OLOF TIMES
15 May 2020
Our Vision
Our Lady of Fatima Palmyra is a Catholic School that aspires to
provide a respectful, secure and caring learning environment
where our community is committed to following
the teachings of Jesus.
From the Principal
Dear Parents,
With the majority of children back at school for the last 2 weeks, we have started to get back into some routines that resemble normality for the children or what we are describing as our new normal! I will provide some detail in this newsletter about some changes to what staff, students and parents have known to be normal procedures and protocols like: parents in the school, extra cleaning and hygiene requirements, no large group gatherings etc. I spent 90 minutes on Wednesday in an on-line meeting with all the other principals in CEWA schools across the state with the executive team from our head office working our way through the significant changes we are currently experiencing and trying to gauge how long these changes will be in place. At this stage, we are speculating a significant amount, our direction will come from the Chief Health Officer via the State Government.
Fatima Feast Day
Some activities were organised over the past week to ensure a focus on Fatima Feast Day, on Wednesday 13th May. We would normally facilitate bi-annual activities taking the children to an adventure playground or the movie cinema following a whole school Mass to celebrate this important Feast Day for our school community. This year the celebrations were a little more low key for obvious reasons. Our Year 6 children led short prayer reflections for the 3 different groups across the school after recess last Wednesday. The children enjoyed wearing their pyjamas to school for the day and watched a movie in their class groups in the afternoon as well. My thanks to the P&F for their support by providing a bag of popcorn and a chocolate freddo for each child while they watched the movie. We aim for our Feast Day celebrations to be memorable, I think this one might be for a range of different reasons!
Parents in the School
I would like to begin by thanking the parents for assisting us to ensure the Drop Off and Pick Up procedures at the start and end of each day are unfolding as smoothly as they are. The afternoons on the Kindy days (Mondays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays) have been very busy in the afternoon and after persevering for a couple of weeks, decided to change the process this week, which has made it far more efficient. Can I ask parents to assist us further by making a Family Name sign to make it obvious who is approaching the Pick Up area. We will continue with our new process until we are informed that parents are allowed to come into the school. Clearly the decision has been made across the state believing that our schools are safer places at the moment without the parents coming on-site. Any time frame on this regulation is mere speculation but I would anticipate it continuing for at least the next few weeks.
Extra Cleaning and Hygiene Requirements
From the time COVID-19 became apparent we have increased the cleaning and hygiene requirements in our community. The children continue to be asked to either wash or sanitise their hands 6 times each day: beginning of the day, before recess, after recess, before lunch, after lunch and at the end of the day. We also have staff regularly cleaning heavily used surfaces and resources including the Kindy and Pre-Primary/Year 1 playgrounds. These extra requirements are part of our approach towards making our school the safest environment we possibly can. I would also like to thank the parents for their vigilance in keeping children at home if they are displaying some cold or flu like symptoms, this too, adds to the safety of our environment.
School Banking
A message from the Commonwealth Bank via Emma Spackman and Maria Robinson, school banking will continue to be put on hold until further notice. In the meantime, if there are any parents in our community who would be willing to take on this role, please drop into the front office and let us know or catch up with Emma and/or Maria to find out a little more about what is involved. I know Emma and Maria enjoy what they are doing and the opportunity it provides for the contact with other parents in the community, but their children are getting close to the end of their time in our community and we need to look for a succession plan.
School Fee Statements
I apologise if I have caused any confusion regarding the School Fee Statements being sent out last week. Shortly after devising a plan to send the statements out and informing families, we received a directive from our head office to wait until the end of Term 2, to reduce the pressure on families at this challenging time. In the meantime, if you would like an update on
your account, please do not hesitate to email our finance officer, Amy Sheridan at: Amy.Sheridan@cewa.edu.au. The short term future is still a little unknown but we will need to look at any levies on school fees for activities that cannot take place, being reimbursed to families in due course. We are hoping activities like: swimming lessons, school camps, etc will take place later in the year. It is unlikely that excursions or incursions will take place for the remainder of Term 2 and with the “window” of opportunity for these activities to take place reducing, we may not be able to spend the excursion levy each family pays. As this situation becomes clearer, we will look at a process to reimburse or credit an appropriate portion of this levy to each family.
