As you are aware from our communications this week, we have been advised by NSW Health that members of our school community have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Our school site was non-operational today for the on-site attendance of students, staff and visitors to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning. 

NSW Health requests that all students who attended school this week are asked to self-isolate until you receive further advice. 

NSW Health has requested anyone who has been unwell or if you develop any symptoms such as a headache, fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness to be tested at one of the COVID-19 testing clinics.

The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff are of paramount importance to us. As such we will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure that all necessary health advice is adhered to. 

We understand and appreciate your concerns and requests for information in relation to positive COVID cases within our school community. NSW Health and privacy legislation mandates that we cannot share any information regarding the details of positive cases. If you become aware of individual cases, please keep this confidential out of respect for those involved.

Clarity Around The Process

To help you understand the process, we have been informed that NSW Health will contact people directly about the determination of whether they are a close or casual contact. This is not the school’s decision and we have been told that NSW Health will contact parents/staff prior to informing the school. The school is not in a position to share information about the status of individuals with others.

We are in the potentially confusing situation where there have been COVID notifications to NSW Health (within 24 hours) based on 2 potential exposure time-frames, each requiring separate contact tracing.

• Monday and Tuesday
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday).

This means if your children were at school on all four days you will receive two notifications from NSW Health. 

Due to this situation, we expect that the school will operate Off Campus Learning ONLY for all students through to the end of term. This means that no students or staff will be onsite next week. If this presents a challenge to you based on your circumstances, please contact the principal via [email protected]. If NSW Health advises otherwise, we will keep you updated.

An announcement will be made as soon as possible regarding TeamKids next week. A separate determination will be made in relation to the vacation care program. 

Important Reminders:

• If any member of your family receives a positive COVID test, please inform the Principal via [email protected]
• If you are determined to be a close contact (ie. by direct notification from NSW Health), please remember you must self-isolate for 14 days, even if you are feeling well or receive a negative COVID test. Please inform the Principal via [email protected]
• If you are determined to be a casual contact  (ie. by direct notification from NSW Health), please remember to self-isolate until you receive a negative COVID test. Please inform the Principal via [email protected]
• If you are finding this information confusing please contact the school via email [email protected] and I can assist you. 

On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, we wish you all the best over the weekend. Please take care of yourselves and each other. You are all in our prayers.

Mrs Alanna James
Acting Deputy Principal

What a special day we had yesterday! A day of wonderful celebration- honouring and respecting the many nationalities we have within our school community. It was a joy to witness the children's pride when sharing their cultural background with their peers, and to see them dressed in their national dress. We are proud to be a school that values diversity, empathy, compassion, wonder and interest in the lives of others.

Yesterday your child:

• Took part in a year group zoom virtual costume/national dress parade;
• Shared their family's cultural history and traditions with their classmates;
• Participated in creative International Day inspired Dance and Visual Arts activities;
• Entered a General Knowledge quiz competition where the winner in each year group received a Dymocks voucher;
• Played traditional Indigenous games;
• Made a Wordle featuring all kinds of greetings in many different languages; and
• Joined in cooking demonstrations.

If you haven't viewed it already, we recommend you watch Claremont's 8 minute video clip - your child will be able to show you the link. It sure was a delight to watch. Thank you to Mrs Shoebridge, Mr Geering and Miss Gilbert for leading the way so we could enjoy this wonderful celebration.

Thank you to the many parents who joined our staff on Tuesday afternoon for our Parent and Staff Catch Up. (The Thursday meeting has been postponed to Thursday 16 September - see details below.) It was great to see so many parents join together already. The purpose of these catch ups is to connect with parents and to reflect on both the challenging and positive things from Term 3. During the first session, we addressed the following main themes, as requested by parents:

• Engaging Reluctant Students at Home
• Helping Student Learning at Home
• Assessments & Student Learning
• Social Interactions
• Transition to High School - Primary only
• Technology Free Time
• Student Learning/Mental Health 

We have greatly appreciated parent's questions and comments. These will help us with our future communication and decision making as we prepare for Term 4. As explained in the meeting, we are not in a position at this present time to make any final decisions about how Term 4 will look for us at Claremont. We would like to send out a parent survey closer to the expected return to school dates, to help us make informed decisions. We will be communicating this plan early in Term 4.

