Hello everyone, What tumultuous times we are living in! Things are changing so quickly that it is hard to have any certainty from day to day - and yet we must find our 'anchor' and ground in the knowledge that we will get through this time. As we near the autumn equinox, we are also at the time when we focus on the message of St Michael - and this is a message about finding the strength and courage we all have. Please know that, as a school community, we are walking through this together. I am needing to make decisions I have never had to make before and these all weigh heavily - but please know that at the absolute centre of all, is the need to do the very best we can for our children. Thank you for your patience and support, we do have the courage to see this through. Peace Nerrida

Hello everyone, I am always amazed when autumn arrives here, it seems as though someone has flicked a switch and suddenly we see the features of autumn turn up. Cloudy skies, slightly cooler nights, mist on the hillsides - it is somewhat of a relief after the heat and frenetic activity of summer. This week we have enacted our school planned response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Australia. Whilst there are no confirmed cases in the Byron community yet, it is better that we are prepared and following best practice as the situation seems to be changing daily. I have sent emails out to all parents with details about this, however, the main point is that children who are showing signs of fever, sore throat, cough or runny nose should not come to school. We are asking for the community to really support us in this as we often have children coming to school who are unwell and should be staying at home. I do understand how very difficult this can be for working parents, however, in…

Hello everyone, What a challenging couple of weeks it has been with some wild weather and heavy rain impacting us all! The school sustained damage in a number of areas in the recent weather and we are working to address these issues as efficiently as possible. Thank you for your understanding last week when we asked those parents who were able, to keep their children at home. I understand the timing of this event was challenging, however we do hope you understand that we were making decisions within the timeframe and information we had to hand, always with the best interests of our students at heart. We have developed a School Closure and Restriction Policy and Procedure to assist everyone to understand our process when a severe weather event occurs. We will publish this on the school website in the near future. You will by now have heard that I will be leaving the school at the end of May to take up a position as Principal of a school in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. The Board…

Hello everyone, It was wonderful to welcome everyone back to the school after the break. It always amazes me just how much the children seem to grow over the Christmas period! I know many of us are still feeling the impact of the events across Australia during the break. The loss of so much of our beautiful natural landscape, the loss of wildlife and the magnitude of the human impact is still something many are trying to understand. For our children, this can feel like an extremely unsettling time, even if they have not been exposed to the media coverage (they certainly feel the increased anxiety in family and community). A few parents have asked me what we can do to support the children through this. I think, for younger children particularly, getting back into normal rhythms and routines is very comforting and allows them to relax into their bodies. If a child is feeling particularly sad or anxious about what has happened, some gentle healing stories can help (stories of hope and…