Dear Parents,

Welcome to the start of Remote Schooling 2.0. This is not the news that we were hoping for, however I know that we can get through this together.

Over the past two days, the staff have been preparing for what remote schooling will look like this time around. We all learnt a lot from remote schooling the first time and have adapted a number of things to ensure success for you and your child. Over the past few days you will have received a number of emails from me and your child’s teacher. These emails will provide you with much needed information and support you in the initial stages of this remote schooling journey.

You will notice that the teachers have provided you with a specific timetable to work through each day. This will provide explicit instructions on each expected task and allow your day to be more structured and easier to follow. Whilst hopefully being easier for you and your child, we understand that all family situations are different and that teachers, parents and students need to be flexible during this time. The wellbeing of you, your child and your family is of great importance. Our message is the same as last time; please do what you can! We understand that it is tricky balancing school, work, life and family and we are here to support you as best as we can.

There are specific guidelines released by the State Government regarding remote schooling. These state that, all students who can learn from home will be required to learn from home, except where:

students whose parents, guardians or carers are considered as permitted workers
students with additional needs who require learning adjustment
vulnerable students including:
- children in out-of-home care
- children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm
- children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service).

These are very clear guidelines regarding who is able to access on-site supervision. The intent behind this is to ensure the safety of staff and students in schools, by limiting who can attend. Unfortunately, it is not possible for all students to be at school. If you are working from home, have a day off work, aren’t working at the moment, are studying, or have access to alternative care arrangements, then your child cannot be accessing the on-site supervision. We know that some of you found it challenging to do remote learning at home last time and feel that your child would be better learning on-site at school. Again, this is not a valid reason to send your child to school.

In order to keep everyone safe and stop the spread of the virus in the community, we need to stay home as much as possible. Please support us by adhering to these guidelines.

Please know that we are all here to support you through this remote schooling journey. You only have to ask!

Stay safe!

Kind regards,

Joel

TERM 3

Thursday 5th August - Remote Schooling Starts

Monday 31st August - School Photos- cancelled We are hoping to reschedule for Term 4

Friday 18th September—Last Day of Term. Talk Like A Pirate Dress Up Day

TERM 4

Monday 5th October - Term 4 Starts

Monday 5th - Wednesday 7th October - Grade 3/4 School Camp to Forest Lodge

Monday 19th - Wednesday 21st October - Grade 5/6 School Camp to Melbourne

Monday 2nd November - School Closure Day

Tuesday 3rd November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

Friday 18th December - Last Day of Term 4

Please complete the attached On-Site School Intention form if your child/children will be attending school for remote learning.

This is for the following:

students whose parents, guardians or carers are considered as permitted workers
students with additional needs who require learning adjustment
vulnerable students including: children in and out of home care; children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to at risk of harm; children indetified by the school as vulnerable.

On-Site Intention Form 17th -21st August

Did You Know That Grasses Cover Nearly One-Third of the Earth's Land?

And did you know God made many different kinds of grasses? There's orchards grass, canary grass, reed grass, meadow grass, and so forth. Grass grows on mountaintops, in valleys, and with all kinds of weather conditions. Grass grows on prairies, in forest glades, and on neatly tended lawns. If grazing animals such as sheep or goats nibble the grass down, it just grows back. And if a lawnmower cuts it down, it just grows back.

Do you know people who act like that? If someone "cuts them down" by saying something mean about them, they might be hurt, but they bounce right back. If they don't get something they wished for, they are disappointed, but they bounce right back. They are grateful for whatever good comes along and try to overlook the bad. Do you think that's a good way to be?

Would you like to be like that?

Important Message About School Fees

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians

I wish to reassure families impacted financially by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that we want to assist you in every way possible to continue your child(ren)’s enrolment at St Mary's Primary School.

As many in our school community grapple with unprecedented changes to finances, emotional wellbeing and physical health, we have taken a clear position on enrolments.

Any parent, carer or guardian who wishes their child to receive a Catholic education at St Mary's Primary School will not be denied the opportunity to do so due to financial circumstances.

If you have concerns about your financial situation, please contact Heather at the school office, hleemon@stmyarram.catholic.edu.au so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements to enable your child(ren)’s education at our school to continue.

School fees are an essential portion of resources for the operation of our school and assist our leaders and staff to enhance curriculum and teaching programs. Therefore, we are asking, for those who can, to continue to support the school financially.

We will respond to applications for financial assistance as promptly as possible, given our own constraints during this time. We are absolutely committed to working with our families as we all move through these challenging times.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact St Mary's Primary School.

Thank you for your continued support of our St Mary's Yarram community.

Your support will enable us to continue to provide quality learning opportunities and strong pastoral programs for all our students.

Yours sincerely

Joel Brayshaw

2021 Enrolments

If you have a child or know of anyone wishing to enrol their child in 2021, please contact the school or download a Parent Handbook and Enrolment Form. Enrolment forms may be emailed to hleemon@stmyarram.catholic.

Enrolment Handbook

Enrolment Form

Parent Handbook

Sharon will notify you when book club arrives.

The Arts!

The junior students creative drawings and writing, from the reading of the book, ' Underpants for Ants' by Russell Punter and Fred Blunt.

The Arts.....

The senior students enjoyed creating Minibeast collages in the style of Eric Carle the author. Sensational Collages Senior Class!!

Remote Learning Family Survey

Catholic School Parents Victoria, along with Catholic Education Sale, invite parents to complete the following remote learning family survey.

The survey is designed specifically for parents/carers to provide feedback on their experiences during remote learning at home during Term 2 of 2020.

The valued feedback of parents/carers will provide Catholic School Parents Victoria and Catholic Education Sale with information, to form future discussions and sharing of parent perspective with key decision makers, to improve education and the learning experience for Catholic school students.

Feedback will inform CSPV of the impact on student learning and wellbeing, as well as the strengthening of relationships and learning between home and school.

Please complete the 10 minute link survey by
Wednesday 12th August 2020:

Remote Learning Survey

SCHOOL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The next School Advisory Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, 25th August 2020 @ 5.15pm. This will be a zoom meeting, Joel will email invitations prior to the meeting.

PARENTS & FRIENDS COMMITTEE

We are looking for new members and new ideas for our P & F Committee. If you can help in any way, small or large or have any ideas we would love to hear from you.

New members means many hands make light work and new ideas!!!

HEESCO MURAL UPDATE

We have so far raised $450.00 from local businesses and families to go towards the mural. This is a great help with the cost of the mural, and we thank everyone for their kind donations.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

On Friday 18th September St Mary's will have a swashbuckling good time!
Celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Come to school dressed in your best pirate outfit and bring a gold coin donation to
support children affected by cancer from regional and remote areas.

Maintaining Strong Family Traditions

Strong families develop their own traditions and rituals that define them and bind members together. Birthdays, Christmas..........

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Supporting Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Using Play to Support Children During COVID-19

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