Reminders

Please know that the priority for St Benedict’s - and for all Catholic schools, is the health and safety of our students and staff, and as such, the Catholic Education Office is monitoring and responding quickly to the advice of federal, state and territory governments and medical authorities as the situation develops.

While this is an uncertain period for our communities, it is important that we remain calm and alert as we monitor this health risk, and for our families and staff to be well informed about the health advice and protocols to reduce this risk.

Just some reminders/messages:

• Please ensure that all contact numbers and emails are up to date; and 
• Please read information sent from ‘Schoolzine App’ (SZapp), COMPASS App and email regularly. Facebook or other social media are not the avenues to communicate important information to parents. Roughly, only 50% open information (either via email or the app) when disseminated to parents.

Thank You For Your Understanding

The Teams communication platform is for students and teachers only. Parents are to continue to communicate with the teacher via email or Seesaw. Again, teachers will reply to the communication in a timely manner.

When students are working alone at home, it is easy to imagine that teachers can respond to questions in an instant messaging kind of scenario. Teachers will want to assist students at their time of need but they may not be able to because:

• they are currently working with another student or students;
• they are on their own recess or lunch break;
• they are involved in supervision activities;
• they are having a designated Release From Face to Face (RFF); or
• their ‘face-to-face’ hours have finished for the day.

Teachers will always do their best to respond and engage in a timely manner. Depending on the time and the nature of any requests, this may even have to be the next day.

Absentee Notes

Despite the learning moving to remote learning, there are still requirements to meet the Education Act. It is a legal requirement of the Education Act that students participate in learning (whatever the context) and attend school. Both the initial 9.00am online check in via SeaSaw (K-2) and Google Classroom (3-6) and the daily whole class online video meetings fulfil these requirements. They will serve as both a roll call for students and also a check on their wellbeing. Parents and carers have a legal obligation to notify the school with reason for student absences.

Leaving St Benedict’s

If you anticipate that your child will leave St Benedict’s at the end of this year, could you please notify the Front Office. We need to begin planning for staffing and class configurations for 2022. Thank you to those who have let us know already, this is very much appreciated. Naturally Year 6 parents need not respond to this request.