Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

In light of the growing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Victoria, The Hon. James Merlino, Acting Premier of Victoria, announced today, 27 May 2021, a state-wide circuit breaker lockdown will take effect from 11.59 pm tonight 27 May 2021, until 11.59 pm on Thursday 3 June 2021.

The Victorian Government has announced that tomorrow, Friday, 28 May 2021 will be a pupil free day to provide school staff with time to enact their remote schooling program.

Parents, guardians or carers who are unable to provide adequate supervision to their children may send their children to school on Friday, 28 May 2021. Students attending school will be supervised by appropriate staff, however a learning program will not be provided.

From Monday, 31 May 2021 to Thursday 3 June 2021 (inclusive), St Mary’s Primary School, Yarram will re-commence remote schooling. This means that all students who can learn from home must learn from home, except where:

• parents, guardians or carers who cannot work from home and no other arrangements can be made for the supervision of their child(ren), there is no requirement to provide evidence
• vulnerable students including:
• children in out-of-home care 
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm 
• children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service).

I appreciate that this is a very challenging time for all in our community and your cooperation with the remote schooling program is very much appreciated.

We understand that there will be parents, guardians and carers who will need to send their child(ren) to school.  We wish you to know that in those circumstances, we are here to support you and your child(ren).

If you need to send your child(ren) to school, please register your intention to send your child(ren) to St Mary’s on the attached form. This will enable us to ensure that we have sufficient staff on duty to supervise students in attendance.

School Intention Form

Children attending on-site supervision during the school closure will be supervised by school staff.  However, I wish to advise you that your child’s teacher will not necessarily be supervising your child if they attend on-site.

During this difficult time, we must all take care to support one another. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who may be unwell, and those who are working to keep our community safe.

If you require further information or support, please contact the school on 51825659 or myself (jbrayshaw@stmyarram.catholic.edu.au) or Heather (hleemon@stmyarram.catholic.edu.au) via email.

Yours sincerely

Joel Brayshaw