Dear Parents and Carers,

The fact that we are already in Week 2 of Term 4 is not lost on me. As I reflect on the happenings in the past week, the year has certainly taken on a different direction to what we were hoping and planning for. The move to online learning has been smooth, yet challenging for all involved. I commend those parents who have balanced home life, work life and trying to support their children with online schooling. That is a lot of hats to be wearing all at once. Thank you for all you are doing!

The teachers at St Benedict’s continue to plan for the weeks ahead, both for online learning and when we can welcome students back to face-to-face learning in a few weeks (we are all very much looking forward to that!!). Our plan when the students return to face to face learning is to prioritise the consolidation of learning undertaken during remote times and ensure that students are well placed to end the year in a strong and positive way and are prepared for the 2022 school year. Again, we thank you all for your ongoing support. What a fabulous community we are lucky enough to be a part of! I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Staffing
Mrs Belinda McRae finished up at the end of last term and once lockdown has finished and students have returned to school we will take the opportunity to farewell her. Following interviews in the holidays, we have employed Mrs Catherine Hemphill to be our office manager going forward. Catherine is very experienced and comes from St Joseph's ELC O'Connor. Catherine will begin at St Benedict's on Monday 25th October, when all the staff return to school. I know you will join with me in welcoming Catherine to our staff.

Return to School
As circulated last week, K,1,2 & 6 will return to school on Monday 25 October and Years 3,4 & 5 will return on Monday 1 November. We are all looking toward these dates with hope, optimism and a small amount of trepidation. The safety and wellbeing of students and staff is the primary consideration of any decision related to re-opening schools. St Benedict’s School follows various COVID-19 Safe requirements as advised by ACT Health which seek to prevent and minimise the transmission of COVID-19.

These requirements are designed to:

• minimise unnecessary physical interaction between students on school grounds;
• ensure that students learn only with those in their cohort, wherever possible;
• minimise opportunities for transmission and enhance contact tracing; and,
• minimise the potential for widespread infection across the school and wider school community.

Health and safety measures will be in place at St Benedict’s to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission, including:

• encouraging vaccination of eligible students, staff and families,
• mandatory use of the Check In CBR app for all adults,
• ensuring fresh air ventilation is optimised in all settings,
• physical distancing measures for adults, and
• mandatory mask wearing for staff and essential visitors.  The wearing of masks for primary students is at the discretion of the student and their parent/carer.  However it is not recommended for children for Kindergarten to Year 2. This is because masks are unlikely to be correctly worn by very young children and may represent a choking hazard.   

Other measures in place will include limiting the mingling of classes and year groups, increased use of outdoor spaces, limitation of on-site visitors to essential visitors only, environmental cleaning and high vigilance around not allowing anyone with symptoms of illness to attend. More information about this will be forwarded to families next week.

The approach being taken is informed by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee advice for minimising COVID-19 transmission in schools and the Chief Health Officer’s Health Guidelines for Schools and Early Childhood Education Services (including out of school hours care).

All our school staff have been encouraged to be vaccinated, and I can advise that many of our staff are vaccinated or are in the process of doing so. Due to Australian privacy law requirements, we are unable to advise the vaccination status of individuals or school staff.

There will be some challenges in relation to drop off and pick up, Term 4 scheduled events, access to school grounds by parents and carers as well as some other areas. Rest assured that the school staff are exploring all reasonable options whilst ensuring that they fit within ACT guidelines.

Again, I sincerely thank all our school staff, parents, families and carers. I know this has been challenging for all of you, and I thank you for your patience and resilience. Please do not hesitate to reach out via email if I can be of any assistance.

Stay safe and healthy.

God bless.

Rachel Smith
Principal