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WELCOME BACK
As we return to a new school year at the end of January I look back with pride to our Year 12 group of 2019. Whatever their results, the group of young adults were a credit to John Therry and themselves. As I have said at many school assemblies, not everybody can come first, it isn’t possible. But everyone can do their best.
We have great hopes for the current group of Year 12 students for this year. This group has enormous potential and with hard work can convert that to results that will lead to wonderful futures.
CONGRATULATIONS – RILEY TONNA
It was a wonderful Australia Day 2020 for one of our Year 12 students. Riley Tonna was nominated for the category of Campbelltown Young Citizen of the Year. As a very dedicated Science student Riley also was awarded the prestigious Victor Chang Science Award at UWS last year. He has been working on the conservation and study of the Campbelltown koala population and the conservation issues that they face.
Riley’s success reflects his enthusiasm and dedication to his study in Science. Well done.
NEW STAFF TO JOHN THERRY CATHOLIC COLLEGE
We welcome the following Staff to John Therry Catholic College.
Mr Alan Chapman - PDHPE
Ms Joanne Griffin – Maths
Ms Emily Pedder – HSIE
Ms Jaimi Adams – RE/HSIE
Mr Harry Vella - Science
Ms Catherine Dunn – Languages
Mr Nick Kmet – TAS
We also welcome back Mr Howe, Mrs Stanley and Mrs Harris from leave. We also congratulate Mrs Rueda on the birth of her son this week.
There have been a number of queries from parents regarding School Opal Cards and Bus Travel for New Students.
Transport NSW allows a grace period for you to organise your child’s School Opal Card. This period extends until the 28th February 2020.
Students need to be in school uniform and travelling to/from school only in order to travel without a current opal card. If you have received a confirmation email from Transport NSW for your application we advise you to print this off and put it in your childs diary as evidence of an application in progress.
This information has been confirmed with Transport NSW.
To apply for a School Opal Card please click on the following link: https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/home#/howToApply
We recommend you apply as soon as possible to ensure your card is received prior to the 28th February 2020.
John Therry has been reviewing the sport uniform over a number of years based on parent feedback that the plain white shirts have been difficult to keep clean and looking neat and tidy. After consultation with our P&F, staff and students, we have some samples that the school is looking to adopt as our new sport uniform. The images attached show the style that we are looking at. We understand that photos can be difficult to judge the quality of material so we have some samples in the front office for any parents who would like to view the uniforms.
We are impressed with the quality and look of the uniforms and welcome any feedback.
Anybody who has attempted to pick up or drop off their child at school would know that the roads around our school become very congested at this time. We have our feeder Primary School, Our Lady Help of Christians on site and other local schools close by. We recommend where possible to slightly delay the pick up time in the afternoon as the congestion eases quite quickly after 3:25pm. Students can go to the air conditioned library and complete some howework and make the pick up a far more enjoyable experience.
We ask that parents take care in the drop off bay out the front as this is a busy place with multiple lanes and the safety of our students is a priority.
Current advice from the Australian Government Department of Health for parents and affected staff is:
- People who have been in contact with any confirmed Novel Coronavirus cases must be isolated in their home for 14 days following exposure;
- Returned travellers who have been in Hubei Province of China must be isolated in their home for 14 days after leaving Hubei Province, other than for seeking individual medical care.
Students and staff currently excluded from school are those who:
- over the last 14 days has visited the province of Hubei in central China. They should not return to school or child care services for a period of 14 days after leaving China, as the coronavirus’ incubation period can be as long as two weeks or
- are under medical assessment or
- have been diagnosed with the Novel Coronavirus or
- have had close contact with a confirmed case of the Novel Coronavirus. The Ministry of Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia.
In addition The NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education have recommended that:
- Any student or staff member who was in China, including Hong Kong but excluding the province of Hubei over the past 14 days is recommended not attend school or child care services for a period of 14 days after leaving Hubei Province, as the Novel Coronavirus’ incubation period can be as long as two weeks.
Students who returned to Australia more than 14 days ago and have shown no symptoms are able to return to school this week.
There has been a small number of cases of confirmed Novel Coronavirus in New South Wales.
The Ministry of Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. Advice about not attending school would be provided to these close contacts by the Ministry of Health.
Consistent with current guidelines, staff and students who are unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve. In accordance with our current practice if any child becomes unwell we will implement our infection control guidelines and follow the advice provided by the Ministry of Health as appropriate.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take advice received from NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education to ensure we are responding to the situation appropriately.
