Dear St Anne's Community,

Term 2 is progressing quickly and we now find ourselves with only 3 weeks left of the school term. I would like to pass on my congratulations and best wishes to Daniel and Stephen Drum on their recent ordination at St Mary's Cathedral. I look forward to attending their first mass this Saturday night at 6pm. Congratulations to all of our students that have been achieving recent success with their chosen sports. St Anne's has been well represented in the Archdiocesan sporting world. 

COVID-19

As you may be aware on 1 June 2021, it was advised that two COVID related case locations had been identified in NSW in the Goulburn area and several in the Jervis Bay area. These are locations visited by a confirmed case. We continue to monitor NSW Health advice. While the COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria continues, a reminder that persons who have recently travelled to Victoria should monitor the Tier 1, 2 and 3 Exposure Sites. Where persons have attended these sites they should follow NSW health advice including:

• having a COVID-19 test
• isolating as appropriate.

They should not attend a School if they have attended an Exposure Site. Close contacts (family members) should monitor their health. There have not been any additional restrictions imposed on NSW Schools at this stage, aside from identified persons isolating and having a COVID-19 test. We will advise if this changes. When attending locations which have previously been COVID exposure sites such as Sydney, we encourage you to check the venue being attended has a COVID Safe plan. Try to avoid large crowds where possible.

Community Survey

Thank you to everyone that has completed the 'Tell Them From Me survey'. There is still time for you to fill this in. Please check your emails for the special link. If you do not have the email, please contact the school and we will re-send it. We value your feedback and it is important that we receive this so that we can continue to evaluate our practice and look to areas of improvement. 

Staffing

We have found a Wood/Metal teacher. Mr Chris Wendt will start with us in Term 4, after he completes his obligations with his Year 12 students at his current school. We look forward to welcoming and introducing Mr Wendt to you and the students in the near future. Mr Wendt will bring with him, a wealth of experience and qualifications that will open up exciting opportunities for students of St Anne's. 

The Secondary English/HSIE Maternity leave teacher position has been advertised and we are waiting for the advertisement period to finish. 

Our Secondary Science/Maths teacher, Mr Rob Turner, will be leaving St Anne's at the end of this term. He has accepted a position at Henry Lawson High School. Mr Turner has to travel some distance every day to work and would like to be closer to home. We will have the opportunity to farewell Mr Turner in Week 10. This week, I have advertised the position and I will keep you updated of the outcome. 

Canteen

We are excited to announce that we have found someone to run our school canteen. Mrs Belinda Maxwell will open the canteen as of next term. Thanks again to Tracey McCormack for the dedication and support that she has shown St Anne's over the years and for her willingness to assist with the handover to Belinda. 

Secondary Exams

Good luck to all of our Year 9 and 10 students as they prepare to sit their half yearly exams next week. 

Playground

In the holidays, our playground will be undergoing major asphalt resurfacing work. We are very excited and cannot wait for a smooth, practical and asthetically pleasing playground. I will share some photos with you in our first newsletter for Term 3 and on Facebook. 

Annual School Plan "Snapshot 2"

Our second goal in our Annual School Plan is to "Increase Student Engagement". Our two specific target areas are to reduce the number of wellbeing incidents that require staff intervention and increase individual student attendance rate to 90% or more. We aim to achieve these by implementing a structured well being program across the school and by implementing a school wide focus on student attendance. One of our specific actions is to continue the weekly pastoral care meetings that we hold across primary and secondary. 

I had the privilege of speaking at the Sacred Heart Ladies function today at the bowling club. We are lucky to have such a great community of people. 

Take care,

Grant Haigh