Yesterday we acknowledged RUOK? Day. This important day provides an opportunity for family, friends and workmates to connect, start a conversation and to be there for each other more often, which is something we have needed and appreciated as a community this term. To support this initiative, we ask all our students and staff to wear something yellow to our Monday Whole School Assembly next Monday afternoon. (If you do not have anything yellow, your child could make their virtual screen yellow!)

As a staff, we have discussed how important it is to check in with friends and family. The RUOK? website has some fantastic resources to help give some guidance on how to have an effective and helpful conversation. We often hear that we should ask people if they are ok, but we also need to be aware of how to navigate the conversation if the person says they aren't ok. Many people find this part tricky. If you would like some advice from RUOK?, you can find it HERE.

We would also like to sincerely thank all parents/carers for your efforts in supporting your child's learning from home. Often at the end of term, teachers see a slump in the focus and energy levels of our students. With the addition of our current circumstances, you may be seeing this magnified at home. You may be even seeing increased behaviour issues. Whether it be anxiety or anger, your child is likely to be finding it more challenging to regulate their emotions. We trust the holiday break will help them to rest and to recharge again for Term 4. We would like to acknowledge the incredible effort of both parents/carers and staff, as we have worked together to support our children. Whilst we all have our own unique family situations, we have demonstrated that we are all part of a special community, where we are working as a team, to get through this together.

This week is School Administrative and Support Staff (SASS) Recognition Week. We would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank our SASS. They play such an important role in our school community. They are often the first people you see when you enter the school and are essential in maintaining positive relationships with students, parents and our local community. They are the 'glue' that holds us all together. They work in the office, sick bay, in our learning spaces, and maintain and care for our technology, school grounds and buildings. We know you will share our sentiments in that we are appreciative of their efforts and particularly for their flexibility, positivity and support they have shown to others during this term.

Two people are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do. Ecclesiastes 4:9

Peace

In light of our recent COVID-19 news, we wish everyone a peaceful weekend. We know for some this can be an anxious time, awaiting results. Please remember that we are here for you if you need support. You can contact Catherine McKersie or myself at [email protected]

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 1 John 16:33

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

Follow us

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

We are still planning to have our second parent/teacher catch-up Zoom meeting, now next week on Thursday 16 September. The purpose of these catch-ups is primarily to connect with you the parents, to reflect on Term 3… to talk about the things that have been challenging and the things that have worked well, and of course to hear your thoughts as we plan for Term 4.

If you have already booked in, we will send you the link on Thursday morning of next week.

If you have not previously booked in but would now like to join the meeting please complete the link attached. The closing date/time for accepting further bookings will be Wednesday (15 September) afternoon at 4pm. 

The format for this catch-up will be:

4:00pm    Welcome
4:05pm    Break into Infants and Primary breakout groups
4:40pm    Regroup for COVID Updates
4:55pm    Wrap-up

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

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. 

In the coming week we are focusing on Students With Their Gold Certificates and Pennants. 

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 [email protected] with:

- Child's Name
- Grade
- Quote or Caption

OR, feel free to tag @claremontcollege on Instagram, or @claremont2031 on Twitter.

Please feel free to submit any photos and most importantly, have fun! 

The Social Media Committee

Unfortunately we have not yet received the individual student reports to be able to send these home to you, but please be assured that we will be posting these to you as soon as we can. 

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

Weekly Dads' Connect Zoom Meeting - Tuesday 14 September, 12:30pm - 1:15pm

I have really enjoyed chatting with dads over the past few weeks on Zoom. I think it’s incredibly important that we connect which is why every week I have been opening my Zoom room for dads to catch up. I thought I’d try a lunchtime slot next week, Tuesday 14 September, 12:30pm - 1:15pm.

I am trying to change the day and time every week, to accommodate various schedules. Please let me know if you’d like to suggest a time that might suit you for future chats.

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), ask some questions, and connect with some other fathers, you are most welcome. I’m here to support you! Please RSVP HERE

Doug Thomas
Principal

When things don’t go the way we plan, it is sometimes easy to blame others. We need to pause and ask ourselves, am I reacting like this because I’m tired? Am I reacting like this because I’m in a bad mood? Or am I reacting like this because I’m forgetting to show kindness and compassion? This week, try to be kind, gracious and forgiving. If this is too difficult, and you feel overwhelmed, remember to talk to a trusted grown up to help you. 

