Earlier this week we opened bookings for this year's final Parent/Teacher/Student interview sessions. As has been outlined, the restrictions currently placed on having parents onsite and the requirements for schools to avoid cohort mixing, has meant these sessions on the evening of Tuesday 14 December and Wednesday 15 December, will all be held via Zoom. Bookings are open now and will close at 10am on Monday 13 December.

As I have mentioned in previous weeks, we have plans in place for a range of events that we would like to see take place in Week 11 as we typically would at this time of year. These include our End of Year Mass and various academic, pastoral and sporting awards ceremonies. Unfortunately, the ban on cohort mixing and gatherings of students indoors is proving quite challenging. We will monitor the evolving health directives closely over the coming days and look to confirm our plans by the end of next week. 

With the threat of COVID-19 still looming in the community, I take the opportunity to remind families of the isolation requirements should a member of your household be identified as a contact of a confirmed case. At the outset, however, NSW Health guidelines remain the ultimate authority on isolation requirements if you are identified as a close contact. If a student is identified as a close contact, NSW Health would normally stipulate a timeframe that they are to remain away from school, and a negative PCR test is required at the end of the isolation period and prior to their return to school. If a student resides in the same household as an identified close contact (parent, sibling, etc), they are still permitted to attend school on the proviso that they are not experiencing any symptoms themselves. The one current exception is if a person is in isolation as a result of a potential Omicron variant exposure, in which case, all household members of that person need to isolate. 

Finally, I once again take the opportunity to remind families to please continue following our COVID recording procedures that have been in place for most of the pandemic, which include: 

• Informing the school immediately if your child is self-isolating or undergoing testing, and informing us of the result as soon as possible.
• Following sickness with flu-like symptoms, ensuring your child is free of symptoms and can present a negative COVID-19 test, before attending the College site for any reason. 

With thanks for your continued support,

David Cloran
Assistant Principal