Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Earlier this week the NSW Government announced a return to face to face teaching for all
students in schools from Monday the 25th of May.
As a result of this decision all Catholic schools in the Wagga Wagga Diocese will be
returning to normal teaching and attendance on Monday.
Since this announcement our schools have been working closely to ensure that this return
to classroom teaching can be done in a way that complies with Australian Health Protection
Principal Committee (AHPPC) Guidelines and is in line with advice from the NSW
Government.
In returning to face to face teaching we are doing so under the following principles:
● The Health, safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and families is paramount.
● Our focus on returning to school will be to ensure the support for the ongoing
learning of students, particularly in these times of disrupted learning.
● Recognising that each school and community is unique and has their our complexity
in returning to face to face teaching for students, staff and communities;
● Recognition that some learners may still be unable to return to school due to
underlying medical conditions they, or their families, may have and the need to work
with these families on a case by case basis.
This return to face to face teaching is essential for all students except for those who are still
unable to return under health guidelines. If you or your learner are prevented from returning
to school for health reasons please contact your principal to establish the best way to
support you. For all other students school resumes on the 25th of May and they are expected
to attend.
To ensure we meet Government health advice, only essential staff and students are allowed
on school grounds and all adults must engage in social distancing when on site. If you are
picking up or dropping off your child we ask that you support us to maintain social
distancing at all times and comply with any requests from our staff to ensure the safety of
our school community. It will be some time before all restrictions in place will be lifted, this
includes restrictions on excursions and some other activities which still are not permitted.
Additional cleaning arrangements and resources have been supplied to schools to help
ensure a safe environment for staff and students. Students will also be required to
undertake regular hand washing and sanitising as part of daily routines.
Your ongoing support and cooperation throughout these times of COVID and the
encouragement you have given to your learners and our staff while we all adjust to these
unprecedented circumstances, has made an enormous difference to the wellbeing of our
communities.
As we have all observed, the advice from the Government is changing rapidly and we will
continue to update you on changes as they impact on you and your learners.
Thank you for your support of Catholic Education.
Yours sincerely
Liz Johnston
St Patrick’s, Albury
Graham West and Kelly Bruce
Co-chairs, Interim Management Committee, CEDWW
Prue Horan
Assistant Director – Education Services