A Message from our Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are fast approaching the midway point of term 3. After a very cold and wet winter we will slowly head into some warmer days.
I like to call spring 'the season of the jumper'. With cool and fresh mornings our spring days can become quite warm and inevitably the jumper that your child left home wearing is taken off during play. Our staff do a great job of helping our students to keep track of jumpers, however at times jumpers can be left behind. At this point if your child has a name on the jumper the return process becomes a whole lot easier. Now would be a great time to check your child’s jumper (and hat) and reprint any names that have become faded.
In line with our uniform policy the school tie is to be worn until September 1 and I encourage everyone to 'finish strong' and wear the tie proudly until spring begins. Our school photo day has been moved back a week to Thursday 26 August and this photo will be in full winter uniform. Another good reason to finish strong with our ties.
It has come to my attention that we have a few students whose attendance is low and I thought it might be a good time to remind all parents of attendance requirements under NSW law. The following table is used to classify student’s attendance:
| Excellent Attendance | 95% and above (e.g. 2.5 days absence or less in a term or 10 absences over a year) |
|
Regular Attendance |
90%-94.9% (e.g. 2.6 to 5 days absence in a term or 10.1 -20 absences in a year) |
|
Emerging Absenteeism |
80%-89.9% (e.g. 5.1 to 10 days absence in a term or 20.1 - 40 absences in a year) |
|
Chronic Absenteeism |
Less than 80% (e.g. more than 10 days absence in a term or 40 absences in a year) |
A Student Attendance Plan can be activated if chronic absenteeism levels are reached. Please note that students who attend representative sport and off site excursion are considered present at school for these days. The full school attendance policy can be found here:
If you have any questions regarding this policy please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank you to all our parents for upholding the COVID-19 restrictions we are operating under. It has been another challenging period with the pandemic and your cooperation is much appreciated. Unfortunately the restrictions have claimed another event for the year. The Trent Barret Shield that is held for our Year 3/4 students is going ahead in Temora, however we are not permitted to attend regional events outside our local government area. While this is frustrating, we are still thankful that our school is open for face to face teaching, unlike many other schools in NSW.
At the moment there is no need to go to remote learning in our area, however there will be very little warning if a case arrives in our local area and we are directed to close for face to face teaching. Our teachers have begun preparing for remote learning by ensuring students are logged into appropriate applications and developing online protocols with their students. We pray that we will not be forced into remote learning, however we would not be doing due diligence if we didn’t start preparing for worst case scenario.
Take Care,
Phil Nielsen