If students are unwell and have flu-like symptoms (e.g. fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of sense of smell, runny nose and fatigue), they must stay at home and seek advice about undergoing COVID-19 testing when symptoms persist/increase for more than 24 hours. Contact your doctor or 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) immediately and call ahead to the medical centre or doctor’s surgery advising of your child’s symptoms.

Students and staff must stay at home until test results have been returned. This is to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and to keep the school community safe. Please adhere to Government regulations and keep children at home until test results have been returned.

As you'd be aware, some states are currently trying to manage significant outbreaks of COVID-19 caused by community transmission. In order to protect Queensland residents from the spread of COVID-19, the Chief Health Officer (CHO) has issued a Border Restrictions Direction which imposes border control measures on entry and re-entry into Queensland. These measures include strict quarantining obligations for those returning from declared COVID Hotspots, which now includes all of NSW, ACT and Victoria.

If you are intending to travel interstate, please be aware of this situation and of the possibility of changes to current restrictions at short notice. I strongly encourage you to have a discussion with a member of the Leadership Team regarding any future private interstate travel plans. This will assist us in managing our school community and the work, health and safety obligations to our staff and the broader school community.

Recently Pope Francis reminded us and firmly reassured us that God is with us during this global pandemic. Let's continue to pray for those directly affected by the virus: doctors and nurses, the sick, those who have died and their family members in mourning.

A reminder to lock in September 4 as a Pupil Free Day. This day is set across all Queensland schools and replaces the usually scheduled day in October. Our staff will be working our data to make informed decisions around teaching and learning.

National Science week continues this week and Holy Spirit catholic School loves being involved. We have Prep's working with water, ocean waves in a bottle, students working with Saint Margaret Mary's doing experiments to our senior students designing ocean probes that would map the ocean floor. Thank you to the many people involved in our school community for assisting us to highlight Science Week.

Happy Days,

Paul Martin