Welcome back to all our families.

Just as things were slowly returning to a more normal footing we have a 3-day COVID lockdown and have a very quiet long weekend!

Unfortunately, the resulting changes to the health advice and operational guidelines for schools will mean for a second year that we were not able to have parents attend our ANZAC assembly. School staff and students proceeded with our commemoration assembly in a modified format that complied with the updated health guidance.

NAPLAN

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be completing the annual NAPLAN testing in coming weeks. This is our second year completing NAPLAN online and we have done extensive testing of our IT systems to ensure everything runs smoothly on this front.

The NAPLAN tests provide the school with valuable data on student progress and the performance of various teaching programs. All we ask the students to do is to turn up and try their best.

COVID Update

Pending any further updates to the guidelines for schools I am happy to advise parents there are no current restrictions preventing parents or carers to come on to school sites for drop off and pick up purposes, however,

• physical distancing of 1 adult per 2 square metres applies. Where the event is on school grounds, use the 2 square metre rule, after the students are accommodated, to determine available space for adults.
• Maintain 1.5 metre separation between people who are not from the same household, with the exception of students on school grounds.
• good hygiene practices should be promoted and maintained.
• visitors, parents and students should be encouraged not to attend school if they are unwell.

Once the health advice allows, we look forward to parents attending assemblies and the reintroduction of class items.

Gates

Families are reminded that the front gates are not opened at the end of the day due to the danger posed to the children from parents not following road rules and parking signage.

In the afternoon school gates will not be opened until 15 minutes before the end of the school day. We request that only those families with students in Pre Primary and Kindergarten use the Pre Primary gates.

Clubs

Again this term the staff are preparing to offer a range of clubs and other activities. I would urge all students and parents to keep an eye out for the flyers. I am sure, like me, all parents are so appreciative of the staff for giving up their own time to organise and run these activities.

Other News

There is always a lot of good things happening at Arbor Grove Primary School and I remind parents that it is important to keep an eye on the newsletter, Connect and the school web page to ensure you are up to date with all the many exciting activities.

I look forward to working with the P&C again this year. The P&C contribute in a range of ways to the school, the community and to the provision of services to the students. I would encourage all families (new and existing) to consider getting involved in the P&C and attending the upcoming Annual General Meeting.

School Survey

In coming weeks parents, students in the upper years, and staff will be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the performance of the school. Our biennial surveys are very important in helping the school reflect and identifying areas for change and improvement.

Glen Purdy