St Gabriel's Primary School Traralgon eNewsletter

Newsletter 7 - Term 2 - Week 4 - 13th May, 2021

Website: www.stgtraralgon.catholic.edu.au

Principal: Mrs. Roslyn Joyner

Email: principal@stgtraralgon.catholic.edu.au

FROM THE PRINCIPAL.......

Dear Parents,

This Sunday the parish will farewell Sister Doreen, our religious sister who has given sixty years of service to God and community. Sister Doreen will be retiring and moving to Melbourne. One of many fond memories of her work here at St Gabriel’s is of her attending school Mass and walking out to the front of the group at the end of Mass telling every class that they were the best class ever! We wish Sister Doreen well in her retirement and congratulate her on her life’s work so far.

Our school has been featured in the Catholic Education Week advertisement to be shown on WIN television in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for it as it showcases some of our beautiful classrooms, “Gracie” our therapy dog with some children, some Year 5 and 6 students enjoying sport and our very own Mrs Reid in her classroom. Walking around the school with prospective Prep parents during school tours I realise how lucky we are to have such a beautiful school and thank the staff for keeping it so welcoming and vibrant.

Naplan testing was carried out this week very smoothly. Thanks to the teachers concerned for helping the students remain calm and positive by treating it just like another normal class activity.

Our Cross Country students were very successful over the past weeks and we congratulate all participants. We wish those progressing to the next level all the best in their efforts.

Best wishes

Roslyn Joyner

PRINCIPAL

UNWELL STUDENTS

A reminder to parents, if your child has a cold, pains in the stomach, generally unwell or has vomitted in the 24 hours previous to the commencement of school day they need to convalesce at home until they are well. If children come to school unwell parents will be contacted to collect them. Please see COVID information in this newsletter.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Reminder school photos are this Tuesday 18th May. Students are to wear FULL WINTER UNIFORM.

UPDATED COVID INFORMATION

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, St Gabriel's recently had a visit from Infection Control Nurses that are part of the IPCON (Infection Prevention and Control Outreach Nursing) team. The team is visiting various schools, selected randomly, across the State to ensure COVID-19 guidelines are being followed.

After working our way through a comprehensive checklist and completing a walk through of the school, the IPCON team were very happy with St Gabriel's preparedness and management of COVID-19. They did point out that the following items are important for families to remember:

Whilst there are no cases of COVID-19 in our area at the moment, we must still remain vigilant regarding Social Distancing, Hand Hygiene and Density Quota's.
The front reception area should have no more than 4 adults in the area at any one time, if there are already 4 people in reception, please wait outside until someone leaves.
Face masks, whilst not mandatory to wear at the moment, must be "kept handy". Posters at entries to the school outline this.

Parents are permitted and welcome on the school grounds, keeping socially distant from others, however, only staff and students are permitted in the classrooms. If for example you are attending parent teacher conferences or such then you must sign in and it would be held after school/classroom hours or in a separate office. Students and staff who are ill should not attend school until symptoms have passed. This is required for any illness. Apart from that there should be no reason for parents to enter the classrooms at this stage.

The overall message from the IPCON nurses was that it is very easy for us to become complacent considering the limited exposure we currently have to COVID-19, however, we must still continue to practice all measures that have been put in place to ensure we remain compliant with Government, DOSCEL and school directives, but more importantly to keep everyone at St Gabriel's safe.

Sports_Report.pdf

Sports_Report _pdf 1.29 MB

Sporting News

If you have sporting news that you would like included in the school newsletter please email Mr Hogan at dhogan@stgtraralgon.catholic.edu.au and I will forward your photos and article onto Mrs Couling at the front office.

2022 PREP ENROLMENTS ARE NOW OPEN

A reminder that 2022 Prep Enrolments are now open. Enrolments forms are available at the school office or via our website. If you would like to book a tour of the school please contact the school office on 5174 5515.

CONFIRMATION

Confirmation Dates:

Parent Info night - Wednesday 26^th May at 7pm – in the Church

information packs will be handed out that night.

