MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

One of the greatest challenges we face with the current Omnicon COVID-19 strain is its capacity to spread very rapidly. We have been very lucky at St Ita’s, because even though we have several case across our school the infection of others has not ballooned out of control due to good management at school.

We have children in our community who have tested negative prior to arriving at school only to display symptoms at school, be collected by parents and test positive in the afternoon once they are home.

At St Ita’s our school staff are not doctors so on the advice from the Department of Health and our employer DOSCEL, we have adopted protocols and safe practices to ensure everyone in our community is kept safe.

If a child presents at school with COVID-19 like symptoms, and these symptoms are identified by staff or if the child articulates they don’t feel well, we are obligated to;

• Bring the child up to the isolation area of school admin
• Admin staff will contact parents or emergency carers and ask them to collect their child as soon as possible.
• Once your child has been collected from school, please administer a rapid test at home.
• Return the child to school once the symptoms have cleared up and a negative test is obtained.

We understand the collection of kids at short notice can be a challenge for some parents, however the result of not collecting a child displaying COVID-19 symptoms could be catastrophic for our school community if it was to get out and infect multiple teaching staff.

Please be mindful that we are all working through the challenges of COVID-19 on a daily basis and we need to be respectful of all in our community, as we strive to beat this pandemic.

FICIFOLIA FESTIVAL

The annual Ficifolia Festival is on this weekend, and although it's not a School sanctioned event, parents/carers wishing to take their children and march in the parade can readily do so, the details are below;

START TIME & LOCATION DETAILS

Saturday 19th February 2022

3:00pm – 3:30pm Marshall outside St Ita’s Administration Building, 50 Victoria St, Drouin.

Parents must stay with their child

It would be great if students attending could all wear their summer uniform.

• Girls, red and white check school dress, white socks, and black shoes
• Boys, grey shorts and blue school t-shirt, grey socks, and black shoes

3:30 pm - Students will walk to the Football Oval to the allocated position in parade.

4:00pm – Parade begins, and students will walk around the football oval while spectators (parents, guardians, extended family and friends) watch from within the footy oval.

4:30pm finish time – Parents/Guardians pick their children up at the end of the parade.

Parents requiring further information, please contact Karla Start on Mob: 0407 171 010 or Email: kensley@bigpond.com

Parents, please be reminded that both sides of Victoria Street at the front of the school are No Parking Zones, active before and after school. We have been advised that fines will be imposed on parents parking in the No Parking Zones so please don’t park there even for a few minutes during drop off. If parents are sending grandparents or carers to make student drop off's we ask that you please let them know also that this area is a No Parking Zone.

KINECT 2 DANCE

Last Friday our kids started their 7-week dance program as part of their 2022 arts program through Kinect To Dance. It’s a great opportunity for all our students to participate in a highly professional program, and I look forward to the outdoor concert that we will run at the end of the term to showcase what our children have learned.

PARENT INFORMATION PACKS

Our staff are currently preparing Parent Information Packs to be sent home Friday. These packs will outline what’s happening in each year level this year, the daily routines that are set in place, ways to support your child’s learning, and sharing with parents our WSAPB (Whole School Approach to Positive Behavior). Unfortunately, the current Covid-19 restrictions don’t allow parents onsite to have a face to face information sessions or parent teacher interviews at school. These rules and regulations change from week to week and I will let our community know when parents are allowed back onsite. 

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

We will be conducting Parent Teacher Interviews via a phone consultation. We had hoped to have these in person but due to the recent Covid-19 infections in staff and student we have thought it safest for all to conduct these via phone. 

Interviews will take place on;

Monday 21st February from 3:30pm - 7:00pm; and
Wednesday 23rd February from 3:30pm - 5:00pm