Patience is a virtue                                                            11 August 2021 

With the announcement today that metropolitan Melbourne's lockdown has been extended until at least August 19, we are all disappointed. As a result, we're continuing with our planned LFH - Webex rollout, so let's move forward.

Literacy Intervention sessions have already started or been scheduled. Thank you to Glenda Kelly, Mandy Ryan, Lexie Hartney and our flexible Specialist teachers (Wendy, Sarah, April, Shazan, Rachel and Jami), who are again scheduled to work with students who need additional support via Webex.

Parents will receive more Webex invitations from class teachers tomorrow, with Webex Check-in starting every Monday/Wednesday/Friday from this Friday, and Webex Extra starting next week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We have had a huge number of emails, to teachers and the school, asking what's happening with camp, ICAS, swimming, etc. Please understand that we communicate via eNews or email whenever we know anything. Unfortunately, schools don't receive any advance notice of government decisions. We ask parents to be patient, so that our teachers and office staff can attend to the most important tasks of each day and focus on our students. My mum's favourite saying was, 'Patience is a virtue'; something that certainly helps me to stay calm at times like this!

We'd all love some certainty right now, however, life is very unpredictable and the school will continue to go with the flow as announcements are made, making necessary adaptations to LFH or events as they are are needed. Teachers are very aware that we are modelling flexibility and resilience to our students and we need to focus our energies on areas where they are productive and positive.

Unfortunately, our Year 6 Camp next week is cancelled. Thanks to Kathy Verbi, who has been communicating with Camp Rumbug, we are hoping to re-schedule for Term 4, although there is no guarantee. As there are schools who have already re-scheduled Camp Rumbug three times, the Camp is very busy trying to accommodate requests. We hope to hear back next week and, in the meantime, model to our students that we can try to problem-solve in these situations. 

Within this short-term focus, we really have no idea what will happen with, say, Year 1 and 3 swimming, as this will be determined by decisions of the Chief Health Officer. 

ICAS have contacted schools to advise the following for families whose children are enrolled in ICAS tests:

In response to the recent COVID-19 developments in Victoria and the uncertainty it brings to many schools, we’re adding an additional four-week ICAS sitting window in Term 4 from 5 Oct – 29 Oct 2021 , to give affected schools and families peace of mind, as well as the chance to prepare for ICAS.

We will reset ICAS dates and hopefully let parents know of these by the end of this term.

We apologise to families who may have recently experienced issues with Sentral payments. On investigation, we have found that Sentral's changeover of their third-party banking service has unfortunately caused issues for some families, unknown to LPS. Our office staff have been working on updating family credits and statements, which will be resent to parents when finalised.

Finally, a reminder to parents that next Friday, 20 August, is a student-free day. At this stage, we plan to continue with this (whether the lockdown continues or not), so that students can have uninterrupted learning when they return to school.

Thanks for all your support during LFH and stay safe.

Kim