Dear St Clare's Community,

While it has not been the start we would usually have, welcome to the 2022 school year! We cannot wait to have all our students back on-site from Monday 7th

February, and really get started.

You will be aware that the State Government announced its back to school plan on the weekend.

Following Queensland Health advice over the last two years has served us well, as has maintaining consistency with Education Queensland where appropriate. As such, our schools will follow the same plan as state schools. The plan applies from 7 February until 4 March this year.

In summary:

• The government will deliver Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) for staff and students, directly to schools. They will be available to staff and students who are symptomatic on site. Parents, not staff, will be responsible for administering the RATs. Staff and students will get priority from Queensland Health testing centres if symptoms are displayed off-site. 

• The ventilation systems in our schools are designed to meet or exceed fresh air ventilation requirements and are well placed to reduce the risk of COVID. There is no need for windows to be open, although where weather permits, some may be kept slightly ajar for additional ventilation. 

• All staff and secondary students are required to wear masks and mask-wearing is highly recommended for Y3-6 students. Families are required to supply these; however, schools will maintain emergency supplies. Please note, school staff (primary and high school) are required to wear masks while standing or moving about indoors but may remove their mask when seated or if able to maintain physical distancing of 1.5m from others while teaching or interacting with students or children. When outdoors, face masks can be removed if physical distancing of 1.5m from others can be maintained. Secondary students do not have to wear a mask if seated (indoors or outdoors) but otherwise must wear a mask if unable to maintain physical distancing. 

• For the duration of the back-to-school plan, school camps, excursions, assemblies, and large gatherings will be suspended. Assemblies, school masses and liturgies may be held virtually or cancelled.

• Visitors will be limited on-site. Parents may pick up and drop off, and parents of Prep, Year 1 and vulnerable students are allowed on-site. Parents are required to wear masks while standing, moving about indoors or if unable to physically distance from others, and will need to comply with other onsite measures, including sign in, as directed by the school. 

• Cleaning protocols are unchanged and the same as normal, with extra attention to high touch areas. 

• Staff meetings and parent/teacher interviews will be limited and held virtually where possible. If they must be face-to-face, physical distancing will be maintained and consideration given to the size of the meeting room.

Full details of the back-to-school plan are available here: qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/back-to-school

At the moment this plan will be in place for 4 weeks. Pick-up in the afternoon will remain the same with the collection of students at 3pm from the front entrance on Mars St. A reminder that Mars St in front of the school is a stop, drop, go zone. There is a 2 minute limit in this zone. Parents wishing to get out of their cars to collect children will need to park elsewhere and walk into the school.

It is looking likely that we will need to postpone some scheduled school events. You will read further down that the Southern Zone Swimming Carnival has been cancelled already, and we  also need to postpone our Welcome Mass (scheduled for 17th Feb) and our Parent Meet & Greet night (scheduled for 22nd Feb). We will not gather as a whole school for our weekly assemblies for this period of time. With this in mind, communication between school and home will be extremely important.

Ways in which we communicate are:

• School Newsletter - sent out fortnightly on Tuesday’s, even weeks
• Via the Seesaw app - please contact your child’s teacher if you don’t have access
• Our school Facebook page will often have reminders
• Via email and phone

It is likely that the school will be impacted by cases of COVID-19 over the coming weeks. We will no doubt have staff and students unable to attend due to having to isolate. In the event of staff needing to isolate, please be assured the continuation of learning and teaching for our students will be our priority and every attempt will be made to minimise disruptions.

We will update the school community about further developments on a regular basis by including information about the presence of cases within the school community via our school newsletter or through email where required. We ask that you notify the school at your earliest convenience should your student test positive. Queensland Health advice in relation to isolation and testing can be found here.

We will continue to work closely with health authorities to keep our school community informed of any developments and advice. Thank you once again for your ongoing support.

Staff 2022

Staffing for 2022 remains much the same as published late last year.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Sharon Chappel for taking on the role of APRE in Term 1, in the absence of Helen Andrews. Helen remains on leave and I know you will all join me in sending your thoughts and prayers to Helen as she continues to undergo treatment. Helen is very much missed by our community and we hope to see her return later this year. We warmly  welcome to St. Clare’s, Jess Lang in Year 4 & Kate Mason for HPE, and welcome back Temara Giuliany from leave. Pauline Colombini is currently on leave and we welcome and thank Rhiannon Lizzio who will be helping us out.

Karran Burzacott - Principal
Sharon Chappel - Acting APRE
Chris Edwards - Leader of Diversity / Leader of Learning and Teaching
Rosanna O’Kane - Admin & Finance
Antonina Dal Zilio - Admin Support
Vera Borgna - Library Assistant / Admin Support / WHS Officer
Gita Sima  - Prep
Zanelle Collins - Year 1
Georgia Moloney - Year 2
Adam Stubbings - Year 3
Jessica Lang - Year 4
Sharon Chappel/ Jamilla Dressler - Year 5
Kaitlyn Marsilio & Cherie Jenkins - Year 6
Kate Mason - HPE
Jo Wall - The Arts
Pauline Colombini - Student Support Officer
Alicia Johnson - Student Support Officer
Marie Vipiana - Student Support Officer / Tuckshop
Steph Grimaz - Student Support Officer
Jenny Sollitt - Student Support Officer
Carla Low - Student Support Officer
Temara Guiliany - Student Support Officer
Jodie Costa - Cleaner
Paul Taylor - Groundsperson

Uniforms

I understand that some parents are still having difficulty in getting sports shirts. If you find that you do not have one, we have a very small number of second hand uniforms available that might help out in the meantime. The uniform requirements are attached to this newsletter as a reminder of expectations. Please take particular note of the requirements around hair and the wearing of jewellery.

Finally, there seems to be quite a lot of mosquitoes around at the moment. You may wish to spray your children before school in the mornings. We ask that students do not bring sprays to school with them please.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns and I look forward to seeing all our students back next week and catching up with you all over time. Wishing everyone good health and keep safe.

Warm regards,

Karran Burzacott
Principal