CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

I write to inform the St Ita’s community that we have had students test positive to coronavirus (COVID-19) on Monday 7th March and Tuesday 8th March.

The classes affected are:

• Grade 5/6 Boettcher
• Grade 5/6 Wallace

This could mean that there may now be asymptomatic children in these levels and across our school. Please ensure you test your child using a RAT test and look for any Covid Symptoms no matter how minor. Any symptoms, please err on the side of caution and keep your child/ren at home until symptoms have cleared and a negative RAT test is achieved.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The school will not be required to close as a result of the positive case attending the school.

If your child is not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they can continue to attend school, but you should monitor for symptoms.

Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 must get tested immediately using a RAT (rapid antigen test), or a PCR test if you can’t access a Rapid Antigen Test. Students with COVID-19 symptoms should isolate and return a negative result before returning to school.

Students who have recovered from COVID-19 do not need to participate in surveillance testing for 30 days after testing positive.

If your child/ren receives a positive COVID-19 result, you must:

• quarantine your child/ren for seven days
• advise the school about the positive result
• ensure that your child stays home until their symptoms have resolved and they are well
• ensure that everyone in your household who is a close contact isolates for seven (7) days from the date your child is tested for COVID-19.

Advice and further resources about what to do if your child tests positive to COVID-19 or you are a contact, are available on the following Coronavirus Victoria web pages or you can call the 24/7 Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398:

• Checklist for COVID contacts - www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-contacts
• Checklist for COVID cases - www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-cases

REPORTING YOUR CHILD’S POSITIVE TEST

If your child was at school during their infectious period, you need to report the positive case to the school either via phone (03) 56237222 or principal@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au

If your child tested positive using a rapid antigen test you must also report your child’s positive test to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

GENERAL ADVICE AND SUPPORT

Advice and further resources about coronavirus, including what to do if you test positive or if you have been told

you are a contact, are available on the coronavirus website www.coronavirus.cgov.au or you can call the 24/7

Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

Other resources on the Coronavirus Victoria website include:

• information on symptoms - www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/symptoms-and-risks
• how to get tested - www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/taking-test-covid-19

FURTHER INFORMATION FOR LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH

For school information in languages other than English, call TIS National on 131 450.

For translated written information about COVID-19 and health advice in languages other than English, visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/translated-information-about-coronavirus-covid-19

Parents, guardians, carers and/or students can also call the Department of Education and Training COVID- 19 hotline on 1800 338 663 and they will help interpret.

Please be aware that we are unable to provide any information about students, family members or staff who may test positive to COVID-19. I would ask that all in our community continue to pray for those who are unwell with COVID-19 and respect their privacy.

The health, safety and wellbeing of the school community remains our highest priority. We are committed to continuing to communicate with you as promptly as possible and supporting you and your children during these challenging times.

If you have any questions about the arrangements, please contact the school on (03) 5623 7222

SCHOOL SPORTS CARNIVAL

Next Thursday (March 17th) the grade 3-6 students will have their school house athletics day. We are asking for some parent volunteers to assist with the scoring and supervision of age groups throughout the day.

I

SCHOOL PHOTOS

EFTPOS FACILITIES

We are pleased to announce that St Ita's have recently installed an EFTPOS Machine. We encourage families who would like to make payments over the counter to come in and do so, being mindful to observe the COVID safe procuedures, i.e. masks and social distancing. 

SCHOOL COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS

St Ita’s Primary School currently uses three platforms for communication with our families;

1. SCHOOLZINE – is our whole school communication method. Schoolzine is used to communicate important up to date whole school messages to our families. This is also the platform we use to distribute our weekly newsletter to families. This can be accessed as a smart phone App, or you can subscribe using the link below;

https://stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/subscribe

2. CLASSDOJO – is a classroom-based communication App which families can use to communicate directly with your child/ren’s classroom teachers. Parents will need to download the App, and classroom teachers will invite parents to join the classroom and provide a unique code for secure access.

The principal has a whole school account that is used to communicate with all families. If more specific messages are required they will come directly from the class teacher. Please note that messages and comments are public to all families from the principal account. 

3. Simon – Parent Access Module (PAM) – is our whole school student access portal, St Ita’s use this platform to communicate School Reports, NAPLAN Results, Permission Forms for Camps/Excursions, Medical/Medication Information and Family & Emergency Contact details for all students. Please use the link below to login;

https://pam.stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/Login/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f

Platforms that are no longer used at St Ita’s are:

1. Operoo which was formally, CareMonkey
2. Skoolbag

LOST AND FOUND UNIFORM

SECONDHAND UNIFORM

A big thank you to all our families who have donated their good quality uniform they no longer need, we currently have a huge supply of secondhand uniform available to all of families.

If you children have had unexpected growth spurts, or have lost some of their uniform as they often do, please feel free to call the Office on (03) 5623 7222 or email us at admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au we may have something to help get you through!

All items in our secondhand collection, have been washed and inspected to ensure they are of good quality.  All items are for sale for $2.00 a piece, a nominal donation to the school so that we can keep this service available to families.

CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE

The Conveyance Allowance application is now open for Term 1 for any families that qualify for the travel allowance as per the criteria below. You must lodge a new application each year.

Eligibility is assessed when the School completes your child’s application on the Government Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS). If approved, the allowance payable is based on the one way distance to make the journey to and from school. No private car allowance is payable if the journey to and from school could be made using a public transport service or contract school bus.

• You live more than 4.8 kilometres by the shortest practical route from our school and we are the closest Catholic school to your place of residence.

• You live more than 4.8 kilometres from our school and you cannot access a bus.

• You access a bus and live more than 4.8 kilometres from the bus stop.

Please complete the Conveyance Allowance Application Form and return to the school office by Friday 11th March 2022. Late claims cannot be accepted.

SCHOOL FEES & CONCESSIONS

Please contact the school office if you need to discuss your 2022 school fee payment.

If any families would like to set up a weekly, fortnightly or monthly direct debit schedule for school fees, please complete the Direct Debit Form below and return to the school office.  For any assistance regarding calculations of payments, please contact us via email on: admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au

For any families that have recently received a Government means-tested health care concession card, please forward a copy of your card to the office to check your eligibility, as a fee concession may apply. The card must be in the name of the parent/fee payer for a fee concession to apply. 

If your current Health Care card is due to expire this year and your card is re-issued, please send a copy of your new card details to the office as soon as possible for the concession to be checked and applied for next year's fees, if not already done so.