Commitment Mass - 29^th or 30^th May

Prayer Letter Mass - 5^th or 6^th June

Pin Mass - 12^th or 13^th June

Church practice - Wednesday 16^th June – 4.30pm or 5.30pm

Confirmation celebrations - Thurs 17^th & Fri 18^th June

Late enrolments will not be accepted after this Friday 14^th May

GIVE A DAMN. GIVE A CAN

- Rotary Club of Traralgon Central

Give a Damn. Give a Can, a community collection of tinned foods, has now been running for 28 years. Each year the Rotary Club of Traralgon Central collects about 10,000 cans of tinned foods that are donated to the Vinnies Food Bank in Traralgon. The food is boxed up and given to needy families in Traralgon and surrounding areas. The collection is distributed during the winter and lasts the Food Bank around 4 -5 months. The schools collection accounts for about 80% of the total collection... a magnificent effort.

Because of COVID we could not do a collection in 2020 (we instead donated $10,000). This year celebrates the 100^th year of Rotary in Australia and we are aiming to collect a record 15,000 cans. But because of the wonderful commitment by the schools, we are asking each school to aim at your 2019 total. In that year the total school collection was 7899.

BASKETS WILL BE LOCATED IN EACH GRADE TO COLLECT CANS.

WE THANK FAMILIES FOR THEIR GENEROUSITY

The official collection week is May 24th – 29th. We look forward once again to acknowledging your generosity.

AUSTRALIAN DENTAL SERVICE

Last Friday forms were sent home with students from Australian Dental Service, Victoria. If you would like to be included in this program please complete the form and return to school as soon as possible. This is not compulsory and families can OPT out. The dental van will visit in Term 3.

Signing children in and out of school

If your child needs to leave early, or has an appointment, then parents must sign in when they return/arrive. A note must be supplied to the classroom teacher so that they are aware of why the child is leaving and they can then record the absence. If your child is unwell to speed up their recovery by not allowing your child to return to school until they are fully recovered.

SCHOOL PHOTOS - TUESDAY 18th MAY

On Tuesday May 18th is SCHOOL PHOTO DAY. We require all students to be in full school uniform for the day. If you have any questions please direct them to our principal Roslyn Joyner at principal@stgtraralgon.catholic.edu.au. The uniform is listed below:

GIRLS WINTER

· Grey tunic or grey slacks

· Pale blue long-sleeved polo shirt with school logo

· Maroon woolen or cotton (now available at St. Gabriel’s uniform shop) v-necked jumper with school logo

· Black school shoes (not runners)

· Grey tights or socks

BOYS WINTER

· Grey trousers/shorts

· Pale blue long-sleeved polo shirt with school logo

· Maroon woolen or cotton (now available at St. Gabriel’s uniform shop) v-necked jumper with school logo

· Black school shoes (not runners)

· Grey socks

School Photos envelopes need to be returned as soon as possible

Parents can either order online or enclose money and return all envelopes to St. Gabriel’s classroom teachers ASAP. Family photo forms are available at the school office. School photo day is Tuesday 18th May.

Parents and Friends Meetings

Meetings—the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm

Do you want to know what is happening in your school? Would you have anything you could contribute? We invite you to come along to our Parents and Friends Meeting held the second Tuesday of the month in the staff room at school. The meeting starts at 7pm. All parents, new and old are warmly welcome.

School Lunch Orders

LUNCH ORDERS ARE MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY ONLY

Monday orders are to placed in classroom tubs first thing Monday morning.

Wednesday orders are collected Tuesday afternoon for Wednesday delivery at lunchtime

NOTE: Please write clearly on an envelope the child’s name and grade and the item they wish to order. Correct money only will be accepted.

2020_Lunch_Order_Menu.pdf

2020_Lunch_Order_Menu _pdf 184.01 KB

St Gabriel's Uniform Shop

The St. Gabriel's Uniform shop operates Tuesday 8.15am - 9.30am and Thursday from 2pm - 4pm. Order forms are available at the school office if you are unable to attend the uniform shop during these times.

The Uniform Shop is located at the rear of the school hall off the hall foyer.