No 2. Term 1 Week 3, 10th February 2021

Principal's News

It has been wonderful to see everyone return to school with their big smiles, new haircuts and wonderful stories of their summer adventures. It was great to see and feel the buzz of excitement in the corridors and learning spaces. It warmed my heart to walk around the school and see children oozing happiness and being so happy to be back.

A BIG welcome to all our new Prep students and their families. It has been fantastic to see our new friends carrying their bags and settling into life at our great school. 

This year we have had some new families join our community. We welcome to our school Zavier, Lilyan, Nene, Ramithu, Josiah, Phoenix, Koway, Johnny, and Jaden. It was very encouraging to see our children embrace and take them under their wing as new members of our school. From all reports, our new friends love being a part of our community.

We also welcome to our school returning and new staff members. Welcome back to Mrs Iona Borthwick who is returning from parental leave. You have been missed and there were some very excited students and staff to see you again. Iona will be teaching Prep this year and we are excited to have her teaching in her magical way with our littlest students. We also welcome Mrs Sarah Kroenert who will be teaching STEM to all students across all year levels, Miss Sarah Poxon and  Mrs Kay Robinson who will both be joining the Senior (5/6) teaching team. We are very excited to have you all join our amazing team.

This year we also welcome Mrs Rebecca Gage to the executive leadership team as our newest Deputy Principal. Rebecca will lead the school in Innovation and Operations and work alongside our other Deputy Principal, Miss Rowlands and myself.  Rebecca has already settled into the role well, taking on many jobs and responsibilities with a calm, professional approach.

Welcome back to all our staff and a BIG thank you to all our staff who helped make the beginning of the school year start so smoothly. Our two testing days for year 1-6 enabled our staff to meet each child before the first full day and have some quality time together, building a solid relationship and helping each child to settle into the classroom.

This year I look forward to seeing our Year 6 students thrive in their leadership roles and be great role models for our school community, bringing our school vision to life. I hope that they will have many opportunities to grow and show their leadership skills, guiding all in our school. Our senior students will participate in a special 'leadership day' this Friday, before we undertake the process of selecting our new school leaders early next week. 

Jason Micallef,
Principal

Current Covid-19 Safety Measures

Thank you to our school community for your continued support and understanding in helping us manage our requirements to be COVID safe. Due to the ongoing and evolving nature of this pandemic, the following protocols are in place:

• Parents are permitted to enter classrooms, but must wear a mask and comply with staff requests to exit, if numbers in spaces gets too high
• Parents are allowed onsite on the school grounds, but MUST physical distance. If you cannot social distance, a mask MUST be worn.
• If parents need to access the office, they MUST wear a mask and maintain physical distancing of 1.5m  
• Staff MUST wear a face mask when indoors when they are NOT in the act of teaching
• Students are hand washing/sanitising regularly
• Surfaces in classrooms being cleaned on a regular basis
• Parents are currently unable to attend assemblies or masses

As more positive cases are identified, it is important that all families check whether they have attended the exposure sites during the time frame.

Exposure sites and COVID-19 Testing

A list of exposure sites have been published on the DHHS website: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/case-locations-and-outbreaks-covid-19

DHHS ask that anyone who has visited Tier 1 exposure sites during these times must immediately isolate, get a coronavirus (COVID-19) test, and remain isolated for 14 days. If you and your family have visited one of these sites, you MUST follow the directives of DHHS. As a School, we MUST be notified of this so we can ensure the safety of all our community. Please email principal@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au to notify if you have been tested and then also once you've received your result. If you and your family need to self-isolate, please let us know so we can support your child in their learning while they are in isolation.

Dismissal of school

In the afternoon we will have three school gates open to reduce congestion when leaving the school to ensure we are physical distancing. I strongly encourage adults to wear face masks even outdoors when we are leaving the school to ensure we are being proactive. Once again thank you for your support and understanding. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Student illness and being Covid safe

Obviously, the risks associated with COVID-19 transmission are significantly less than last year but the most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission to a minimum, is to ensure that students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms. Once a negative test result is received, the decision to return to school should be made in conjunction with your doctor. This means that in many cases, children can continue to attend school even if they have some of those milder symptoms like a runny nose.

Students with persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, can attend school but should still be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms. 

I hope that clarifies things for you. We are guided largely by Catholic Education Victoria's policies when it comes to COVID-19 and things do change frequently even now, so we will do our best to keep everyone up to date as things evolve.

Parent Teacher Chats

Please refer to the following instructions regarding the booking of your Parent Teacher Chats. 

These will be held on Monday 15th February from 2:00pm to 7:00pm and Tuesday 16th February 4:00pm to 6:00pm. 

The sooner you book your appointments, the better preference of times to suit you will be available.

Parent Engagement Action Team

We are still on the lookout for another parent to join our exciting Parent Engagement Action Team. This team is being tasked with the incredibly important role of working with our expert consultant to find ways of enhancing and enriching our home-school partnership. To be a part of this team, all you need is a willingness to want to help grow an effective partnership between school and families in a post-covid world and be available to meet for a couple of hours over 8 separate workshops that will take place over term 1 and 2.  We are still finalising dates and times as that will depend on participants' availablility.

If you are interested in knowing more, please contact either Mrs Gage, Miss Rowlands or Mr Micallef.

How to email your child's teacher

From time to time, you may need to get in touch with the teachers via email. Below is a list of their email addresses for your convenience. If using email to communicate, please be sure to be respectful of teachers and their time and maintan reasonable expectations of how soon they can respond to your queries. Consider speaking to teachers by phone if you need to engage in a conversation.