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

Congratulations to the following students in Year 3 and Year 4 who received their Pennants on Monday:

Year 3

Xavier G, Malea G, Alana P, Isabella R, Jonathan S, Joanna Y, Xavier P,  Albert B, Caelyn C, Sam E-R, Max F, Charlie H, Catherine K, William K, Angus K, Ava L, Claudia M, Lily P, Chloe M, Valentina S, Alexa S, Lauren T, Connor T, Jamie W, Leo A, Jasmine B, Baxter H, Mateo H, Mia I, Roy J, Lawrence K, Peter L, Zachary L, James L, Olivia M, Max M, Eadie P, Rocco R, Harry R, Aidan S, Milla W, Isabella L, Emily MC. 

Year 4

Isla B, Jez C, Sean L, Sofia P, Scarlett C, Hannah B, Indigo E, Audrey F, Charlotte F,  Evan H, Evie J, Alexis L, Maya M-Z, Hosea W, Yui Kei C, Elizabeth C, Lara D, Chloe K, Adam L, Alastair L-P, Ned L , Rory M, Leni O’L, Archie T, Dion T, Daniel F, Michael V.

Congratulations also to the following students in Years 3 and 4 who received their Gold Certificates on Monday. 

Year 3

Gisele A, Lauren C, Marlon F, Georgia G, Angela L, Harriet N, Sebastian R, Riley T, Peter T, Christopher W, Xavier P,  Albert B, Caelyn C, Sam ER, Max F, Charlie H, Catherine K, William K, Angus K, Ava L, Claudia M, Lily P, Chloe M, Valentina S, Alexa S, Lauren T, Connor T, Jamie W, Leo A (x2), Jasmine B (x2), Baxter H (x2), Mateo H (x2), Mia I (x2), Roy J (x2), Lawrence K (x2), Peter L (x2), Zachary L (x2), James L (x2), Olivia M (x2), Max M (x2), Eadie P (x2), Rocco R (x2), Harry R (x2), Aidan S (x2), Milla W (x2), Isabella L (x3), Emily MC (x2).

Year 4

Harry B, Benjamin F, Abbie H, Georgina K, Stella L, Marnie L, Jemma L, George M, Matilda N, Christopher S, Ariella J, Audrey Y, Clara K (x2), Angus B (x2), Scarlett C, Hannah B, Indigo E, Audrey F, Charlotte F, Evan H, Evie J, Alexis L, Maya M-Z, Hosea W,  Yui Kei C (x2), Elizabeth C (x2), Lara D (x2), Chloe K (x2), Adam L (x2), Alastair L-P (x2), Ned L (x2), Rory M (x2), Leni O’L (x2), Archie T (x2), Dion T (x2), Daniel F (x3), Michael V (x3). 

Please Note: We have received a number of queries from parents in relation to when their child/ren will receive their next Gold Certificate or Pennant. Once students in Years 5 and 6 receive their outstanding Gold Certificates and Pennants next Monday (13 September), we will be awarding students their next certificate and/or pennant from the commencement of Term 4. 

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.

Calling all Claremont College students, mums, dads, teachers and staff to send in your favourite lockdown recipes. The P&F will be putting together a 2021 Claremont College Lockdown Cookbook to be available for purchase in Term 4. Please send in recipes that can fit into the following categories:

1. Family meal recipe
2. Baking recipe

It would be wonderful to have recipes from your families’ cultural backgrounds. Please download the 'Recipe Template' attached and email your recipe to [email protected] by the end Term 3, Friday 17 September. If you are able to include a short paragraph on what this recipe means to you, your family through lockdown and a photo of the finished product to spice up the cookbook, this would be most welcome! 

Claremont College P&F

Term 3 2021

Term 4 2021

ICAS stands for International Competition and Assessments for Schools. Due to the rapid changes that have impacted our return to campus, the ICAS sitting window has been extended to Friday 26 November 2021.

Unfortunately, because of COVID and lockdowns, the Dads’ and Kids’ Camp has been cancelled. We know the kids will be VERY disappointed so we are planning some ‘at home camping’ experiences and challenges. Please keep 8-10 October free to join in the activities. More information and details will be sent home soon.

