‘Endeavour to Excel’ ‘Excellence, Opportunity, Success’ 121 PACIFIC HIGHWAY, OURIMBAH 2258 PHONE: 4362 1033 FAX: 4362 2531 Email : ourimbah-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website : www.ourimbah-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

‘Communicating with our Caring Community’

mu Wednesday, 13th May 2020

DATES TO REMEMBER

PRINCIPAL

Managed Return to School – Phase 1 Can you believe that we are already 3 weeks into Term 2 and what a busy and unusual start we have had as we continue to adjust to life in a COVID-19 world? I continue to be amazed by the fantastic work our staff and students are undertaking each and every day as part of the Learning from Home packages. We have also been blown away by the support our parent community continues to offer with words of encouragement and kind gifts – I especially loved the caramel slice provided by Matthew P and his family! This week, the teachers began providing Maths lessons via video-conferencing platforms such as Seesaw and YouTube. These explicit lessons are being supported by additional tutorials that are being developed by Mrs Golding and Mrs McLean as part of our Learning and Support Program. If you, or your child need any support with the current ‘Learning from Home’ packages, or require additional work, please contact your class teacher via the Seesaw Hub – alternatively you can call, or email the front office and we will get a message to your child’s class teacher.

The rules and guidelines regarding social distancing and effective hygiene practices is changing daily. We were most pleased to re-open our School Canteen and Uniform Shop this week and I thank Victoria Keegan, Tracy de Jong and Nikki Whittaker for their dedication and flexibility in providing this service to our students and their families during this challenging time. Please be aware that additional hygiene measures have been put into place to manage both of these facilities safely under the guidelines provided by the NSW Department of Education and National Health Authorities. School Canteen – • Will operate 4 days per week (Tuesday – Friday). • Online orders only (Flexischools) – recess and

lunch. • NO breakfast orders can be taken at this stage. • A restricted menu has been attached with this

newsletter. • Social-distancing protocols will be in place to

manage students accessing the canteen area. • We will review these processes next week and

update the community should they change for week 5.

• Please contact Victoria if you are available to volunteer to work in the canteen from Week 5 onwards.

Uniform Shop – • Operating hours will return to normal from Monday

18 May (8:30 – 9:30 am) and Thursday 21 May (2:15 – 3:15 pm).

DATE EVENT 18 May CANTEEN CLOSED 25 May CANTEEN CLOSED

• Online orders (Flexischools) and EFPTOS will be available for purchases.

• NO CASH sales will be taken. • Social-distancing protocols will be in place to

manage parents accessing this area. • Please email the school if you intend to utilise the

Uniform Shop next week: Ourimbah-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

What does Phase 1 of the Managed Return to School mean? Phase 1 began on Monday 11 May (Week 3) where students have been encouraged to attend one day per week – this may remain the same for several consecutive weeks. During this phase, schools are advised to group siblings / families together on the same day and to split classes across different spaces, however, your child will have a teacher that they are familiar with who regularly teaches their grade. It is also advised that a maximum of 25% of the student population attend on any given day as advised by the NSW DoE. The staff and I have planned for the students to return in House Groups as part of the Phase 1 plan -

• Platypus – Tuesdays • Kangaroos – Wednesdays • Koalas – Thursdays • Emus - Fridays

Families who need to send their child to school every day may continue to do so and no child will be turned away. Students who attend school are supervised only and will not be in their regular classes – those students attending school will be required to bring their ‘Learning from Home’ packages to school to complete. Following the most recent advice from the NSW Department of Education, normal play at recess and lunch will resume next week. During this continuing COVID-19 situation please be aware that the staffing arrangements at OPS are somewhat different. As part of the NSW Department of Education’s infection control, based on the advice of both State and National authorities, OPS will continue to operate under a flexible mode of staffing, enabling some staff to work on-site each day to care for the students who need to come to school, whilst the remaining staff have the opportunity to ‘work from home’ as we continue to develop home learning packages and interact with our students via Seesaw. With a reduced staff on site each day, we will still be able to provide supervision of the ‘Learning from Home’ materials with

students working in stage groups depending upon numbers.

