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Dear families,
I would like to start by thanking you all for your outstanding support for our school over the first 5 weeks of term. We have had a number of students who have been close COVID contacts, and the communication between home and school has been excellent, with families keeping their children home to isolate. Where there have been positive cases, again the communication has been excellent with all steps being taken to test, communicate and isolate. This has seen COVID numbers remain low at school. Where your child isn’t a close contact or unwell, we encourage regular attendance at school. I understand that some students and families are concerned about COVID, but as we have seen, the strong partnership between families and school is helping to keep everyone safe.
The Department of Education has just released their plan for weeks 6-10. There have been only minor changes made for school. Visitors are no longer required to wear a mask outdoors when on school site. We will notify you if there are any further updates to COVID safe practices in schools.
This week we were able to hold our athletics carnival on the town oval. For the carnival to go ahead we needed to ask spectators to stay in the car park areas at the town oval. I greatly appreciate the support of families with this. It was great to see a number of you watching from over the fence and supporting your child/ren on the day.
As a school we are unable to run school camps for at least the remainder of Term 1. Our Year 7 and 8 classes are planning to have team building days at Dodges Ferry and Spring Beach respectively.
Work has now started on the replacement of much of the school roof. Our tiles are old and easily damaged, and this led to regular leaks and flooding during heavy rain. Our roof should be replaced, along with some carpet, and ceilings and walls repaired/repainted by the start of Term 2.
We have also ordered 5 additional shade structures and some extra play equipment that will also be installed by early Term 2.
School Association
We are planning to hold our School Association AGM at the end of Term 1. We are currently looking to finalise the date and will communicate this with you asap. All parents are automatically members of the Association and can nominate to be on our Association committee. Nomination forms will soon be available for you to collect from the front office. Committee members must be fully COVID vaccinated to be able to attend the meeting in person, but there will be an option of connecting online as well. More information will also be provided about how the meeting will run in the next newsletter.
COVID Vaccinations
The Royal Flying Doctors Service will soon be offering COVID vaccinations at school for students 5yrs of age and above. The first session is planned for Thursday 24th of March, with a follow up 3 weeks later and then a final visit 8 weeks after that. We will be providing detailed information to families asap.
Yesterday we held our annual Athletics Carnival. Thanks to everyone who participated enthusiastically! And congratulations to the winners, Laburnum, who won by 7 points. Thanks to Mr S and Miss P and all our staff for organising a wonderful event.
Do you know about the Australian Government eSafety Commissioner?
In this age of rapidly changing technology, it’s so important for us to know ourselves, and then teach our children, how to navigate the online world. The eSafety Commissioner works to help Australians have safer, more positive experiences online.
This includes helping people who are experiencing online bullying or abuse, running programs and training on internet safety and helping organisations maintain the safety and rights of their online users.
This month there is a webinar for families of children aged 11-18 years on cyberbullying and online drama (I’ll keep you posted about other webinars throughout the year).
You can register here:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
They also have great general eSafety resources online:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/resources#videos
Meegan Richards | School Health Nurse | Department of Education
Student Validation and Minor Excursion Forms
Can all Student Validation and Minor Excursion forms please be returned to the school office as soon as possible.
Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic at School
The Royal Flying Doctors Service of Tasmania are offering Covid-19 Vaccination clinics for our students. These clinics will be held at the school.
Clinic dates are as follows:
Thursday March 24th - primary and secondary students, aged 5-18 years.
Thursday April 14th - second dose vaccination for students aged 12-18 years.
(Please note this is a student free day)
Thursday May 19th - second dose vaccination for students aged 5-11 years.
Consent forms will be available from the office for any families wishing to have their child/ren vaccinated.
Student Assistance Scheme (STAS)
Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) 2022
Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) 2022 letters have been sent to all families who were approved for STAS in 2021 advising them if they have been approved or not approved.
If a family wishes to add a new student to their existing STAS file they simply need to email their name, and the full name, date of birth, and grade of the student in 2022 via email to stas@education.tas.gov.au and we will add them to their existing file.
Alternatively, they can return the approval letter they have received which has the facility to provide the details of a newly enrolling student.
Note: STAS 2022 approval letters only need to be returned to Financial Services if the parent/guardian is adding a new student to their file
Parents/guardians with an existing STAS file cannot (and do not need to) apply for STAS online.
A newly enrolling student (i.e., Kinder) cannot be added to a file by using the online service.
Information regarding a new student can be email directly to stas@education.tas.gov.au by either the parent/guardian or by a School Business Manager.
Families applying for STAS for the first time can apply online at the STAS website or complete a hard copy form.
For any queries regarding this process please contact stas@education.tas.gov.au
A student (male) in Grade 7 needs transport from Gagebrook to Brighton Primary school each morning to catch the Campania school bus at 8:00 am.
He is able to meet you at a convenient location in Gagebrook, Bridgewater or Herdsmans Cove.
If you are able to assist, I would be forever grateful as would the student and his Mum.
Please call me (Mark from Mission Australia) on 0409 069 226 between 8:30 am – 5:00 pm to discuss.