Dear Parents and Carers,

Today’s prayer helps us reflect on the importance of teamwork for the common good of all. Now more than ever is a time that this has really shone in our learning community. We cannot thank you enough for all your support during this period of time, particularly with the continuation of your child’s learning journey. So many positives to celebrate that will remain with us for a long time to come as we continue to work in partnership with you.

It was a wonderful welcome back to onsite learning for all our teachers and our Prep-2 students today. The students settled in well and reconnected with their teachers and friends. We thank you for respecting what is our “new normal” onsite with social distancing and not entering the buildings unless essential. The teachers have done a great job today also building in wellbeing activities to ensure all students are feeling safe and happy.

We look forward to all our Year 3-6 students returning. In the meantime if you need to access onsite learning and fit the criteria here is the form to fill in. Google Form for Week 7 and 8 for eligible Year 3-6 students. 

Here is a special welcome back Maddy Fenton organised for your children. Thanks Maddy. 

COVID-19 Protocols reminders: If essential to access the reception area, please only enter the school by the front gate using the available sanitiser in the foyer.

Where you can , please drop your child to the gate where a teacher will be present to welcome them in. If essential and you need to walk your child in we ask that you do not enter the building or hub space as another teacher will be there to support your child with hand sanitising and welcome them in.

During pick up, your child will be brought out to the vicinity of the gate they are exiting from, assemble and be sent out in their family groups, with bike, scooter riders and children walking home without an adult exiting first. For the younger students in particular, we will ensure we can see you before sending them on. You will notice more staff presence during this time to ensure all children enter and exit safely. Please continue to socially distance when waiting for your children at the end of the day. A reminder to leave quickly with your children and that there will be no playing on the playgrounds at the end of the day. 

As we are fortunate to have space in our grounds and out the back oval area in particular, you are welcome to wait inside the gate but we need to very clearly request that you practise social distancing with other parents and do not congregate, leaving as soon as you have your children.

If you have any concerns regarding your child's individual needs please email your teacher and we will support you through this.

I understand this is very different to how we would normally operate and indeed our community spirit is a great strength we have however this is how we need to operate for now with the health, safety  and wellbeing of all in our community being a priority. We thank you in advance for abiding by these new protocols and naturally we will adapt as we go. When new updates become available we will communicate these to you. 

Important fee relief: 

If you are the personal holder of a health care card, pensioner concession card or Department of Veteran affairs goldcard you may be eligible for some extra funding towards your school fees. You will all have received a CSEF letter via CareMonkey a couple of weeks ago. This is calling on all families with Health Care cards to complete and submit a form as you may be eligible for some financial government support of $125 per child  which will come off your school fees. 

We understand some families financial circumstances have changed since COVID-19 and you may now have a health care card in your name even if it may be for a short time. Please click here to access the application form and send in as you may be eligible for this $125 per child and we don't want you to miss out.  We ask you to fill this in as soon as possible, by Tuesday 23 June at the latest, so it can be lodged at school level. The government extended the time in light of COVID-19. 

Again, I would like to reinforce that every enrolment in our school is valued. If your individual financial situation has changed and will impact on your ability to pay school fees please make contact with me via reception to make a time to have a chat. We are here to support you.

Reporting: Staff are working on school reports. You will be able to access your child's report on Friday 19 June via PAM (Parent Access Module login).

Please click the link here: http://pam.staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au . This will take you to the PAM login page. Your username is the email address you have provided to school. Once logged in, to access your child’s report, click on the ‘Assessment Reports’ tab on the left hand side and download the current report to view. 

For new families please sign up now by clicking the link here: http://pam.staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au  This will take you to the PAM login page. Click on the 'Forgot Password?' link and follow the prompts. You will be asked to enter your email address, then you will need to access the link sent to your email address. You can then create a password and this, along with your email address will be your login to PAM.

We will not be having parent teacher interviews with this report as teachers have been connecting and discussing the learning progress  with you and your child ongoing. If you would like to discuss the report with your child's classroom teacher you can contact them directly and organise a Google Meet conversation.

Flu Shots: If you are needing a flu shot for yourself or children Barwon Health have supplies in. You can call 42157028 to book an appointment.

Before and After School Care: As sent out in an email last week, Kelly Club are going to begin on 9 June at Our Lady Star of the Sea. Please see flyer attached in Community News with further details.

Emails: At present, we seem to have an issue with our group emails not reaching all families. If you hear of an email you have missed please check your SPAM folder first. If you have provider email, please check your limited inbox and contact your provider. If you are still not receiving emails please contact us. In the last week you should have received a letter to parents in regards to returning to onsite learning on Monday 18 May, a Kelly Club before and after school care letter on Tuesday 19 May and an audio message from me on Friday 22 May.

Stage One Masterplan Building: You will notice the sheds have been removed which means we are getting ready for our new build of 4 classrooms and a multi purpose building. This is at tender stage at present and will begin in the near future. A special thanks to Todd Day for painting our mural and now over coming weeks we will allow our students, with the support of our Art teacher Rachael Thomas, to add their individual art “stamp” to the mural.

2020 ResourceSmart Schools Awards winners! 

Join Our Lady Star of the Sea Community online  for the announcement and celebration of our 2020 ResourceSmart Schools Awards winners! 

The online ceremony featuring radio personality Sammy J will be held on World Environment Day, Friday 5 June 2020, from 11am – 11.30am. 

Everybody is welcome to tune in as the event will premiere on YouTube, with no account or special software required. With 65 entries submitted across 11 categories, this year’s judges had difficult decisions to make!

We will share the ceremony viewing link when we receive it as the whole school community is invited to tune in.

Resource Smart Star and Recognition for Biodiversity:

We are very proud to have achieved our Resource Smart School Certification for our Biodiversity module. A special mention and thank you to Sue Constable, Kellie Clark, Alison Healy and Marianne Caddy and all staff, students and parents  for embedding important, sustainable practices into our everyday.  This was achieved by building on our whole-school approach to biodiversity through daily operations, learning and teaching and school community engagement. Some examples of how we achieved this include:

• Increasing the number of indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses within our school grounds by over 400 plants since 2018 
• Increasing our habitat logs, rocks and upgrades to nesting boxes
• Significantly increasing our School Habitat Quality Assessment Score throughout 2018 and again in 2019
• Emphasising biodiversity throughout our learning across all year levels 
• Continuing our Indigenous Cultural Education throughout 2019 with excursions and incursions relating to local Wadawurrung people and traditional care for our land 
• Utilising the outdoors as an authentic learning space for nature based activities, informal and formal outdoor sessions relating to biodiversity, our environment, food production and food waste systems 
• Improving our composting systems
• Excursions and incursions relating to coastal land management and care, conservation, local wildlife education and endangered species education and events with Zoos Victoria, Kids Teaching Kids and Parks Victoria
• Tree planting with several local community groups such as Bellarine Catchment Network and Coastcare at local wetlands and dunes 
• Hosting a waste education session for Year 6 sustainability Leaders and sustainability staff from Corio Waste Management 
• Reducing the amount of waste brought into our school and improved separation of waste to reduce waste contamination

Wishing you many blessings for the fortnight ahead.

Kerryn