Upcoming Events

Firstly, I would like to thank our School community for your patience and understanding during these uncertain and unique times. I understand that there is a lot of varied news and information being presented about COVID-19, you can be assured that the information we provide to you is informed by the Catholic Education Office from Catholic Schools NSW and the NSW Ministry of Health. They work closely with the Australian Government to inform their decisions.

Currently all schools in our Archdiocese are asked to comply with the following directions as a precautionary approach to minimise the risk of further spread of COVID-19 at this time.

• Postpone or cancel all school excursions, retreats or camps as soon as practicable from Monday 16 March until further notice.
• Postpone or cancel all school events that involve large gatherings such as assemblies, fetes, parent/teacher nights, open days/nights, sport carnivals, community assemblies and liturgies.
• Not gather indoor as a whole school (greater than 100).

For St Mary’s the following events have been postponed or cancelled:

• Canberra Goulburn Primary Cricket Trials
• Canberra Goulburn Primary Rugby League Trials
• Canberra Goulburn Touch Football Trials
• Northern Region Cross Country 
• MacKillop Football (Soccer) Trials
• St Patrick’s Picnic 22 March
• Peter Lucas Cup – 20 March
• Crookwell High School Open Night
• Try It at Trinity Day 26 March 10am-2pm
• Year 6 Camp 31 March – 3 April
• School Athletics Carnival 7 April
• Stage 3 Showcase of Learning Assembly
• Kinder, Year One and Year 2 Liturgy

We have also been asked to:

• Contact parents and request they collect their child if they present as being unwell at school.
• Limit contact with aged-care organisations and facilities.
• Promote and teach students good hand and respiratory hygiene to prevent the spread of germs.
• Encourage all staff to take reasonable steps of social distancing, staying at home when unwell, regularly cleaning hands, avoiding touching of the face and covering coughs and sneezes.
• Promote and develop extra cleaning routines of areas that may be sites for transmission.

Please be assured that all the above measures are being implemented and taken seriously. Each student has access to hand sanitiser and is being encouraged to use this frequently. High touch areas are also being cleaned more regularly.

The advice on isolation of people returning from international travel continues to be updated. At this time all international travellers are required to self-isolate for 14 days before returning to school or work. This is in line with previous advice that includes mainland China, Japan, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

These measures mirror those being adopted by other schools. They will undoubtedly cause some disruption and inconvenience but the safety of our staff and students remains our first priority. These measures reflect a precautionary approach to support the national efforts to slow any community transmission of COVID-19. We will continue to work closely with government and health authorities to coordinate our responses.

Staff are currently preparing for being able to deliver Remote Learning options for our students, should our school need to close. This decision will be made if:

1. There is a reported case of COVID-19 
2. Operation becomes a problem due to Staff Absenteeism
3. The system is directed to close, in line with Department of Education schools

The Director of Education is informed if a school in our Archdiocese is required to close.

A survey has been sent to parents yesterday enquiring about your technology access and limitations. If you did not receive this can you please contact Belinda for a print copy. In the event of closure our staff will be working to deliver the best learning possible for your children because we believe that education is important.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns.

Cross Country Carnival

A huge thank you to Mrs. Rachael Croker for her preparation and organisation of our Cross Country Carnival last Friday. We could not have asked for a nicer day! I was impressed to see the students encouragement of one another. Thank you to all our helpers that made the day possible. 

Congratulations to Aloyisus, the winning house by just four points.

CleverTouch Interactive Panels

At the last P & F meeting, it was decided that the school and P & F would contribute funds to install CleverTouch Impact Plus 65" panels into our Kinder to Year Four classrooms (five panels). Year Five and Six already have new panels. These panels will be on height-adjustable mobile stands. The panels will be installed on Friday 27 March.

We are giving away five interactive whiteboards with projectors to anyone who would like them, the only catch is you will have to remove them yourself. They would make a great addition to a man-cave! First in best dressed.

ANZAC Day Parade Cancelled

The NSW RSL announced yesterday they will not be proceeding with the ANZAC Day Parade and recognition ceremony in 2020. Students will not be required to march this year. The decision has been made to ensure the safety of the general public and to eliminate any risks for our older Australians.

Family Mass & St Patrick's Day Family Picnic - Cancelled

Thank you to the families who had RSVP'd to attended the St Patricks Day Family Picnic. Unfortunately the picnic has been cancelled. We will, however, endeavour to hold a social event for families and staff later in the year.

Families are still welcome to join us for Mass at 9am on Sunday in St Mary's Church. Precautions including no hand shaking during the Sign of Peace, no wine during Communion, hand sanitation procedures for the priest and Eucharistic Minster before Communion and no Holy Water at the Church entrance have been implemented.

NAPLAN Online

The School Explorers

SZapp update

An update for SZapp has been released to accommodate for iPhones. iPhones using iOS Version 13+ were experiencing intermittent push notification issues when SZapp was running in the background.

Available from the App Store now, we advise all iPhone users to install this version to ensure notifications are received correctly.