ST ITAS COVID-19 UPDATE

Could we please ask all parents to check in daily for any alerts relating to COVID-19. Where possible updates relating to COVID-19 will be posted by the school first thing in the morning, but as has been the case in the last three weeks some alerts and updates will need to be sent out on the weekend to keep families informed.

The two main information sharing sources we use at St Ita’s for Parents and Families are ClassDojo and Schoolzine.

ClassDojo is a downloadable App and connects you to your child’s classroom community. Simply download the app, identify your school and your child’s class teacher will send you an invite code.

Schoolzine is the platform that we send our weekly newsletter and any important announcements through. You can access and set up Schoolzine by following the link below

 https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation

If you do not have one of these apps set up, we strongly recommend that you connect to your preferred option as you may be missing out on important information alerts from St Ita’s.

FACE MASKS 

The Victorian Chief Health Officer has expanded the mandatory use of face masks indoors to limit the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) within the population of school settings to include primary schools.

The use of face masks assists in providing an additional physical barrier between people and to help reduce community transmission of COVID-19 across all of Victoria.

Students in Grades 3 to 6 at St Ita’s will be required to wear a face mask when indoors on school premises, including when attending an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program, unless a lawful exception applies.

There are a number of lawful reasons for not wearing a face mask, including for staff and students who are unable to wear a face mask due to the nature of their disability, medical or a mental health. 

At this time, there will be no requirement for students to wear a face mask whilst outdoors during school time.

Whilst not required, it is strongly recommended by the Victorian Chief Health Officer that students in Foundation to Grade 2 wear a face mask indoors at school, including when attending an OSHC program.

Parents, guardians and carers are required to supply their child(ren) with an appropriate face mask that covers the nose and mouth. Appropriate face masks include single use face masks (commonly called surgical masks) or cloth face masks made from three layers of a mix of breathable fabrics. Further information on face masks, including what face masks you can and can't wear, can be accessed from the Coronavirus Victoria website.

All school staff at St Ita’s are required to wear a face mask, including whilst  teaching (wherever practicable), unless a lawful exception applies, to protect the health and safety of all students, staff and the wider school community. School staff are permitted to remove their face mask when necessary for effective communication. Parents, guardians and carers are encouraged to inform their child(ren) of the face mask requirements, and to continue to reinforce with their child(ren) the need to keep 1.5 metres apart from other people, to wash and dry hands thoroughly and regularly, and cough and sneeze into a tissue or their elbow.

Parents, guardians and carers will also be required to wear a face mask when dropping off or picking up their child(ren) or if required to collect an unwell child(ren) from the school.

If you require clarification in relation to the use of face mask at school or additional support, please contact Admin on (03) 5623 7222 or email admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au.

2022 CLASS STRUCTURES

We have finalised our class structures for 2022 school year and they will be as follows:

3 x Foundation

3 x Grade 1’s

3 X Grade 2’s

5 x Grade 3/4’s

4 x Grade 5/6’s

Over the coming weeks, staff will be working on sorting children into class groupings. Grouping of students into classes is an extremely complex and time-consuming process. We base our decisions on a number of key factors such as:

• Current educational philosophies of the school and education
• Social, emotional and academic needs of the children
• A balance of social, emotional and academics in each cohort.

Each year teachers have conversations with children asking whom they would like to be with in the following year: this can be a friend or learning buddy. There are pros and cons with this process as sometimes, best friends are not always the best support for their personal learning.

It is important that there is a collective understanding by both parents and children that being in the same class with their ‘best friends’ or social acquaintances outside of school is never a given.

Teachers will use their professional judgement on what they see each day within the cohort and more importantly the positive or negative impacts that friendships can have on an individual student learning.

PARENT CLASS REQUESTS FOR 2022

Parents are asked to communicate any class requests specific to the needs of their child/ren based on the following understandings and guidelines: 

• All requests for consideration must be directed in email to principal@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au no later than Friday 19th November. (requests received after this date will not be considered)
• The request must be based on individual student needs and not for preferred teachers, friendships groups or social relationships that occur outside of school
• We do not offer any guarantees with parent requests. Factors for consideration will help to inform our process of grouping students – the request via a parent does not guarantee student placement
• Requests from parents will be only considered for the upcoming school year.
• I will meet with and inform all relevant staff of parent input prior to formation of classes

We appreciate parent input and will do our best to make things work for your child, so long as the request is deemed fair and inline with the guidelines above. Once groupings have been decided and announced to the school community in mid-December, there will be no changes made to classes as it creates a domino effect across the level.