Dear families,
It has been a different beginning to the school year than we had all imagined, or hoped for! I want to congratulate all children and families in Reception and year one who have been able to return to school on site. Their first few days have been full of wonder and excitement and we are so pleased to have these children and families amongst us for the first time! I would also like to acknowledge those children of essential workers who have been attending school over the past 2 weeks, but still working ‘remotely’ with their teachers. While it hasn’t exactly been the beginning they were hoping for either, they have worked positively and productively throughout.
Throughout the pandemic I have been amazed by the courage, resilience and agility of our wonderful teaching staff. Their passion for their work and 100% commitment to the learning and well-being of the children is simply outstanding and along with our health workers, they are the true heroes of this unprecedented period of time in our history. As families would be aware, the requirements of teachers in regard to health and safety of themselves and others are considerable and it truly inspires me every day to see them go about their work with the best interests of children at the forefront.
St Francis School takes the care, health and wellbeing of all community members very seriously. As parents would be aware, we are operating under some fairly stringent protocols regarding covid 19. I ask all families to support us in adhering to these protocols. If your child becomes unwell with covid, or becomes a close contact of a covid positive person, it is vital that you provide us with as much information as possible, to assist us in responding appropriately at school. If your child is a close contact outside of the school environment, and has to go into isolation, we ask that you provide us with details of a negative RAT or PCR test as soon as possible. If they test positive to covid-19 and have been at school during an infectious period, we have to enact a number of protocols, in order to minimise transmission, and every piece of timely information is important to us. Thankyou for your support.
Given the number of communications required recently, it was quite providential that we initiated the Schoolzine app-SZapp-late last year! Thanks to all families who have connected to the app. From now on, this will be the primary place to get important information and updates regarding St Francis School. If you haven’t already, please prioritise downloading the app!
On the SZapp on Tuesday afternoon, you will have seen an invitation to become your child’s class parent representative for 2022. Research tells us that parents being actively involved in their child’s education is one of the biggest influencing factors in their success -both from a learning and a wellbeing perspective. Acting as a class parent rep is a fantastic way to demonstrate your active involvement to your child! As class parent rep, you have the opportunity to support our P&F as they go about their vocation. You can also organise social interactions for families in the class group, thus strengthening the relationship with the teacher and the school. Please give strong consideration to supporting your child and the school by becoming a class parent rep. There is a nomination form on the app.
During a normal school year, we would host welcome back functions for families, as well as information evenings for each class. We did have a date in the school calendar for this event, however the hybrid beginning to the school year, coupled with protocols in place for schools means we can’t host these activities on site at present. With this in mind, we have decided to reschedule information evenings for class groups to online forums, using Microsoft teams. Given the extra preparation required, these information evenings have been postponed for a week, and will now take place on Tuesday 22nd February at 5pm. An information sheet and accompanying invitation will be sent in due course, and I warmly invite all families to join the online meetings to hear from our teaching staff regarding your children’s’ classes for 2022. We sincerely hope that we can return to face-to-face gatherings as soon as possible.
Have a great week everyone!
God bless,
Phil
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