Today’s news is that ‘Greater Sydney's lockdown will be in place until the end of September, at least’.

We know this is hard for many, challenging for some, lonely and frustrating for everyone who is missing their friends, and even liberating for those who are taking up new hobbies, trying new recipes or simply enjoying our beautiful calm sunny winter days. I have spoken to colleagues with relatives in the UK (I have a daughter in London who has been locked down for 16 months, across two very cold winters, with a 2-year-old), and we agree that we wouldn’t dare complain about our lockdown in sunny Sydney!

This week we really must thank our staff who live in the same LGA as Claremont College who are ‘manning the fort’ for the children of authorised workers… a HUGE thankyou on behalf of the staff who live outside the Randwick Council LGA and I’m sure on behalf of the parents who need your support too.  

Next week we will be announcing some opportunities that we are working on, for parents to connect with teachers and other parents, via zoom of course; so, look out for this important and hopefully fun way to connect with the Claremont Community. 

Life Goes On

With all of the work our teachers are putting into the teaching and learning, creating lessons that often take longer to prepare than face-to-face lessons, providing feedback that takes longer than face-to-face, and connecting with colleagues to plan, prepare, reflect, assess and debrief, also taking longer than the face-to-face opportunities of being on-site together provide, there are still many other behind the scenes school-based activities taking place. This is because we are all aware that we must keep planning for our immediate needs, next term, next year and beyond so there is not a bottleneck of tasks when we come out of lockdown. 

Our staff are still involved in weekly staff meetings, weekly staff professional development, team meetings, IP meetings, Team Leader meetings, staff accreditation meetings, school registration planning meetings, event planning meetings, Executive Staff meetings, external professional development and the list could go on. Rather than think this is a list that might well be included in Patrick Lencioni’s book, ‘Death By Meeting’ (where he is referring to ineffective meetings), he says, ‘meetings are the linchpin of everything’. 

We are proudly a collaborative school community where teamwork is not something we take for granted.

Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare. Patrick Lencioni 

Missing Their Friends

Talking about meetings, collaboration and teamwork, the face-to-face connections we have with one another at a personal level, cannot be underestimated. We know our students are feeling this. During the week we surveyed the Year 5 and Year 6 students to check in with how they are going, and an overwhelmingly dominant theme was how much they are missing their friends, and that the first thing they want to do when we come out of lockdown is to catch up with their friends. See more of their thoughts in the ‘Around the School’ section below. 

Welcome to Our New student

We extend a very special ‘welcome’ to Louka S (Year 4) and her family who joined our Claremont community this week.

Claremont Spotlight

Our Social Media Team is working to increase connections, especially during lockdown, as it is important for us to all stay connected. We know everyone has been doing wonderful things during this time and we would love to be able to share these with the Claremont community. 

If your child would like to be considered to be featured on Claremont College's social media platforms and in the whole school assembly, please send your photos and videos to socialmedia@claremont.nsw.edu.au with:

• Name
• Grade
• Quote or Caption

OR, feel free to tag @claremontcollege on Instagram. 

In the coming week we are focusing on Book Week. Please feel free to submit any photos in costume and most importantly, have fun!

This Week Please Pray For

• The people of Afghanistan, who fear for their safety and human rights, during this very unsettling time in their country, and that the Taliban uphold their promise of peace in Afghanistan; and
• The people of Haiti who have been devastated by an earthquake followed by a cyclone and floods, may humanitarian relief arrive quickly for the 135,000 families who have been displaced.

Stay Connected

A sweet friendship refreshes the soul. 
Proverbs 27:9

Stay in touch with each other and look after yourselves.

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal 

Follow us

Website: www.claremont.nsw.edu.au
Instagram: @claremontcollege
Twitter: @claremont2031

Today, the NSW Premier announced the extension of our lockdown until the end of September, at least, and greater restrictions for those living in an LGA of concern. This news means Off Campus Learning will continue for the remainder of Term 3, with updates about Term 4 to be announced by the Premier next week. While this update is not surprising, the reality of it is still challenging for many members of our community. Please visit the NSW Health website, or our most recent Covid Update, for further details about the updated restrictions. 

At times, it is hard to make sense of the ever changing rules and restrictions in place, however one message from the NSW Government has been consistently clear - stay home and get vaccinated. We encourage all members of our Claremont community to do these two things, and hopefully we will begin to see the easing of restrictions in the not too distant future. 

It has been pleasing to see a drop in the number of students onsite this week. With the 5km restriction in place, we have asked staff who live beyond 5km of Claremont to work from home. We are asking for the same response from our families. Please stay home, and keep your children home unless you are an authorised worker. 

