The month of May is traditionally devoted to Mary and many Catholics pray the rosary during this month. 
Last week in a letter to all Catholics, Pope Francis asked to make a special effort in May to pray the rosary, uniting with believers around the world asking for Mary's intercession in stopping the coronavirus pandemic.

As we continue our commitment to walk with our children and their families and with each other during this time, we ask our Holy Mother - Our Protector - to comfort those who are grieving, to be close to those, especially our colleagues and friends, who are concerned for their loved ones who are sick and who, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, cannot be close to them. Fill with hope those who are troubled by the uncertainty of the future and the consequences for the economy and employment.

Mother of God and our Mother, pray for us to God, the Father of mercies, that this suffering may end soon and that hope and peace may dawn anew. Shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.

Amen.

As well as acknowledging Jesus's mother, Mary, we also are indebted to all mothers, particularly those in our community at Holy Trinity. We also acknowledge and remember all our mothers no longer with us. In keeping with our Mother’s Day store tradition, all students will be given gifts for their Mother’s this Friday (tomorrow). A big thank you to Cath Day and the P&F who have organised and donated these gifts. Thank you also to our volunteers (some of our Dads) who will be organising the gifts and distributing them tomorrow. 

Students at school will be given these gifts on Friday. For families at home, please see the following invitation for our drive by Mother’s Day stall. We also look forward to sharing a special Mother's Day video tomorrow for all our mothers and their families. 

Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to express my deep appreciation to each of you for your support and loyalty to the school during what has been a challenging time for you and your families. You have been incredible in supporting your child in their learning during this period. Staff have also been incredible in the way they have adapted to providing a remote learning program and I am in total awe of their flexibility, commitment and perseverance. However as remote educators, we have all missed your children and their energy, humour and joy.

From an academic and welfare perspective it remains our priority to return to face to face teaching when it is safe to do so. Australia’s Chief Medical Officer has continually informed us that it is safe for children and staff to return to school for those who are not vulnerable. Health experts advise us that children are infected with COVID-19 at much lower rates than adults.

Please find attached a letter from Dr Kerryn Coleman, ACT Chief Officer, in relation to returning to face to face teaching in schools. It addresses a number of issues raised in relation to return to face to face teaching. Dr Coleman’s letter includes the advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) on reducing the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools and this advice is also being used to determine our own school safety measures outlined below. The advice from the ACT Chief Health Officer it is consistent with the advice available from NSW authorities and the Australian Government.

CHO letter to non government school parents

Following extensive discussion, review of the medical advice and guidelines, and considering the regional context where there are no reported cases of Covid-19, the Director of Catholic Education, Ross Fox, has authorised that all our students from ELC to Year 6 may return full time (5 days a week) to Holy Trinity beginning on Monday 18th May – Week 4.  If for any reason there is an increase in the safety concerns for the students and staff before the 18th May this decision will be reviewed. Please see attached media release from Ross Fox:

ACT Catholic Schools Return to school from 18_May.

As we prepare to have the children return to school for face-to-face teaching, it is essential that measures relating to personal hygiene and the health and safety of all members of our community are known and understood.

Below is some clear information on the arrangements and measures based on the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) guidelines, which aim to establish, where reasonably possible, best practice in relation to health and hygiene at schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The full document can be found here:

https://www.health.gov.au/news/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc-advice-on-reducing-the-potential-risk-of-covid-19-transmission-in-schools-24-april-2020

We hope all of this information will give you confidence in your child’s return to school and assist you in supporting the staff as we welcome students back into classrooms.

Extra hygiene and safety practices in place for when the children return to Holy Trinity school are as follows: 

• Increased cleaning schedules and resources onsite to wipe down and disinfect high-touch areas, including classrooms and common spaces, in addition to regular daily cleaning.
• Provision of extra hand sanitiser across the school.
• Provision of extra hand soap for children to wash their hands frequently, particularly before and after recess and lunch time.
• Frequent reminders to ensure children are practising good personal hygiene.  This means, covering mouths and noses when coughing and sneezing, frequent hand washing, not sharing food or drinks and minimising physical contact
• Please ensure your child brings a water bottle to school each day.
• No child is to attend school if they are showing any cold or flu-like symptoms.  They must remain at home, and stay away from school until they are no longer showing symptoms or have attended a GP who has instructed that they are fit and safe to return.
• If your child, or family members or other close contacts are tested for COVID-19, your child is not to attend school until the results of those tests are known and are negative.  Please advise the school if this situation occurs.
• If your child has a medical condition that places them at greater risk from a return to face-to-face teaching at this time, please contact their teacher (and please include myself in the correspondence) so that we can discuss their needs in greater detail and develop an appropriate plan for their circumstances.
• We are attempting to minimise the number of adults coming onto the premises to reduce the possible risk of COVID-19 transmission. Please make appointments ahead of time and if possible, telephone or use email as the preferred method of contact with your child’s teacher or staff member.
• At this stage, there will be no assemblies or large gatherings of students for the remainder of this term. An exception to this is any evacuation or emergency procedure that may be required. (Fire alarm etc.)
• After 18 May, if a situation arises where it is deemed not safe by health authorities for students or staff to be onsite, we would be able to move back to our comprehensive remote learning program as required.

 PICK UP AND DROP OFF ARRANGEMENTS

• All children are to please be dropped to school and picked up from the Carpark drop zone only. This includes any families who are walking their children home.  Parents are only to come to the front office if they are signing children in or out , who are arriving late or leaving early.  Pick up is not from the morning assembly area. Pick up and drop off can occur at the ring road at the front of the school when it is wet weather only.

  Children at the ELC are to be picked up as usual.

As we are all transitioning back to face to face teaching, next week (Week 3) we will continue with the Remote Learning plan on Seesaw. Next week, our specialist teachers, Italian, Library and Music, will be teaching at school for those students present. This is to give teachers more release time next week to prepare for the transition back to classroom teaching. Therefore, in Week 3, there will not be specialist teacher lessons on Seesaw.  Please note, that as of the 18 May, we will be offering face to face teaching program with all children in their own classroom, with their teachers. 

Of course, we also understand that many children ( and their parents) will be anxious about returning to school, especially those who have been away for an extensive time.  We are continually discussing together, as a staff, many differing strategies we will be using to support all our children, to ensure a smooth transition.

I again thank you for your ongoing support of our school. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any further clarification on any of these matters.

I continue to keep your family and the wider community in my prayers and thank you once again for your support and care. 

 Philippa