Attendance Parents and carers are encouraged to send their child to school on the allocated time or day/s for their child’s / children’s house group. If you are keeping your child at home due to an underlying health condition, please advise the front office (4362 1033) to ensure that your child/ children are able to continue learning from home. If your child does not attend on their allocated day, but is engaged in their learning at home via the Seesaw platform, they will be marked in attendance, however, in a flexible learning environment. Students who are not at school and unable to be contacted to determine their whereabouts will be followed up using normal NSW DoE processes and marked as on ‘unapproved leave’.

P & C News A huge thanks to the P&C who have supported the school in purchasing some additional Maths resources ($3,000) that Miss Kimpton has organised into class sets and an additional 6 robotics sets to support the school’s STEM program ($3,250).

Last week, I posted some pictures of some playground upgrades including some additional fencing that has been installed to improve the safety of some of our playground areas. My thanks to the P&C who approved $5,000 which assisted in the upgrade of these school resources.

The staff and I thank all of the parents and citizens who contribute to the P&C and support the school both financially and administratively through joint decision-making processes. Kind regards, Greg Francis (Principal)

CLASSROOM EFFORT & BEHAVIOUR POINTSCORE Week 3 - Winning House – Koalas Koalas – 30.5 Kangaroos – 20 Platypus – 27 Emus – 19.5 RETURN TO SCHOOL DAYS FROM WEEK 3

KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS 2021 We are now taking enrolments for all students who are eligible to start school in 2021 in our Kindergarten classes. Children may be enrolled in Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn five years of age on or before 31 July in that year. By law, all children must be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday. Please advise the front office (4362 1033) of your child’s name and date of birth and we will send enrolment forms home for you to complete and return. You will also need to provide your child’s original birth certificate, statement of complete immunisation from Medicare and proof of your current address. If you have any friends or neighbours who may have a child ready to start school next year, please let them know that it is time to contact the school for further information and to commence the enrolment process. If you know of other local families with school-aged students who are in our drawing area, but currently attend other schools, please ask them to contact the school office for an application form for enrolment. SCRIPTURE LESSONS AT HOME Have a look on our website on the homepage (located at the bottom of the page) under ‘Latest News’ for the links to online scripture titled ‘Religion and ethics lessons continue at home’. CENTRAL COAST DANCE FESTIVAL Unfortunately the Central Coast Dance Festival has been cancelled this year due to current circumstances. It is a shame but later on in the year the dance groups will still have the opportunity to meet and learn a choreographed dance to perform at school. Thanks for understanding, Jakie Adams & Cassie Fuller Dance Teachers

BOOK CLUB ISSUE 3 - ONLINE ORDERS ONLY DUE BY THIS FRIDAY, 15TH MAY Please be aware that this issue of Scholastic’s Book Club Catalogue will be a Digital Version. Just click on the link below to view the catalogue and orders may be placed via Loop, where credit card payment is only accepted. Here is the link to go directly to the catalogue: https://scholastic.com.au/book-club/virtual-catalogue-1/ You will be contacted once your orders have arrived back at school and all orders will be able to be collected from the office. WINTER SCHOOL UNIFORM Just a friendly reminder that as the weather has started to become a lot cooler, all students should be wearing their winter school uniform to school. UNIFORM SHOP Operating Hours – Mondays & Thursdays The opening hours for the uniform shop are as follows:

Mondays 8.30 am - 9.15 am Thursdays 2.30 pm - 3.15 pm

CANTEEN NEWS Just a reminder that the canteen is operating for online orders only until further notice with the transition back to school. Orders can be placed on flexischools for recess and lunch. Thank you for your understanding. Victoria Keegan – Canteen Manager

COMMUNITY NEWS: MERINO HAIRDRESSING

Catholic SRE Message The Catholic Parish of Wyoming sends its best wishes to the children, families, and staff of Ourimbah School community. Simple to follow Catholic SRE lessons are available online at the following link: Catholic SRE Online