Dear Parents and Carers,

As  we conclude  Term 1 this week I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to our  parent community for the support and encouragement we have received throughout this ongoing COVID-19 situation. In whichever small way you have assisted your child to remain connected to Good Samaritan  we are all extremely grateful.

In  addition,  I have to convey my deep appreciation for the Good Samaritan staff. The last two weeks have seen us establish a new way of ‘being’. We have made many decisions, learnt from our mistakes, endured frustrations, entered into robust discussions, reflected deeply on our beliefs both personally and professionally. We have also kept at the forefront of all of our thinking our mantra:

Mission    Consistency   Impact

This has been the  basis of our planning which will aim to provide students with a fully developed remote learning experience from the start of Term 2. This  means that the school will not be delivering face to face lessons until we are instructed to return to ‘school as normal’ by the State and Federal Governments through Catholic Education Diocese  of Wollongong. At this stage schools will remain open, unless we are instructed otherwise, for students where there is no other alternative. However, the teaching and learning remains the same for all students.

This planning is supporting us to be in a position where we are able to respond rather than react as much as we can in a time of  truly fluid and rapid change. Our planning has been working in phases. The first phase was our immediate response which was to continue the teaching and learning. As we head into Term 2 we will be in phase 2 - remote teaching continuation to online learning. As we progress through Term 2 we will enter phase 3 which we are referring to as our sustaining phase where we will revise, rework if necessary, and plan for the transition back to face to face schooling.

Good Samaritan Virtual Easter Hat Parade!

Here’s how your child can get involved and help celebrate Easter with Good Samaritan:

• Make an Easter Hat (or even pop on some bunny ears), put it on and take a picture.
• Send it through to info@gsfmdow.catholic.edu.au with the title Good Samaritan Easter hat parade by 3pm this afternoon!
• We’ll put all the pics together in a special Easter Hat Parade celebration.

Remember: we will be posting the parade on our Facebook & Instagram sites so if you’d rather not have your pic out there, keep your hat for your family parade!

The Good Samaritan Easter Egg Hunt

Kinder Term  2 Learning Packs:

Kindergarten students have a second learning pack to be collected. They will be available at the Easter Egg ‘Car Line’ Hunt tomorrow between  11:30-12:30pm.

Enrolment forms can be downloaded  here.

Pupil Free Day:  CANCELLED

The previously planned pupil free day for Monday 27 April has been cancelled. Remote learning for Term 2 will begin on this day.

CatholicCare School Counselling:

The School Student and Family Program would like to reassure you that CatholicCare will continue to provide school counselling services to the school community. In view of the requirements for social distancing and the volume of students who are staying at home we are currently engaging with the options of phone or online video counselling.

Update from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong Director of Schools:

Tomorrow our school community will receive an update of the current COVID-19 situation. This  update will include the following:

• A recap of the major COVID-19 events over the last month
• A summary of how Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong has responded
• A reminder of the support that’s available to families
• An outline of what to expect over the holidays and in Term 2

I urge all parents to read this update as we head into the holidays.