Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

Re: Face coverings

The Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria, has announced that from 11.59 pm on Sunday 2^nd August 2020, face coverings will be mandatory for all Victorians when they leave their home.

The use of face coverings, including cloth face coverings or surgical masks, will assist in providing an additional physical barrier between people and to help reduce community transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) across all of Victoria.

All staff at St Mary’s will be required to wear face coverings when at school to protect the health and safety of all students, staff and the wider school community. However, there will be some limited exceptions when face covering will not be required to be used by Teaching staff and Learning Support staff, as follows:

Teaching staff will not be required to wear a face covering when teaching and providing direct support to students in the classroom, but will wear a face covering at all other times, including whilst undertaking yard duty.

Learning Support staff providing direct instructions and support to students in the classroom may remove their face covering if it is not practical to wear one.

In accordance with requirements from the Victorian Government, primary school students are not required to wear a face covering irrespective of the students age. However, individual families can make their own decisions regarding their children wearing a face covering whilst attending primary school.

Parents, guardians and carers are encouraged to inform their child(ren) that school staff will be using face coverings and reinforce with their child(ren) the need to keep 1.5 metres apart from other people, to wash and dry hands thoroughly and regularly, and cough and sneeze into a tissue or their elbow.

Parents, guardians and carers will also be required to wear a face covering when dropping off or picking up their child(ren) or if required to collect an unwell child(ren) from the school.

If you require clarification in relation to the use of face coverings at school or additional support, please contact Heather or myself on 51825659.

Yours sincerely

Joel Brayshaw

TERM 3

Thursday 30th July - Lunch orders need to be in by 3.15pm

Friday 31st July - Canteen Lunch Day

Tuesday 4th August - Trashless Tuesday

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

Why Would a Frog Need a Parachute?

Have you ever played with or touched the kind of frog that lives by a pond or lake or maybe in your own backyard? Did you know there's another kind of frog, an Asian tree frog, that lives in trees and flies the way people can fly with a parachute? Now how can a frog do that? Well, God made this frog with very long toes, and in between each toe God put a fold of skin like the webs on a duck's feet. When this frog wants to move to a different tree, it leaps into the air, and its webbed feet fill with air as a parachute does-and it floats down to the tree next door!

God did not give YOU webbed fet, because he knew those toes would not fit into your favorite shoes. God knew the tree frog needed webbed feet but YOU don't. You need the kind of feet you have so you can walk, jump, run, or maybe ride a bike or skateboard. But just for today, why dont you pretend to be a tree frog, flying in the air, looking down at the jungle? Imagine you see a bird, a snake, a rock, a monkey, and lots of leaves and flowers. It's fun to pretend. Aren't you glad God gave you an imagination instead of parachute toes?

SCHOOL UNIFORM

New Polar Fleece Sports Jumper

We have introduced a new item to our sports uniform range. At the moment we only have size 4, 8 & 12 in stock, with all other sizes on back order. The Polar Fleece jumpers are only to be worn on sports days.

Price: $35.00

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays- Winter Uniform

Girls Winter Uniform:

Grey tunic, grey skorts or grey pants
White long-sleeved polo shirt with emblem
Grey tights/grey socks
Royal blue school jumper
Black leather school shoes
Blue/white or grey ribbons
Blue/black/grey or white scarf and beanie

Boys Winter Uniform :

Grey school pants
White long-sleeved polo shirt with emblem
Blue school jumper
Grey socks, black leather school shoes or boots
Blue/black/grey or white scarf and beanie

Tuesdays & Thursdays—Sports Uniform

Girls Sports Uniform:

Royal blue track pants/ shorts or sports skorts
Royal blue sports polo with emblem
Polar Fleece Sports Jumper
Royal blue sports jacket
White socks
Sneakers

Boys Sports Uniform:

Royal blue track pants or shorts
Royal blue sports polo with emblem
Polar Fleece Sports Jumper
Royal blue sports jacket
White socks
Sneakers

Students are to wear their royal blue school jumper with their winter uniform and the sports jacket is for an extra layer if needed at recess and lunchtime or coming/going to school.

Sneakers are only to be worn on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Grade 6 Students may wear their Grade 6 Polo on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

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 or dropped off at the school office.

Enrolment Handbook

Enrolment Form

Parent Handbook

Hi parents,

With all of the changes to learning over the past few months, we are very excited to inform you that St Mary's and Junior-Senior have signed up for the MS Readathon this August. And we’re asking all parents to sign up your children, as it provides a great opportunity for us to come together as a community and continue to engage with them in fun and exciting ways.

For 42 years now the MS Readathon has been sparking a love of reading in Australian students, bringing together the wonder of books and the inspiration of fundraising to create a difference in the lives of families who need it.

The MS Readathon doesn’t just inspire a love of reading, it’s a lovely way for kids to help other kids, whose parents live with multiple sclerosis. And, with the greater vulnerability people with MS have faced this year, giving them extra support is very much needed.

You know how important reading is for young minds and your decision to sign up means that more children will grow their love of reading, but you are also paving the way for kids to help other kids who have a parent with multiple sclerosis.

You can sign up your child for free to be part of this year's MS Readathon here:

https://www.msreadathon.org.au/register-2020

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.

Book Club is due back on Monday 3rd August.

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

SCHOOL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The next School Advisory Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, 25th August 2020 @ 5.15pm

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!!!

Learning in the sunshine!!

While the sun shined on Wednesday, it was a perfect time for the junior class to take their Maths activities outside, where they practised their friends of ten and friends of twenty number facts.

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

Standing Behind Difficult Decisions

Family-school partnerships are strongest when parents stand behind the difficult decisions that teachers make, even though the wisdom behind them may not be immediately evident. Doing so opens up many…

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Community News

Understanding Your Childs Behaviour

ParentZone Gippsland have a number of programs to help support families in Gippsland. Current programs offered include: Please click on the following links

Understanding Your Child's Behaviour

Building Self Esteem & Resilience

Bullying: Helping Your Child

Communication