Welcome back everyone! It was so wonderful to see everybody on Friday as we returned for the 2021 school year, and a year at Hammondville PS that I am exceptionally excited for.
Can I sincerely thank all parents of K-2 students who came and dropped their child off at morning lines on Friday for following all physical distancing guidelines and for using the QR Code to check in on arrival. It was so lovely to have had the opportunity to speak with some of you and it was exciting to have some of our parent body back onsite again.
Our students settled in well to our new school year and had a great time reconnecting with their friends and teachers. All classes got straight into learning and shared stories of their holiday adventures.
As mentioned last week, we are currently in 2020 classes as we wait for numbers to settle so that we can establish settled classes for the year.
It is my absolute intention to form 2021 classes as soon as I am able.
Newsletter Frequency Change
After receiving feedback from our Parent and Community Survey that was completed last year, and following further discussions with our P & C, it was found that parents felt that they were receiving a lot of ‘double up’ information through our newsletter and that a lot of its contents were repetitive. For this reason, from this term, newsletters will be sent out in weeks 1, 5 and 10. A great deal of the information in our newsletter appears on Facebook or is communicated through our SkoolBag app ‘in real time’ ie; as it happens, so there is no need to duplicate the same information and add to the volume of messages coming to your inbox.
COVID Guidelines Update
As we begin our new school year, it is a good time to share with you some of the current COVID guidelines that schools are required to follow as we continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic. These guidelines are provided by the NSW Department of Education.
· In accordance with advice from NSW Health, parents and carers are reminded not to send children to school if they are unwell, even if they have the mildest flu-like symptoms.
Parents are not yet able to be on school sites, with a few exceptions;
· Parents and carers are able to be onsite to attend scheduled meetings with teachers and/or school executives. This includes scheduled meetings with parents and carers of prospective students.
· Parents and carers are able to be onsite who attend a school administration building for the purpose of picking up their child if they are unwell or if they are purchasing or collecting uniforms.
· Parents and carers for Kindergarten, year 1 and 2 students will be allowed on the school site to drop off their children on the first few days of school, provided they follow physical distancing and hygiene measures implemented by the school and the department. At Hammondville PS, this will include dates from Friday 29 January - Friday 5 February.
· P&C meetings can be held after school hours with a COVID-19 Safety Plan (limited to 30 people).
· Bubblers and taps will be turned on, however we recommend that students still bring a drink bottle to school.
You will notice that QR codes have been rolled out to schools as a requirement of NSW Health. They are to be used when coming onsite at our school, including morning drop off for K-2 for this first week and for afternoon pick up. If you are an essential visitor to our school, you are also required to fill in an external visitor form at the front office. The form is an expectation of the NSW Department of Education. Our friendly office staff will assist those who visit our buildings to sign in if you experience any difficulty.
The details of all guidelines can be found on the NSW Department of Education website.
If you haven’t done so already, it is worthwhile downloading the School Update app from the AppStore or GooglePlay. The app will complement the other means of communication available to parents and carers from schools and the Department of Education to ensure families receive timely, accurate information.
We greatly appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we work to ensure the safety of our school community and thank you for your continued support of our school.
When these guidelines change, we will be sure to advise our community.
School Improvement Plan
Our staff started 2021deep in conversation about the direction of our School Improvement Plan for 2021 - 2024. We have been discussing our purpose as a school and the values that underpin what we believe as educators and as a school team.
It is my intention to share these with our community at the next P & C meeting. I will also be asking for parent input into this so that our vision and values represent the view point of our parent body. I encourage you to join in the conversation.
PSSA Trials - Weeks 2 & 3
Student’s will be participating in PSSA trials this week and next week. There will be three trials to determine Hammondville’s PSSA teams and these will take place on Wednesday 3 February, Friday 5 February and Friday 12 February, with the summer PSSA competition beginning on Friday the 19th of February (Week 4). Each teacher will run trial sessions and will be selecting the PSSA team/teams based on the skills and ability in that particular sport (seen during the trial process), behaviour, attitude and team work. A note will follow with further information for our families.
PSSA Sports this year are as follows
| Summer PSSA | Winter PSSA | ||
| Sport | Coach | Sport | Coach |
| Cricket | Ms O’Connor | Rugby League | Mr Withers |
| Girls T-Ball/Softball | Mrs Smith | Netball | Mrs Murray |
| Mixed League Tag | Mr Withers | Boys Soccer | Mr Betts |
| Mixed AFL | Mr Betts | Girls Soccer | Mrs Smith |
Sincerely,
Jodie Clark
Principal
