Next Wednesday, 2 March, is Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins and occurs forty days before Good Friday. It is called Ash Wednesday because, being forty days before Good Friday, it always falls on a Wednesday.   

Next Wednesday, all four Gungahlin Parish schools (Mother Teresa, Good Shepherd, Holy Spirit and John Paul College) will celebrate Ash Wednesday with an online Mass, streamed live from the Church.  All Year levels will ‘zoom’ in and it will be a special way to commemorate Ash Wednesday.  Due to COVID restrictions, ashes will not be placed on a person's forehead, nor can parents or visitors attend the Church.

Parent Interviews

As mentioned during the parent information sessions, the teachers will be available in Week 6 for brief 10-minute interviews. The booking request will be sent out via Compass early next week, with all meetings to be held via Teams. The purpose of the meeting is to check-in, set goals and provide a comment on how your child has settled back into school; an information sharing session.

As the Kindergarten teachers have spoken to many of their parents, following the assessment session, they will contact parents if there is a need for a follow-up interview.  Please remember, if you have a concern please raise it with your child's teacher early.

COVID Update

Thank you to all our families for reporting close or positive COVID cases via our covid email address.  The current reporting protocol for schools is when a school receives five or more cases in a class group, within a few days, we are required to advise CE who then notifies ACT Health for directions. The current action involves a letter from ACT Health to be sent home to families in the identified class that include the following recommendations

• Continue to monitor for symptoms. Get a COVID-19 test if your child or you develop any symptoms and isolate until you or your child receive a negative result.
• If you or your child has symptoms and tests negative on a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), please take a PCR test. If the PCR test is positive, you should follow the guidance for people with COVID-19. If the PCR test is negative, then return to school when well.
• A child can continue to attend school if they do not have any COVID-19 symptoms. We remind families that anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 must not attend school.

School COVID Protocols 

While the use of masks has been relaxed in the general community they are still required to be worn by all staff and visitors when entering the school.  Children are welcome to wear a mask if they wish.

Younger children should not be accessing the play equipment before or after school.  

Parents should not stand around and chat when dropping off or picking up a child. It is critical we continue to minimise contact around the school. 

New hand sanitiser stations are now located outside each classroom for easy access by staff and children.

Canberra Check in (Check in CBR App)

A reminder that schools and early childhood centres still require check-ins with the Check in CBR App when entering the front office 

Socks, Socks, Socks

As a follow up to our news story last week regarding the Harris girls initiaive to recycle socks to reduce landfill, a collection box will be put outside the hall first thing in the morning by our KidzBiz team for your donations.

Neighborhood Issue

This week the manager of the units located across the road from the school contacted the school regarding the following issues:

• Non-resident parents with children parking in the grounds at the front visitor parking and in the common areas blocking other cars from getting through;

• Non-resident parents with children driving through the driveway at speed and almost hitting children walking or playing in the complex.

The unit management has the right to contact the City Traffic Rangers to book any parent parking illegally. I understand parking is a critical issue around the school however we must be considerate of the requests from local residents. Your help with this issue is appreciated. 

Community Council 

On Tuesday evening we held our first Community Council meeting for the year. Whilst it was a virtual meeting, it was lovely to see the number of parents keen to learn about the school and ways in which to get involved.

Current Positions

• Chair: Damien Kelly
• Deputy Chair: Lindsay Hackett
• Secretary: Jodie George
• Council Funds Treasurer: Lisa Murphy 
• Parent Reps: Natalie Zanco, Simon Morgan, Amelia Grace
• Fundraising & Social: Adelle and Dave De Zilva-Stewart
• Staff Rep: Janene Sadler
• ELC: Amy Thomas
• AP: Craig Hart
• Principal: Carmel Maguire

Items discussed

• Thank you for the sensory activities painted in the playground
• Clothing Pool - great service to the community
• Facebook Updates - encourage families to join class groups 
• Netball - the need for hoops for practice sessions
• Strategic Plan for Council initiatives - building, grants etc
• Formation of Committees - what do we need 
• Scholastic Bookclub - to commence in Term 2  
• Uniform - review school policy and current uniform code and colours of shorts 

Morning Bell

This is a reminder that our morning bell goes at 8.45am.  Anyone arriving from 9.00am must be signed in at the office by a parent as they will be considered as a late arrival or could be marked absent by their teacher.  Teachers are required to complete the rolls by 9.00am. I encourage parents to please make every effort to be on time. 

Canteen 

The canteen will be open for online lunch orders in Week 5.  Please note that students from Years 4 to 6 will collect their lunch orders at 10:20am, while Kindergarten to Year 3 will collect theirs from 11:00am. 

There will be no over the counter sales at this stage.

Kindergarten Health Checks 

Kindergarten Health Checks will take place around Term 3 this year.  Kindergarten Health Check envelopes have been sent home.  Please complete the questionnaire and return in the envelope provided to the Kindergarten teacher.  Questionnaires are due back to school by Friday 4 March.

God Bless

Carmel Maguire