon. There are still some concerns with parent/carer social distancing and we will commence laying out physical reminders to keep all of us safe. The major concern with social distancing at the moment involves the parents and carers sitting on the seats or benches around God’s Grass. Laminated coloured reminders will be placed on the seating by our senior students each afternoon and we ask parents and carers to be guided by these, just as we are in shopping centres and businesses. Laminated coloured reminders will be scattered on the grass as well to remind parents and carers of the social distancing. Mrs Rutkowski and I will be on God’s Grass on Friday afternoon to introduce and support the new coloured reminders.

After reviewing the afternoon dismissal procedures, we will be making a minor time adjustment. From Friday afternoon, students in Kindergarten to Year 3 who have been collected at 2.45pm, will now be collected at 2.50pm. This change is to allow slightly more learning time for all students in the school. This minor time adjustment will still allow safe movement in and out of the school playground. The rest of the students will move out of their classrooms from 3pm. We will monitor this minor time change during the next few weeks.

An area that we have been receiving complaints about is the car park opposite the Church. The main complaints include where cars are parking as well as unsafe driving as parents and carers drive in and out of the carpark. In today’s newsletter I will share with parents the parking process again. To assist the concerns raised in the complaints, some of the teachers and I will be in the carpark for a couple of days early next week to observe and advise parents and carers regarding safe practice. After the first couple of days, I will be seeking police support to ensure all students and families are able to move in and out of the carpark safely. Thank you to those parents and carers who always do the right thing. I am available to discuss my stance with parents and carers if you wish.

As a Catholic school, St Michael’s Nowra has always had a strong reputation for raising funds for those not as fortunate as ourselves. The family support for raising money for the missions and other causes has always been outstanding. Due to COVID19, our opportunities to raise funds for these worthy causes has been greatly diminished. As we move into the new normal, we will be giving families the opportunity to be engaged in some fundraising again. On Friday 31 July 2020 we will be having a Mufti Day. This will coincide with the MiniVinnies ‘Winter Sleepout’ which will occur on the Friday night. There is further information about this important fundraising opportunity and all families are invited to support it in whatever way they can.

Finally, this week we would normally celebrate the Feast day of St Joachim and St Anne, the grandparents of Jesus with an open day and liturgy. Sadly, we are unable to do this due to COVID19 restrictions, but will send home to you a slideshow of St Michael’s grandparent photos. Many families submitted a photo which has been put into a slideshow organised by Mrs Callaghan. Please extend my personal message of thanks to all grandparents and thank you to Mrs Callaghan for preparing such a beautiful slideshow.

Yours in Faith and Virtue,

Mr Christopher Paton