The NSW Government has outlined 'Parents and carers in Greater Sydney must keep children – across primary and secondary school – at home unless they need to be at school.' We urge parents to keep their children home unless both parents are unable to work from home, or have a reason to leave home that is in line with the NSW Public Health Order. 

Important Reminders

If you live in the Bayside LGA or any LGAs of concern and require your child to be onsite, please contact a member of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss your circumstance (if you haven’t already done so).

If your family has registered your child/ren to attend school, but they are unwell or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms (even mild cold/flu-like symptoms), they must stay home and follow current health orders to get tested and isolate until a negative result is received. Even when a negative result is received, your child/ren must be fully recovered before coming to school.

If you or a member of your household is currently self-isolating for any reason, your child/ren must stay home. Please follow the directives from relevant government authorities and restrict any non-essential movement unless cleared to do so.

Thank you for trusting our school and the safety measures we have in place. We are incredibly grateful to all of you for prioritising the health and safety of our community. Remember to stay home and get vaccinated. 

Please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Kathy-Clare Rochester if you need support or wish to discuss your circumstances.      

Mrs Alanna James
Acting Deputy Principal

Chapel@Claremont

Love is Not Rude

This week in Chapel we continued to unpackage one of the most famous passages of the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13. Our key focus was ‘love is not rude’ (1 Cor:13:4). Sadly, it is not difficult to think of instances and situations where people are rude. I shared a story with the kids in Chapel about a recent encounter with a man at Coles. He was ‘so rude’ and unfortunately his attitude and bad language drew more people into the situation. The scene quickly became a slanging match between a number of angry people. I think by the end of it, everyone had forgotten why they were angry, everyone was just upset. 

So, in Chapel, I explored the idea that patience and empathy are such important dispositions for us all to have especially during these challenging times. There is certainly no excuse for being rude, but for so many of us, there is so much that we are dealing with, and trying to make sense of. Many of us think we are going a little crazy, and the news today of the extended lockdown does not help. This quote was on Instagram this morning. I don’t know who sent the post but it resonated with me... 

You’re actually not a mess at all. You’re just a feeling person in a messy world. You are exactly right to feel a lot right now. It does not mean that you are weak – it means that you are strong enough to be paying attention. Be gentle with yourself please. Author unknown

1 Corinthians 8:1 reminds us that love builds others up. We don’t always have to be right do we (even if we are right). Let’s cut ourselves and each other some slack, and work towards showing love in a way where people are given dignity, honour and respect – no matter what. 

If there is one way to both love ourselves and others, it’s to be intentional in what we choose to focus and hold on to. I have found it really helpful to switch off my news feed alerts, as they are relentlessly bombarding me with updates that just make me anxious, overwhelmed and depressed. Most of the time, these news alerts are not even accurate or true. This verse says it so well; 

Fix your thoughts on whatever is true, honourable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

I pray that you have a lovely weekend. Please try to care for yourself.

Dads' Connect Zoom Meeting - Wednesday 25 August, 12:15pm-1:00pm

It has been really great to chat and catch up with dads over the past few weeks (even if on Zoom). I think it’s incredibly important that we connect which is why I shall once again next week open my Zoom room for dads to catch up. I thought I’d try a lunch time slot next Wednesday 25 August, 12:15pm -1pm.

There is no specific agenda or topic of conversation, although I’ll give a few updates on school life, my high school expansion work and to hear your perspective on how you are navigating work and family life during this lockdown. It’d be great to hear about the things that you are doing with your kids - to connect, distract and keep them positive and busy.  If you’d like to drop in to say hello (even for just a few minutes) - or bring your sandwich, hang around and connect with some other fathers, you are most welcome. I’m here to support you! Please RSVP HERE.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the sun and remember that you are loved beyond all measure. 

Doug Thomas
Principal

To each and every staff member at Claremont College, thank you for supporting our children and families through this period of extended lockdown in Greater Sydney. Your commitment to continue to care for our children in many different ways is much appreciated. On behalf of the Claremont community, the P&F has given every member of staff a $100 UBER eats voucher to enjoy as a token of our appreciation for all you do. We pray you will continue to stay safe and well as you help us navigate this season. 

Melisse Lee on behalf of the P&F

Devices are fun and extremely useful. However, did you know it is important to also have ‘green time’? Make sure you are spending some quality time away from your device. Keep devices in another room during meal times, take a break from your device at the end of a school day. Get outside on your balcony, courtyard or backyard and soak up the fresh air! 

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

We would like to remind parents that a full term’s notice in writing to the Principal is required before terminating a student's enrolment.  In the event of failure to provide the required notice of withdrawal, a charge equal to 100% of the applicable term’s school fees will become payable, including all outstanding fees and charges, in addition to fees and charges payable in respect to the entire current term.

