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Dear Parents and Carers,
I am grateful every day for the wonderful staff we have at St Clare’s. Everyone has had to change the way they operate as educators and be flexible on a daily basis as we navigate through this pandemic. Our students have shown maturity and flexibility in their ability to cope with their everchanging world. Some have taken on learning from home with challenges navigated along the way, others have come to school but are learning in a very different way than face to face teaching. We are very proud of our students and what they achieve every day! Thank you to all parents, carers and grandparents for your support of our school and of your children. Remember, we are the St. Clare’s Community and “We’re all in this together!” Look after yourself and each other.
As we enter Week 4 of the term, we begin yet another change in learning with our Prep and Yr 1 students returning to school. Other students (Years 2–6), including siblings of students returning to school, will continue with the home-based learning model unless they have parents who are essential workers and required to be at workplaces.
We look forward to our Yr 2-6 students returning in a full time capacity at school on Monday May 25th.
Schools have many regulations and restrictions in place for at least the remainder of this term. There will be no assemblies, sporting activities (apart from PE lessons), excursions or camps in Term 2.
A reminder of important messages regarding procedures at school:
- Prep / Yr 1 and siblings (essential workers children) will be picked up at 2:50pm each day (for remainder of term)
- Yr 2-6 students of essential workers finish at 3pm
- Any student who is sick is required to stay home from school and parents should advise the teacher or ring the absentee line before 9am. We have recommenced our absentee SMS service this week.
- Limited adult contact on school grounds. If parents need to see a teacher it must be by arrangement and they must present to the office to check in and use hand sanitizer before going to rooms.
- During drop off in the morning parents are asked to use ‘Stop, Drop and Go’. Only students and school staff are to enter classrooms in the morning.
Nature Playground
Our nature playground will commence later this week. Students will be able to watch as the area develops into a space they can all enjoy during the school day.
Junior Precinct building project
The Junior Precinct project is currently at tender and we hope for a positive outcome of appointment of a builder in the near future. Exciting times ahead! Later this term we will move our current Prep and Yr 1 classes to alternative learning spaces. We may need parent assistance with packing storage containers and moving furniture. More information to come at a later date.
Best wishes to everyone for the week ahead,
Narelle Harney
Welcome Community Hospitality
The month of May - We honour Mary
Mary has a special and honoured place in salvation history and in our Church.
The month of May is a wonderful opportunity to come to know Mary through experience. We can understand the radical nature of a young Mary’s ‘Yes’ to the Archangel Gabriel by practicing contemplative imagination or unpacking the meanings of icons. We can begin to comprehend what Mary meant to the early Church through reading or viewing her story. We can draw on her strength by praying the rosary and calling Mary, our Mother.
Let us pray for ...
- We thank all essential workers for their continued presence at their jobs. We pray for nurses, doctors, paramedics, and other medical staff in developed and developing worlds who continue to manage and make do with the resources they have to care for the sick and dying.
- We pray also for our political leaders who are now balancing the community's public health needs with the needs of the economy, business and workers.
- We pray for those who are having to find new ways of providing for themselves and their families as a result of job losses
- We prayer for the children at The Eden Gardens Children’s Home in India, a place where 250 children from remote and disadvantaged backgrounds are given access to education, as well as a safe home that fulfils their physical and spiritual needs. This work is one of many for Catholic Mission, perhaps, if you are able, you might consider supporting those in crisis, like Nathaniel and hundreds of other vulnerable children. [The good works of Catholic Mission can be found in the link provided]
- We pray for our fragile earth, may this time of quiet in the skies and industry, provide her the means and the space to begin to heal; may we use this time to reflect more deeply on how we can take greater care of our Common Home.
(Disclaimer: The material is produced by the CES Identity & Outreach Directorate, and is influenced by their filters).
National Reconciliation Week 2020 – 27th May to 3rd June
At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first NRW.
In 2000, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of NRW, to show their support for reconciliation.
Today, NRW is celebrated by businesses, schools and early learning services, organisations, and individuals Australia-wide. Hundreds of NRW events are held each year.
On 28 May, Cairns Catholic Education will be Virtually launching (in the era of Covid-19) the Catholic Education Community Reconciliation Action Plan. More information will be made available in the coming weeks.
May the Grace of God be with you,
Kath Kennedy
TERM 2 - SCHOOL FEES
School Fees for term two will be sent out this week. Invoices will be sent by email to all parents. Please contact the school office if you do not receive the invoice so we can check your email address or if you require a hardcopy of fees.
Please check your junk or spam mail.
HCC REMINDER
Those who now have the two new concession cards – Job Seeker Payment (JSP) and Farm Household Allowance (FH) will also be eligible for the 100% concession on the tuition part of fees.
For those who have yet to receive their cards, we will accept as proof the digital version from the MyGov app or a printed confirmation page from Centrelink. Please send confirmation by tomorrow, Wednesday 13th May.
Families without a concession card but who are experiencing financial stress are encouraged to contact their principal to discuss fee concessions. These conversations would be strictly confidential and respectful.
TERM 2 BUS FARE FEES - Mission Beach Bus only
Famiies who have students travelling on the Mission Beach bus starting this week (Week 4) will be invoiced for 7 wks of bus threshold fee which will be included in this term's account.
For those families who will have students starting in Week 6 their bus threshold fee will not be included in this term's fee invoice. Invoice for 5 weeks of bus threshold fees will be done seperately in Wk 6.
An updated school fee statement will be sent out in week 6 showing the bus threshold fee total for payment.
This year is very different to any other year, and we hope all our families are doing ok out there.
We are hoping to have our P&F meeting this month – via zoom or something similar, please keep an eye on FB for details.
Thank you to everyone that supported our pie drive this year. We understand it fell at the start of Covid-19 but from the support we received we have made $1600.00.
One of our projects is under construction at the moment – It will be great to have the cover over the ramp near the admin building finished soon. This project has been able to occur through the hard work of all families fundraising through the years, and very generous businesses in our area and afar helping our wonderful school community.
We look forward to being able to see everyone again on a social scene. Once we are able to make some decisions on activities for the rest of the year, we will advise.
Keep safe and stay well.
P&F Committee
