Dear Parents and Guardians

The last two years have been a rollercoaster for many families. The COVID pandemic, quarantine, mask mandates and vaccinations just to name a few.  For many parents and families there were also many challenges to balance working at home and home schooling, isolation from loved ones and government restrictions.

Schools have seen the impact of this first hand with increased anxiety levels of students, their ability to socialise with one another and school refusal with concerns of catching COVID etc. Agencies such as psychologists and counsellors that schools utilise to support families through these times have also been inundated with little to no availability and long wait times.

As a school we want to support our students through these challenges as best we can in partnership with our parents. As a school we have engaged the services of www.letstalk-counselling.com.au to train one of our Learning Support Officers in different modules in order to run school based programs for students who may need this extra support. The first module is titled ‘Let’s talk about Anxiety and Worry’ for students who present with anxiety, worries, camp anxiety, separation anxiety, first signs of school refusal etc. The school-based program runs for 10 weeks with a maximum of four participants in each group. We hope to start offering group sessions for our students early next term. If you believe your child may benefit from this program please contact our school Learning Adjustment Leader, Mrs Holly Peterson, via email hpeterson@stangelawarragul.catholic.edu.au or phone 03 5622 9800.

Next week I will be attending Gippsland Catholic Primary Principals Meetings from Monday to Wednesday. Mrs Rachael Williams will be Acting Principal in my absence. 

A reminder that Term 1 ends for all students on Thursday 7th April. Our assembly next week will be on Thursday afternoon at 3pm for our Easter Raffle. Friday 8th April will be a professional practice day for staff. Term two commences on Tuesday 26th April.