Given the Covid-19 situation and restrictions in place, our Term 4 camps for Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 have been cancelled. This is a disappointing outcome for our Primary students. Currently, we are having conversations with our camp provider Crusaders, to discuss other potential ‘day camp’ options for our students that would be inline with the NSW Government restrictions. Of course, we would love our students to have a ‘camp’ experience of some sort, however the safety of our students and Claremont community takes priority, so this potential alternative will only happen if it is considered safe to do so.

Year 3 - Online Geography Event note

Year 4 - Online Geography Event note

Year 5 - Online Symbio Wildlife Park Event note 

This week the Year 1 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. We did this by splitting the students into 4 breakout rooms to discuss the 4 questions with a staff member in each breakout room. 

The students are all missing their friends so much and it is obvious how much the face-to-face connections mean to them. The Year 1 students, similar to the Year 2 students, have also admitted that they are enjoying their home comforts and especially having more time with their family. 

I created pie graphs of their top 6 responses to each question, by grouping similar comments and themes. These are interesting reflections; we hope you enjoy them.

Janelle Ford, on behalf of the Year 1 Team

Year 3 Online event permission note - Geography

Year 4 Event Note Geography Online Excursion

Year 5 Online Symbio Wildlife Park event note

This Thursday we celebrated our biannual International Day @ Claremont. While this year it looked a lot different than normal, it was still a fantastic day celebrating the rich culture and diversity of our Claremont community. Students participated in a more ‘virtual’ international day with an online costume parade, online cooking classes and a large range of fun and creative International Day activities. Here is a brief snapshot of what some of the grades got up to on the day:

Kindergarten

The Kindergarten students had a fantastic time parading in their National costumes. We had a picnic where we got to eat our favourite foods from our culture. There was even a surprise crepe making class from Lana! 

Alana - I liked dressing up
Barbara - I liked it when we had the picnic
Anthony - I liked making flags
Ethan - I liked the picnic
Zephyr - I like it when we got to show all of our costumes
Harriet - I liked the International Day activities on Seesaw

Year 1

Year 1 enjoyed seeing many traditional outfits from a variety of cultures, including Indonesian, Egyptian, Chinese, Malaysian and Samoan. We even saw a Samoan Princess crown!

The students designed their own flags that incorporated different aspects of their cultural backgrounds and they enjoyed participating in the many activities provided to them on Seesaw.

Students in Year 1 agreed that watching the videos with all the different dances was what they really enjoyed about the day!

Year 2

Year 2 enjoyed a day filled with various activities where they were able to explore both their own cultural backgrounds as well as their peers’. In the morning, we spoke about the importance of paying respect to the Traditional Custodians of the land and our Acknowledgement of Country. This connected to our task in Geography, where we explored Indigenous Australian Peoples connection with Country as well as our Visual Art task, where we developed an understanding of ways in which Indigenous Australian Peoples use art.

In celebration of International Day, during our writing lesson, Year 2 were given a scenario where they had to pick a country that they really wanted to visit and do some research into their culture. Then, the students were told that Alan Joyce, the Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, is offering free flight tickets to the country of their choice. All they need to do is write a persuasive letter with three reasons why they, and their family, should win these tickets.

Here are some of their responses below!

Year 3

Year 3 had an amazing time celebrating International Day. We thoroughly enjoyed our online parade where we were able to display our cultural colours and share our heritage. Our parade featured A British Bobby, an Ancient Roman and lots of traditional outfits. We were fascinated that our families represented most of the continents around the world. Year 3 loved learning how to make pizza with Year 5 and spent the afternoon learning about their cultural backgrounds with International Day activities.

Year 4

Year 4 enjoyed hearing all about everyone’s cultural backgrounds and some of their favourite foods. and they enjoyed participating in the many activities on Seesaw including drawing their family tree and designing their own travel report.

Christopher S: I enjoyed dressing up in my cultural outfit and I waved my greek flag around to show everyone.
Maya MZ: My highlight of International Day was when we researched how to say hello in many different languages on the seesaw activities. 
Louka S: I enjoyed filling out my family tree. It was nice to remind myself of my family background.
Billy R: I really enjoyed going onto the Year 5 zoom with Mrs Speranza’s family and we made pizza. I got to eat mine at lunch!

