Recently I provided a link to a message from the Director of Catholic Education SA about some impending good news regarding fees. Across our Catholic primary schools we have been investigating ways that we can continue to support families and provide excellent education and care while having a fair and reasonable price point. Paula and I have discerned a new fee structure and it will be presented to the School Board for approval at our next meeting. Once that is done I will notify you of our 2021 school fees. I am confident that you be pleased with the new structure.
This year has been particularly difficult for families, especially if they have lost work/hours due to COVID-19. We understand these difficulties and know that people will always do their best to meet their commitments. However we understand too that sometimes pride is a big thing and people will often go without rather than seek help. I encourage you, if you are experiencing difficulty paying your school fees, to please come and speak to either Paula or myself about remissions that we can offer. Any discussion around fees remains strictly confidential.
Today at assembly I had the great pleasure of presenting awards to our students who have been displaying particular character strengths or have been doing some outstanding work. Congratulations to each of those students. I also presented our House Captains and Vice Captains with their leadership badges and reminded them of how important their role is in leading other children. There were a couple of really important presentations from students about our care of the earth. Lulu spoke about the importance of bees in our world. We can sometimes simply dismiss them as unimportant. The reality is that, without bees, we would all most likely starve, as bees are key for the growth and pollination of nearly every plant based food source. The other presentation spoke about the damage plastics do to our world, especially for those creatures who live in water. Hence we have been promoting 'Nude Food'. What a great job our families have been doing in reducing the number of wrappers in lunch boxes. Our aim is to have none! I am sure that Pope Francis would be very pleased with our efforts. I encourage you to sing along with your children to this clip.
Last week for our Pupil Free Day our staff continued their journey on Visible Learning with the staff of St Joseph's at Kingswood. Our teachers continue to learn, discern and implement this new information into their classroom teaching. Our learning in this area will continue in 2021.
Given that our new oval is 'open' and providing a great play space for our young people, it seems to be a great time to hold our Sports Day here at Tenison Woods. The date we have set is Friday 13 November and it will hopefully be a 'twilight' event depending on the whole COVID-19 situation and the need for physical distancing. We will send further information once all the details have been decided.
Thank you to Allison Pirone is has agreed to be the new school banking coordinator for TWCS. A huge thank you to Michelle Brodie for her time as the coordinator - it is greatly appreciated. A reminder that banking day is Tuesday.