Congratulations to the following students in Kindergarten who received their first Gold Certificates on Monday.

Zephyr A, Jake B, Anthony G, Sebastian G, Jett I, Leo J, Ethan K, Carissa L, Alana L, Harry L, Olivia L, Oliver L, Harriet M, Edward N, Riley N, Christopher P, Samuel R, Lana R, Kennedy R, Oliver T, Harley T, Priscilla W and Zachary Z.

Term 3 2021

Term 4 2021

With the site at Lake Macquarie having been upgraded since we were there last, have a sneak peek at the Crusaders Lake Macquarie site, to look at the facilities with your child/ren. You and they will be super excited. 

However, due to the current uncertainty of events being able to go ahead, we have decided to delay sending out booking details, until the current COVID situation becomes clearer and hopefully better.

Year 4 Online Geography Excursion

This week the Year 5 and 6 students were asked to tell us about their OCL experiences, partly so we can check in with them, but also so that we can be aware of adjustments that need to be made moving forward and of how we can help the students during this learning from home experience. The students are all missing their friends and it is obvious how much the face to face connections mean to them. 

Here is a sample of their answers across four questions.

NB The students were given an option of not being quoted in the newsletter or in social media, so we have respected their wishes, therefore not every child’s comment/s have been used in these documents.

Year 4 Online Geography Excursion permission note

Book Week

Book week is next week and we’re so excited! How will this work being offline? Here is a brief rundown for what you can come to expect on the day.

Book Week Theme

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds 

Parade

Each year group will be taking part in their own virtual Zoom parades. These will look largely the same but will be run by the individual classes. We envisage that these will all take part at 9am for approximately 30-40 minutes.

Costumes

Please do not worry about fancy costumes. More than ever we do not want to be adding any extra stress, by having you worry about making elaborate costumes. Please encourage your children to think about what you have around the house that could be repurposed (by them) into a costume for the day. Fabulous ideas I can recall from the past include: red and white stripe t-shirt for Where’s Wally, baby carriers for The Babysitter’s club and a whole lot of aluminium foil for The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. 

Activities

The students on the day will take part in a large variety of virtual tasks that are all focused around literature. Some of these will include things like designing covers, creating movie trailers, matching teachers with their favourite childhood books, photo challenges and more. We’ve got a virtual performance organised for students to watch and be a part of too. 

We’d love to share your day with us so that we can further share it with our Claremont community. If your child would like to be considered to be featured on Claremont College's social media platforms and whole school assembly in their costume, please send your photos and videos to socialmedia@claremont.nsw.edu.au with:

• Name
• Grade
• Character and/or Book Title where inspiration for your child’s dress-up character comes from. 

OR, feel free to tag @claremontcollegelibrary on Instagram! 

We can’t wait to share in the fun times with you all,

Stephanie Affleck
Teacher Librarian

The CBCA Book of the Year Awards

The eagerly anticipated winners were announced today. The school library has all the books shortlisted in each category including the winning titles.

Book of the Year: Younger Readers

Ages 7-12 years.

Winner: Aster’s Good, Right Things
by Kate Gordon

Book of the Year: Early Childhood

Ages 0-6 years. Entries in this category should be appropriate in style and content for children who are at pre-reading or early stages of reading.

Winner: No! Never!
by Libby Hathorn and Lisa Hathorn Jarman

Picture Book of the Year

Ages 0-18 years. (NB. Some of the books in this category may be for mature readers).

Winner: How to make a Bird
by Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley

Eve Pownall Award

Entries in this category should be books which have the prime intention of documenting factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style.

Winner: Dry to Dry; The Dry Seasons of Kakado
by Pamela Freeman and illustrated by Liz Anelli

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Under the current NSW Department of Health Orders and the NSW Department of Education, the canteen will be closed until further notice.

Keep safe.

James Anthony and the Claremont Canteen Team

Due to the extended lockdown, the Uniform Shop will remain closed until 27 August.

Regular trading hours will resume from 30 August (subject to any further lockdown).

Thank you and keep safe. 

The updated Uniform Price Lists for Boys and Girls are linked below and can also be found on the school website. 

Regards

Jennifer Niduaza | Client Services Manager

Uniform Price List for Girls

Uniform Price List for Boys

With the lockdown extension announcement, a reminder for ALL families RE-BOOK & VERIFY the dates for the TERM. TeamKids has again recently cleared all bookings in light of these conditions. Space is limited exclusively to essential workers. If you have any questions, email or please call customer service on 1300 035 000.