Dear Friends,

Welcome to Term 4 and the blessing of Spring time!  I hope that you have all had opportunity to enjoy the sunshine, the chance to spend more time outdoors and the break from juggling work, remote learning and family life.

It is positive to be able to begin Term 4, with a plan from the ACT Minister in regards to return to school, staggered throughout Week 4 and 5. The newly announced arrangements include early childhood education and care and out of school hours care services. This is an important step to support the safety, education and well-being of our students and their families. The timing of this staged return to school is in line with the ACT’s COVID-19 Pathway Forward. It is designed to align with critical community vaccination rates and the pace of the easing of restrictions in other parts of the ACT community and builds on the previous announcement in relation to Year 11 and 12.  

From Monday 25 October (Week 4, Term 4), ELC,  Kindergarten, and Years 1, 2, and 6 can return to on campus learning. These year groups will also be able to attend our out of school hours care programs- ELC or Kids Biz.

• If you are needing your child/ren to attend school for onsite supervision  for weeks 1-3, please ensure you have firstly emailed me about this, and secondly, register using the link below:

 
https://holytrinitypscurtin.schoolzineplus.com/form/294
 

From Monday 1 November (Week 5, Term 4), Years 3, 4, 5, can return to on campus learning at Holy Trinity. 
Please note:

• With our multi aging in Year 5 and 6, Year 6 will be attending school in Week 4 and Year 5 will continue remotely for this week. Year 5 return on Monday 1 November. We are still,  however, in Week 4 be open for students in Years 3-5 of parents/carers who are unable to provide care
  for their children. Our school will also remain open for vulnerable students. If you require supervision of your child/children in Year 3-5 during Week 4, please complete the following form-  this will ensure we have appropriate supervision ratios. 
  

  https://holytrinitypscurtin.schoolzineplus.com/form/295

• Please not that there is one mode of learning employed for children needing on site supervision, the remote learning model. This is where the same learning is delivered to students both at home and on site at school. 

 
The safety and well being of students and staff is the primary consideration of any decision related to re-opening schools. Holy Trinity School and ELC follows various COVID-19 Safe requirements as advised by ACT Health which seek to prevent and minimise the transmission of COVID-19.

Of course with the new COVID safe Road Map shared with families last week, we have had to cancel or change some of our Term 4 events-  please refer to our school calendar regularly and we will also advertise throughout the term via the newsletter and Seesaw upcoming significant events. 

TERM 3 WEEK 10 AWARD RECIPIENTS 

On the last Friday of Term 3, during class MS Team Meeting, students who received an award were acknowledged.  As soon as we are back physically together at school, we will present these awards to each child and take photos to share with families.  Congratulations to these students on this great achievement during our initial remote period Term 3 Weeks 5-10: 

The first online assembly of the FIFTH PLENARY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA commenced last Sunday and concludes at the end of this week. The second assembly will be held in Sydney in July next year, in person hopefully. Pray that the members will be mindful of the many thousands of submissions presented in seeking to respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church in Australia. You can join parts of the Plenary Council online by going to https://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au

To finish today I am  going to share a reflection from the new Pope Francis book, ``Let Us Dream”, that  I thoroughly enjoyed reading during stand down time.  Pope Francis talks about in a crisis, the temptation to retreat, and preserve our own place- status quo, roles.  His challenge is to ensure that we continue to serve others and to enable change through compassion.

“There is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities-  what we value, what we want, what we seek- and to commit to act our daily life on what we have dreamed of…. Dare to create something new.”  

I hope you have given yourselves an opportunity  during the school break to rest, recharge and look at the possibilities that can come from change.  Enjoy the sunshine this weekend, with a few restrictions continuing to ease.

I also know for some of our families, the school break was filled with tragedy or illness. Please know that you are all in my constant thoughts and prayers, and I thank our  Holy Trinity community who continue to support each other with such compassion and love. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out for anything at all and continue to stay safe. 

Warmest wishes,

Philippa