There is no doubt that this has been a challenging week for our school community. We are  grateful to our parents, students and staff for the way you have responded and supported the School. 

The School continues to work with NSW Health to manage the current COVID-19 situation with the goal of keeping students and staff safe. The feedback from NSW Health has been that they are impressed by the school’s planning for and response to the current situation, and we thank parents for your role in this and ongoing support. 

• We have arranged for iPads and other OCL resources to be collected this afternoon for students who are deemed ‘close contacts’.
• We are pleased to announce that Rapid Antigen Home Test (RAHT) kits will be available for students who have been deemed close contacts. Unfortunately these have not arrived yet at school due to significant demand and a number of local schools are in the same position as us. We anticipate these kits will be available for collection from the school early next week. Detailed information will be sent to out only those who are deemed as requiring the kits.
• These kits are offered to those families on an opt-in basis, and provide 7 tests for daily use in the second week of a child’s close contact isolation period. Should the child test negative prior to coming to school, they can attend for the day, along with their siblings.
• In terms of the process involved, we would like to remind you that it is NSW Health, not the school, who determines the contact status of all individuals including siblings and immediate family/household members. 
• We are being informed about an increasing number of people who have been deemed to be closed contacts at their workplace, community venues and situations outside the school. If this ever applies to you, please let us know so that we can discuss your individual circumstances and how it might apply to your child/ren and your family.
• If you or a member of your family displays even the mildest of symptoms please get tested. It is common for children to be completely asymptomatic so please remain vigilant. 
• We will continue to work with NSW Health and we will be providing you with a further update on Sunday evening. Please understand that we are often in the challenging position where we are not permitted by Health NSW to share details and information, until we have received their permission to do so. 

We conclude with the reminder that ‘love is the greatest’. Please uphold our school community, especially those who have COVID, in your prayers and thoughts. And may we respond to the challenges of this situation with love, grace, compassion and kindness. 

Doug Thomas and Alanna James
Principal and Deputy Principal

For The Infants Students:

For Kindergarten and Year 2 students, a weekly plan will be sent home on the Friday afternoon before each week, except for this week, when the plan will be sent home on Monday morning. All Kindy and Year 2 students working from home will then be able to talk to a teacher who will be available via Zoom using the ‘Student Help Link’ throughout the day. This Zoom link will be provided to the students with their weekly plans.  

For Year 1 students, a daily plan will be sent home each morning. Year 1 students will be able to use their same grade link to connect to their teachers throughout the day.  

These plans will include a grid that will outline which activities to complete and also any relevant instructions, resources, worksheets, and some ideas for what to do if students finish their tasks early. 

Morning check-in is at 8:45am via each Grade Zoom Link where students can ask any questions they have for the day and so teachers can mark the roll and talk through the day along with the grade at school.  

Students should upload photos of their work to the journal on Seesaw, and teachers will go in and make comments and provide feedback at the end of the day.   

For The Primary Students:

All students will be expected to check into their plan for each day prior to 8:45am, then join Zoom at 8:45am each morning, for roll marking, to hear the teachers talk about the plan for the day and to ask any questions they may have.

Year 3 students will be able to use their same grade link to connect to their teachers throughout the day.  

All Year 4, 5 and 6 students working from home will then be able to talk to a teacher who will be available via Zoom using the ‘Student Help Link’ throughout the day. This Zoom link will be provided to the students with their daily plans. 

The students will continue their lessons and post onto platforms (GC, Seesaw, STILE etc.) as usual.   

Feedback will be given to the questions answered at the end of the day, via comments on tasks. 

We sincerely hope this plan works for all students on site and at home, for parents and for our staff too. Please contact me via office@claremont.nsw.edu.au if you have any feedback. 

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

Caring for your child’s wellbeing is our priority. If your child/ren are learning from home, a weekly Pastoral Care check-in will occur. A reminder too, that whether your child is learning from home or from school, if you need support or you would like to speak with someone, you can also email wellbeing@claremont.nsw.edu.au. This email goes directly to Catherine McKersie (School Counsellor) and myself. We will be able to respond to your email confidentially.

This weekend, please pray for our families. Many of our families will be feeling tired, overwhelmed and perhaps anxious. Please pray for each person in our school community that they may have peace, hope and love. 

Take care and reach out to each other.

And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works.
Hebrews 10:24

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

We have modified our plans for our annual School Picnic. Instead of going to Carss Park on 6 December, we will be holding a ‘Christmas Festival Day’ at school. This will be an exciting day where the children will be able to celebrate the year they have had, to play together, participate in fun activities and enjoy spending time with each other.

On Monday next week, parents of Kindergarten 2022 students will receive updated information regarding the Kindergarten Orientation Day. This event has been set for Thursday 25 November. The updated information will be sent as an email.

Unfortunately we are unable to have our upcoming School Photo Day. AdvancedLife will be arranging for refunds to be sent to parents for any orders purchased online. If you sent your payment to the school office, the envelope will be returned to your child next week.

Now is the time for the children to buy some packs of Christmas Cards because… Pixie Post is coming to town! ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and jolly is what the Year 3 students will be as they wear their pixie hats and jingle bells delivering precious mail to students and staff alike. 

Our Pixie Post Christmas Card delivery service will commence on Wednesday 1 December for 3 days only. (This was originally going to be next week but we have decided to push it back so that all students will be able to participate in this fun event.)

Just a reminder that no lollies or treats are to be included. Just a nice card and message. Please remember to include the name and grade of the person you are sending the card to on the envelope. Happy ‘prepping’!