Prep Teachers

• Mrs Kydas kkydas@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Blake lblake@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
  
• Mrs Borthwick iborthwick@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Cardamone acardamone@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Eades aathanasiou@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Miss DeVisser ddevisser@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au

Junior Teachers (1/2)

• Mrs Fernandez efernandez@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Williams cwilliams@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Miss Rovers srovers@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Lenard alenard@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 
• Mrs LoRosso lorosso@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 
• Mrs Hettiarachichi ahettiarachchi@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs De Reus mdereus@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Castillo acastillo@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Schendel rschendel@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 

Middle Teachers (3/4)

• Mrs Petkovic dpetkovic@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs O'Halloran cohalloran@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Fonseca rfonseca@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Timothy ttimothy@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs D'Monte ddmonte@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Brobyn cbrobyn@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Bonato mbonato@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs McGookin amcgookin@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 

Senior Teachers (5/6)

• Mrs Dawson bdawson@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Robinson krobinson@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Miss Northcott lnorthcott@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Miss Poxon spoxon@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Miss Buttigieg vbuttigieg@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Meechan cmeechan@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 
  
• Miss McLeod cmcleod@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au 
• Mrs Broadhurst lbroadhurst@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au

Specialist Teachers

• Mrs Langdon (PE P-2) blangdon@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Wilson (PE 3-6) wilsont@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Szabo (Performing Arts) rszabo@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Cid (Art P-2) bcid@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Galway (Art 3-6) galwayl@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Luna (Indonesian P-2) lluna@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Ms Pratt (Indonesian 3-6) apratt@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au
• Mrs Kroenert (STEM) skroenert@skhamptonpark.catholic.edu.au

Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund Program

Each year, the Victorian Government helps ensure that all eligible students are able to participate in school trips and sporting activities. A payment of $125 for eligible primary school students is paid directly to the school to be used towards the cost of camps, sports and excursions for the benefit of the student. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.

Parents who received funding under the program in 2020 do not need to complete an application form in 2021, providing there has been no change in their family circumstances (e.g. a change in the care arrangements of the student, a change of name or Customer Reference Number, or the commencement of a new sibling at the school in 2021.)

For more informaton, please contact the Office.

Music Program for St. Kevin's Kids

Kool Kidz Rock offer expert tuition in guitar, keyboard, singing, piano, drums and violin right here at school during school hours each week for children who are enrolled in the program.

Instrumental music is not only fun for Primary School children, research has shown it can:

• Increase memory capacity
• Enhance co-ordination
• Develop mathematical ability
• Improve reading and comprehension skills
• Build confidence, self esteem and social skills

Private classes start at $33 per lesson and group classes start at $15.40 per lesson.

To find out more and how to enrol, visit koolkidzrock.com.au

Birthdays to Celebrate !

Happy Birthday to all of our children who celebrated during the holidays.

January

2nd   Amelia 5/6 DA, Naveen PEA

4th   Eliza PDE, Karan PKK, Manuel PDE

6th   Jacob 3/4 BB, Daniel 1/2 AL, Alier PKK, Leah 3/4 TI

7th   Daniel 5/6 LN

9th   Peter 1/2 AL

10th  Aggie 1/25 LO

11th  Lilian PEA, Victoria 3/4 BB

12th  Ethan 5/6 DA, Alex 3/4 DM

13th  Melika  1/2 HE, Tristyn PDE

14th  Nyadan 1/2 HE, Zak 3/4 TI

15th  Arou 1/2 HE, Ignatius 5/6 BU, Suhana 5/6 DA

16th  Mina 5/6 ME, Cohen 5/6 BU

17th  Khang PDE, Adele 3/4 BB

18th Lazanto PKK

19th  Maegan PCA, Shanelle 5/6 BU, Ashali PDE, Joshua 5/6 MB, Adele 3/4 PE

24th  Jai PKK

25th  Eden 5/6 ME, Tiana 3/4 FO

26th  Alirah PKK

28th  Lilyan 1/2 RO, Sheldon 5/6 MB, Frankie 5/6 LN

29th  Natalie 3/4 DM, Chlie 5/6 LN, Olivarez 3/4 DM, Natalie PKK

30th  Yashica 5/6 LN, Karsten 3/4 BB

February

1st   Ayoor 3/4 FO, Nyuon 3/4 DM, Jerome 5/6 MB

3rd   Noah 1/2 AL

4th   Micah PEA

5th   Aliyah 1/2 RO

6th   Nathaniel 1/2 HE

7th   Bonnie 1/2 AL

8th   Kylie 5/6 LN, Dalveen 5/6 LN

9th   Isaac PCA, Alannah 5/6 ME, Mary Jane 3/4 FO

10th  Charlotte 5/6 MB

11th Shubhrit PCA, Lawrence 5/6 DA, Victor 1/2DC

12th  Jackson 3/4 DM

Canteen

The Canteen is back for 2021 on Thursday's and Friday's.                                                                                        

Orders are placed through the Qkr! app.  Please make sure your child's CURRENT class is selected. 

I have attached information on ordering and the current menu.

Camp Australia

Beleza Uniforms Trading hours 11/2

Change to Store Trading Hours Thursday 11th February 

We’re writing to inform you of a change to Beleza's trading hours on Thursday 11th of February.  Due to a planned interruption to the Hallam store’s electricity supply, the store will be open for trading between 11am to 5pm. 

Beleza have been informed of the expected end time for the power outage, but please be advised  that this may go slightly beyond that time, at the electricity supplier’s discretion.  

Beleza apologises for any inconvenience that this change may cause and thanks you for your understanding.  

Community News