School Photos
The information regarding school photos was sent home earlier this week, scheduled for week 5 of this term, on Monday 25th May, with Pre-Kindy photos being taken on Thursday 28th May. We are hoping the school photo process will unfold as it normally would, we just need to wait and see how things evolve over the next fortnight. If parents would like a family photo to be taken, they are asked to come into the front office to collect a form.
School Uniforms
Thank you to all the parents who are going through the process of ordering winter uniform items via email for the ladies in the uniform shop to put together for you. Our community is slowly making the transition to the winter uniform which is great to see. The email address is: 8630.uniform@cewa.edu.au
On-Line Lunch Orders
Following the 3 week trial this term with our on-line ordering of lunches and in consultation with the P&F at our meeting on Wednesday night, our plan starting next week is to offer families the opportunity to order lunches twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Due to popular demand, the toasted sandwiches have returned to the menu, the wraps have been removed and a salad roll has been included as another option.
So the menu will be:
· Pies
· Sausage Rolls
· Sauce
· Ham and Cheese Toastie (GF option available)
· Cheese Toastie (GF option available)
· Salad Roll
It is also important to note that the P&F are organising Fundraiser Friday through the same cafe. A bowl of Pasta Nepoletana will be available for $5 on the fourth Friday of each month starting on Friday 22nd May. More details to follow early next week.
Pupil-Free Day
We do have a pupil-free day scheduled for Friday 29th May, our plan was to extend the long weekend by having it then, just a reminder with a fortnight’s notice.
Finally I have just received a generic letter from Catholic Education WA regarding the updates across our system. Many of these points have been mentioned in the newsletter, I will send it out on SEQTA.
Best wishes for the coming fortnight.
Paul Hansen
Principal
The story of Fatima
The story of Fatima began on May 13th, 1917 when Mary appeared to three children in the town of Fatima in Portugal. She then appeared to them again on the 13th of each month until October 13th 1917. Through the children, she gave the world a message called the “Peace Plan from Heaven”, calling us to conversion, prayer and penance. Our Lady told the three children, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco: “Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”
Dates to Remember
25 May 2020
School Photos
27 May 2020
Pre-Kindy Photos
29 May 2020
Pupil free Day
01 June 2020
WA Day public holiday
Remote learning tips for Parents and Students
As children and families have self-isolated, many students have looked for different forms of entertainment, some turning to online and social media. TikTok is a popular app that children are using to recreate dances and create short videos. It has been prevalent in the media of late with many celebrities and sports people creating content in their down time. It is important that parents are aware of the apps and content their children are viewing and creating. This week’s guide offers some information to help educate parents on appropriate use and control of TikTok.
P&F News
Dear Parents, as we tackle the challenges posed by work, family and life we are blessed and lucky to be part of the Our Lady of Fatima community. We have a unique opportunity to support one another and ensure the well-being of our parent body. The P&F are currently looking for anyone who would like to join a well-being P&F sub-committee to strategies and facilitate wellness initiatives in the community. Please see the linked attachment for further details.
School Lunch orders every Monday!
STAYING CONNECTED WITH OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH DURING COVID-19
Fr Francis and the Parish Council are attempting to reach out to all parishioners during the coronavirus pandemic while mass is suspended but many parishioner’s contact details are not up to date.
Fr Francis has been distributing the Parish bulletin by email and post and the Parish media team have revived the Parish Facebook page as a means to stay connected.
The easiest way to stay connected is to visit the Parish Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/OLOFParish/ which will be regularly updated with Parish news, information and photos, including videos from Fr Francis during the coronavirus pandemic. Please “Like” the Parish Facebook page so you get notified when something new is posted. You can find the previous Parish Bulletins posted on Facebook and information on how to contact the Parish office to update your contact details.
Contact Us
Email: admin@olof.wa.edu.au
Website: www.olof.wa.edu.au
Location: 3 Harris St, Palmyra WA, Australia
Phone: 08 9333 7900