Our Social Media Team is working to increase connections, and promote our amazing school. 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 would like to focus on:

• Kindy 2022 Orientation Day

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

- Child's Name
- Grade
- Quote or Caption

OR, feel free to tag @claremontcollege on Instagram,
or @claremont2031 on Twitter,
or to follow us on LinkedIn Claremont College 

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

The Social Media Committee

Follow us

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

Congratulations to the following students who received a Gold Certificate or Pennant Award this week.

Gold Certificates

Carter J (Yr 1), Yasmin ER (Yr 1), Lennox C (Yr 1), Hartford A (Yr 1), Will K (Yr 3) Sam ER (Yr 3), Ariella J (Yr 4), Tabitha A (Yr 5) 

Pennant

Hamish F (Yr 2), Charlotte L (Yr 2), Cooper S (Yr 2)

Term 4 2021

Term 1 2022

2022 TERM DATES

Please note the following days and times for the following PBL presentations:

Kindy - no change to schedule presentation date - Friday 26 November

Year 1 - postponed to Friday 3 December

Year 2 - postponed to Wednesday 1 December, Thursday 2 December & Friday 3 December

Year 3 - postponed to Wednesday 24 November, Thursday 25 November & Friday 26 November

Year 4 - postponed to Wednesday 1 December at 11:45am.

Year 5 - postponed to Wednesday 24 November, Thursday 25 November & Monday 29 November. 

Year 6 - postponed to Friday 26 November

At this time of year, Year 2 students usually participate in an afternoon of fun at school. We would like to advise Year 2 parents that we are planning an afternoon and evening of fun on Friday 3 December. More details are set out in the Event Note.

Year 2 Pyjama Party Event Note

New Graphic Novel Series To The Collection

Book one in the series starts with Mr Wolf taking up a teaching position at Hazelwood Elementary. He wants the first day of school to go well, but he’s got his hands full with his new class. The second book in the series is focused on the charming, funny, and mysterious adventures in Mr Wolf’s class. Three students decide to set up a mystery club to get some answers! The focus of the third book is a Year 4 writers workshop organised by Mr Wolf. The focus is learning about personal narratives. Sampson, a student in the class, doesn't think anything worth writing about has ever happened to him. This changes when he has an accident riding his bike one morning and he develops a new perspective.

This charming new series captures the everyday ups and downs of a fourth grade classroom. The illustrations are colourful, vibrant and lots of fun. Aron Nels Steinke is an Award-winning illustrator and author. He graduated from Vancouver Film School with a specialisation in hand-drawn animation, he discovered the magic of making comics and hasn’t looked back since. He currently teaches fifth grade students by day and draws comics by night. 

Recommended for children aged 7- 10 years.

Book Returns

Please can you remind your children to return all library books. Many students still have overdue books from pre lockdown. Some students have been given overdue notices. Library books are easily identifiable as they are covered in plastic and have a Claremont Library barcode on the front or rear cover. The books can be returned any day of the week to the returns box in the library.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Claremont Champions

Congratulations to Gia G (Year 5) who participated in fundraising and recreation as part of the classic Coolangatta Gold at La Perouse this weekend.  

She completed 1152m swim, 1457m run and 1225m board paddle.  She was awarded the ‘Step up to the hard course and never give up’ award.  

She enjoyed the surf  sports competition and aims to complete her surf rescue certificate so she can join the ranks of volunteers that help keep our beaches safe.

Well done, Gia!

Well done to Sofia J (Year 6), who has been selected to play for the Parramatta District Cricket Association in this season's NSW Youth Championships U13 Mollie Dive team.

Sofia has played two seasons of cricket and captained the first female RJCC Grand Final winning team earlier this year.

Sofia is quite proud of her achievement as Parramatta District is the notoriously one of the most competitive  female teams to get picked for. Congratulations on your selection, Sofia.

The P&F AGM was held on Wednesday evening in which the P&F committee for 2022 was elected. Thank you to the 2021 committee for offering your time and energy with P&F events, keeping parents in each grade informed and connected, especially through another challenging year. Our strong sense of community continues because of the generosity of the P&F Executive Team, grade representatives and the school’s Senior Leadership Team, working in partnership together.

Thank you to the outgoing members of the 2021 P&F committee, Sally Ferguson who has pioneered the position of VP Community Wellbeing for the past 2 years and the following grade representatives, Aleks D, Lyndel L, Kirrily L, Fiona P, Alice D, Tom H, Lisa S, Bernadette K, Vanessa P, Natasha P, Amy B and Alana K.

The position of Vice President Community Wellbeing on the P&F Executive team is currently vacant. The role encompasses being a parent voice and advocate for wellbeing matters within the school community. If you are interested in this executive role or would like to volunteer to be a grade representative for 2022, as opportunities are still open, please email pfinfo@claremont.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations to the P&F Committee Members for 2022.

PRESIDENT

Melisse L

VICE PRESIDENT FUNDRAISING

Morgan R

VICE PRESIDENT COMMUNITY WELLBEING

Vacant

TREASURER

Natalie T

SECRETARY

Sandra S

KINDY

James J, Peita-Maree P, Jessica T

YEAR 1

Melinda Y, Audrey R

YEAR 2

Susan S, Kirsty A

YEAR 3

Janelle S, Kirstyn C

YEAR 4

Aysun A, Helen S, Lucy M 

YEAR 5

Sylvia T, Charmaine F 

YEAR 6

Cathy J, Brooke C 

Praying for God's peace over everyone in our community during this challenging time.

Melisse Lee
P&F President

The cookbook is currently in production, if you missed ordering on Flexischools you can still order your copy. Please email pfinfo@claremont.nsw.edu.au