Dear Parents and Friends,

It is not long now before our whole school resumes after the remote learning period. I am sure many of you are grateful for your lives to return to a ‘new’ normal. I say ‘new’ normal because I doubt life will ever be exactly the same again, especially in regards to school life!

Your children may have noticed that we have cleaners here each day cleaning high touch points, such as the toilets, tables, benches, door handles and even the playgrounds. This happens three times over each day. The teachers have been graciously encouraging the children to thank the cleaners. They work very hard to get all this done in such a short space of time.

Our new drop off and pick up procedures seem to be working well. Saying goodbye at the gate and not waiting at the classrooms has, I am sure, been very difficult for some families to get used too. The children have shown tremendous resilience as they have walked independently into the school each morning and waited patiently in the afternoons. Parents, you should be very proud of your children, who have shown they can do this! I would like to thank the teachers for helping at the end of each day with ensuring the children find their way to their parents and thank you to the parents for not lingering or crowding at the gates.

The Casey Council has been working with the school to assist in alleviating the traffic congestion that occurs outside the school gate on Endeavour Drive. They will be installing a ‘Drop Zone’ on Endeavour Drive between the two driveways. This will change the way we dismiss and greet the children. Attached is a notification letter from the City of Casey that outlines the changes to the traffic and parking. The information includes a map. We anticipate that the Drop Zone will begin in approximately 6 six weeks time. We hope that this coincides with the beginning of Term Three. More information will be provided in the weeks ahead with further instructions. For now, we will continue to use the pedestrian gate on Endeavour Drive as normal.

End of Semester One Reports

At the end of Term Two, your child will bring home their 2020 Semester One report. While remote learning has made the usual reporting methods difficult for report writing, the teachers have worked hard to make judgements regarding the standard of learning for all areas. These reports will focus mainly on the learning that was achieved in Term 1 with teachers using evidence from Term 2 to inform their judgements in the marking of English and Mathematics. Other subject areas will be marked on the work that was achieved in Term One. At the end of the year, reports will return to normal with all subject areas being marked in our usual way.

After the school holidays on Tuesday July 21, we will hold our parent-teacher interviews. At this stage, due to coronavirus restrictions at the school, these will be held via teleconferencing using Google Meet. More information regarding how this will work will be provided closer to the date. This will be a terrific time for students to showcase the learning they have achieved at school in Term 1 and throughout the remote learning period in Term 2.

New Website

Our new website is up and running. Please take the time to have a look and view the promotional video on the home page. www.sttcbourne.com.au

2021 Enrolments

Please don’t forget that if you intend to send your pre-school child to Foundation at St Therese’s next year, you need to get your enrolment forms in as soon as possible. Despite the interruptions to the tours and Open Days we have many new families who have already dropped their forms in!

I hope you have a lovely week and I look forward to welcoming the whole school back after the long weekend on Tuesday June 9.

Yours in partnership,

Michelle Bruitzman

Principal