St Jerome's Newsletter
Week 5 - Term 1 (Thursday 5 March)
St Jerome’s Primary School acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders, both past and present, of the lands on which this school is located.
Dear Parents and members of our school community
Our thoughts and imagination
are the only real limits
to our possibilities.
Orison Swett Marden
Coronavirus (COVID19) Update
Every day, each school in WA is given an update from the Health Department to ensure that schools have strategies in place to support the COVID-19 response.
Updated Advice for Parents and Staff
Effective 1 March 2020, the WA Department of Health has issued updated advice in relation to students or staff coming to Australia from Iran. Only Australian citizens and permanent residents coming from Iran will be allowed entry to Australia and from 1 March they are required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days after departing Iran - consistent with the restrictions for those entering from China. Additionally, Australians have been advised NOT to travel to Iran.
The updated advice from the Department of Education for parents and affected staff is:
- Any student or staff member who has been in, or transited through, mainland China (not just Hubei province) or has been in Iran is excluded from work, school or child care services for 14 days from the date they left mainland China or Iran.
- Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded until they are medically cleared to return.
- Close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case.
- Students and staff who have returned to Australia from mainland China or Iran more than 14 days ago and have shown no symptoms are able to return to school.
The above also applies to all parents/carers, contractors, visitors and volunteers on school sites.
Parents/carers and staff should notify their school if the student or staff member will be away for the isolation period and confirm the last date they were in mainland China or Iran.
Children and staff do not require a medical certificate or clearance to return to school but must remain at home until 14 days after leaving mainland China or Iran.
The WA Department of Health has updated information including frequently asked questions about the COVID-19. To view this information visit healthywa.wa.gov.au/coronavirus
Community Information
With much of the media and public commentary about COVID-19 continuing to ramp up and often being quite alarmist, it is quite understandable that staff, parents and students may feel stressed and anxious about the situation. We need to remember that both the World Health Organization and the Department of Health continue to advise that the current risk of transmission in Western Australia remains low.
Advice from the Health Department of WA indicates that the best way of protecting ourselves and others against COVID-19, is for each of us to practise good hygiene by:
- Washing hands frequently with soap and water or using an alcohol-based gel.
- Refraining from touching our mouth and nose.
- Covering nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow with coughing or sneezing
- Disposing of tissues immediately into a bin and cleaning hands as described above.
- Avoiding close contact with anyone who is showing cold or flu-like symptoms.
We ask that parents reinforce these practices with children at home as we will do, at school.
We do however, remind families who may be planning an overseas trip to, for example, Bali, Europe or parts of Asia that there is no guarantee that stricter return to school protocols may be put into place in the coming weeks. A 14 day exclusion for all returning overseas travellers could well be the rule.
I will continue to provide families with any new information as it becomes available.
School Tour - Thursday 19 March (9.15am)
if you have family & friends who may be interested in enrolling their children here at St Jerome's, please pass on this information.
Principal
RE NEWS
Second Week of Lent (School week beginning 9th March)
This week through Project Compassion we learn about Phany (pronounded Parn-ee).
Struggling to earn a living as a farmer in Cambodia, Phany was forced to leave her daughter behind in the village to take up construction work in the city.
Thankfully, through a Caritas funded program, Phany learnt new farming techniques which enabled her to get a better yield from her vegetable crops and to conserve water in her drought-stricken region. Phany’s community also took part in training in health, nutrition, hygiene and disaster preparedness, arming them with better strategies to cope with environmental changes. Watch a short film about Phany’s story.
Let’s Go Further, Together! Please support the Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au
Twenty-seven-year-old Phany, lives in a village in western Cambodia. Struggling to earn a living as a rice farmer, she was forced to leave her daughter behind in the village, to take up construction work in the city.
Then in 2016, Phany joined a Caritas supported program, learning more productive farming and irrigation techniques. Her community learned to work together for better water management, to combat drought.
Over 70 percent of Cambodia's population live in rural communities – and farming family’s living in poverty are the most food insecure. Thirteen percent of Cambodians live below the poverty line, while 35 out of every 1000 babies die due to malnutrition.
In 2016, Phany joined the Upholding Community Dignity Together program, where she learnt new farming techniques, such as a drip irrigation system which enabled her to get a better yield from her vegetable crops and to conserve water for drier periods. She also learnt how to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks. Phany’s community also took part in training in health, nutrition, hygiene and disaster preparedness, arming them with better strategies to cope with environmental changes.
With your help, mothers like Phany can continue to uplift their communities, and provide food for their families. A brighter future women, men and their families can start today. Let’s Go Further, Together.
Assistant Principal
Crunch'n'Sip
We are OFFICIALLY a registered Crunch’n’Sip school! This means that our staff are committed to promoting healthy lifestyle habits in our classrooms by encouraging our students to eat fresh fruit and veggies daily as well as to drink water throughout the day. Helpful tips can be found in future newsletters and there are free resources in the front office! Thank you to our parents who send their children to school with fresh fruit and veggies daily.
Absences
A reminder that the office needs to be notified of your child's absence by 9.00 in the morning either by phone 9499 9500 (Then choose the 1st selection) or email absent@stjeromes.wa.edu.au.
For absences of three or more days, an Extended Leave Form needs to be completed, signed off by your child's teacher and sent in for signing by the Principal. This form is available on our website, or you can collect one from the office.
Thanking you in advance for your assistance.
P & F News
Masters Milk Carton Regatta
If you have any Masters milk cartons, please bring them into the office (rinsed), as they need lots of them to create their floating masterpiece.
Thanking you in advance.
Contact Details
Email: admin@stjeromes.wa.edu.au
Website: www.stjeromes.wa.edu.au
Location: 38 Troode Street, Munster WA, Australia
Phone: 08 9499 9500