Year 5

Our day started with a video showcasing some of Claremont’s students telling us about their cultural heritage. It was wonderful to see that we are made up of such a diverse group of people. After this, Year 5 students researched a tradition celebrated by one of their peers. Many students learnt about the Greek tradition of Cracking Red Eggs, The Indian festival of Pongal and the Osun festival of Nigeria. Through exploring these cultural traditions, Year 5 students developed a deeper level of understanding of their peers.

The highlight of the day was our very own Mrs Speranza and her delightful husband and talented chef, Gennaro. Chef Gennaro, as he was affectionately called through the session, taught students from Year 5 and other grades how to cook traditional Italian pizza. It was a family affair, with the Speranza children assisting behind the scenes holding the camera and keeping Lisa and Gennaro on a schedule. Both Lisa and Gennaro spoke Italian throughout the lesson, exposing children to this wonderful language. It was especially delightful to see so many children following along, especially when it came time to knead the sticky dough. Parents were also seen in the kitchen working alongside their children, and we have no doubt they enjoyed the students' tasty pizzas at lunch time.

We would like to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks to Chef Gennaro, Mrs Speranza and the Speranza children for a truly memorable International Day in Year 5.

The pizza that I made was amazing – I would give it a solid 10/10! - Ben
Thanks Mrs Speranza for teaching Year 5 to make the perfect Italian pizza! It was delicious!  Simona
I also made a Nutella pizza - Sophie
I enjoyed making a video about another culture and their traditions, and learning about that. Charisma 

Year 6

Year 6 enjoyed hearing about the wide variety of cultural backgrounds each of us had. It was a great opportunity to reflect on how our cultural backgrounds have shaped us as the individuals we are today. We were also able to all learn about cultures that were different to our own, discovering a number of interesting facts about our Year 6 family we may not have known before

Georgia B - “The pizza that we made with Mrs Speranza tasted really good.”

New Titles to the Collection

The following books were shortlisted in the Eve Pownall Award category of this year's CBCA Book of the Year Awards. 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. 

This is a beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book that is about innocence, ignorance and injustice. This book was launched in 2020, in the 40th anniversary year of the event that shocked the world: that of baby Azaria taken by a dingo in the Australian outback in 1980. 

The author Maree Coote is a writer, designer, illustrator, photographer and publisher. In this book Maree explores the collision of wilderness and civilisation, discusses one of Australia’s most famous miscarriage of justice and examines the role of the media in history-telling all in an appropriate manner for children. Maree consulted Lindy Chamberlain whilst writing the draft copy of the book. The author hopes that children will see that this is a book that is about standing up for others and the importance of keeping an open mind in this world.The illustrations also by Maree are striking and the colour palette reflects the Uluru setting. 

Recommended for ages 8 years and older.

All five stories in this book are based on historical records. The stories are about Europeans who were taken in by Indigenous people between the 1820s and 1870s. The authors worked together to write historical fiction narratives from both the Indigenous and European perspectives. The authors hope the reader will think about how all Australians today can learn from Indigenous ways of thinking and doing. This book is largely based on a book for adults written by historians based at University of Newcastle. The beautiful illustrations are by Dub Leffler who also illustrated the award-winning book Sorry Day. 

Recommended for ages 8 years and older. 

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Morning Skills/Extra Curricular Sport

With the current staggered return to school arrangements (some grades not going back to Week 6) and uncertainty about restrictions moving forward with regards to external providers, we will not be offering morning skills programs in Term 4. We hope to be back up and running again in the new year!

Joel Geering
Head of Sport

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 the end of September. 

Regular trading hours will resume in Term 4 (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

A reminder for ALL families to RE-BOOK & VERIFY the dates for the remainder of the TERM. If there are no confirmed bookings the service will be closed. Space is limited exclusively to authorised workers. If you have any questions, email or please call customer service on 1300 035 000. 

School Holiday bookings are open!

TeamKids have another amazing Spring Holiday program planned!

• Learn new skills and make new friends
• Qualified and REMARKABLE Educators
• Digital detox with our no screens policy
• Delicious and nutritious morning and afternoon snack
• CCS approved care

PLACES ARE LIMITED - Head to www.teamkids.com.au to secure your spot!