Welcome back to Term 2.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable break and got to spend some time with family and friends.  I spent my holidays on the East Coast relaxing, going for walks along the beach, playing scrabble and watching for satellites at night.

Now that we enter the winter term the temperature is going to become chilly. This means that students are going to need to wear their school jackets (we discourage the wearing of hoodies and non-school jackets during the school day).  Please make sure these are named as they are an expensive part of our uniform and when students are running outside they often take them off and forget to collect.  If they are named they are easily returned. 

Coming into the cold and flu season, it’s important that we all continue to keep healthy and safe. To ensure we can keep on top of COVID and also cold and flu, make sure you:

• be alert to any symptoms of cold or flu that you or your child may exhibit
• get tested for COVID if you or your child have symptoms
• practise good hygiene, such as washing hands regularly
• if you or your child do get sick, stay at home until symptoms has passed, even if a COVID test is negative.

Remember, symptoms include fever, tiredness, cough, headache, sore throat, sniffling and sneezing.

To keep our school safe, we are still:

• continuing with increased cleaning
• making sure there is plenty of soap, sanitiser and tissues available
• avoiding large gatherings and mixings of different pods
• increasing classroom ventilation with more air purifiers and tower fans.

 Please see attached information in this newsletter about the change to close contact restrictions. 

COVID-19 UPDATE: CLOSE CONTACTS

From Monday 2 May, close contacts of people with COVID-19 will no longer need to quarantine for 7 days.

What this means for our students...

Students who are a close contact are able to attend school if they meet the following requirements:

• Are well and not showing any COVID symptoms
• Have returned a negative RAT or PCR test upon realising they were a close contact
• Continue to test daily before leaving the house to attend school during the next 7 days
• Secondary school students must wear a face mask in indoor settings

Current face mask requirements continue with school staff and secondary school students required to wear face masks while indoors on school sites.

There are no requirements for students/parents to notify the school that they are a close contact.

If you develop symptoms at any time whilst a close contact, you must stay home.

Please note, there is no change to the isolation requirements for people who have COVID-19. You must isolate at home for at least 7 days if you test positive for COVID-19.

Introducing our Specialist Team

We are fortunate to have a dedicated specialist team, comprising of Mrs Kathleen Matthews (Music), Mrs Lorraine Evans (PE) and Mr Brett Mullins (Digital Technologies).  Unfortunately Mrs Evan has been on leave but we are looking forward to her return later this term.

Mrs Matthews

What do I like about teaching at SPS?

I like that I get to teach music to all the Grade 1 – Grade 6 students in our school and see them grow as they make their way through the school.

Fun fact

I studied solo Classical Trombone Performance at the Conservatorium of Music and even after doing lots of exams I still get stage fright!

Mr Mullins

What do I like about teaching at SPS?   

I enjoy being able to follow a passion for digital technology and passing all my skills to the children that come through my classroom door. I have always dreamed of this and now it's a reality which makes me happy and brings a lot of joy.  

A fun fact  

A long time ago in another life I was an infantry solider in the Australian Armed forces. I spent most of my time in Townsville, Queensland, in out of helicopters and Armed Personnel Carriers, which was exciting as a young man. Spending months in the Queensland jungles or the dry dusty Northern Territory.