Welcome to the new school year!

There are many new parents and students joining us this year, as well as a number of staff. We hope that this year will be one that is both deeply satisfying, and yet challenging as together we seek to honour God in the area of schooling. Our Vision and Mission statements are living and vibrant and shape the very essence of what we seek to do at school. They are:

VISION STATEMENT
To faithfully serve in God’s plan to restore all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

MISSION STATEMENT
To assist parents in the nurture of their children, by providing a Christ-centred, biblically grounded, culturally engaging and academically rigorous education that equips children to live for God’s glory.

We recognise that parents are the primary caregivers and educators of their children, and that part of this mandate is well expressed in parents being involved in the governance of the school. That is why the School Association and the School Board exist. Being on the School’s Board is a weighty responsibility, setting the course for the school. Please pray for them as they undertake this critical task.

I am pleased to announce the following staff who are joining us in 2019.

• Lyndell Pym has been appointed to teach Music part-time in the Secondary School
• Katie Clarke and Joshua Hii will be teaching Year 4
• Tim Hewitt has joined us as Deputy Principal (7-12 Curriculum)
• Karinne Bedingfield will be teaching HSIE part-time
• Amy Thompson will be working as a part-time counsellor
• Emma Young and Karen Albances will be joining the Education Support Team in the Secondary School
• Gwyneth Burns will be working in part-time in Junior School Education Support.

I am looking forward to the way in which they will contribute to our school community. 

Finally, I would like to remind/inform you that Monday mornings (8.30-9.30am) are “drop-in” time if you would like to chat with me. I will endeavour to spend that time at Café Covie during this time. Of course, if you have a specific or private concern that you would like to discuss, it is best if you make an appointment via the school office.

Bill Rusin
Principal

Welcome back to Covenant for 2019. The first day of school is always met with mixed feelings for both students, parents and staff. We pray that all our families will have a positive start to the school year. 

A name is an interesting thing. As parents we take a great deal of care when choosing a name for our children. Well, most parents do - I spent some time on google recently to discover some wonderful and creative names: Callum Murray (slightly fishy), Kash Register (a real name, with a sad story - google it yourself!), Jed I Knight (strong, the force is), and Chris P Bacon (everyone's friend) to name but a few. 

During 2018, we considered the name of our Technical and ICT support services here at Covenant. We were referred to in many ways: Servicedesk, Covenant ICT, ICT, and probably others, none of which really captured what it is that we are trying to achieve. Our purpose statement is: 

To willingly serve and empower the Covenant community by leading a Christ-centred response to technology, delivering services which support and enhance teaching and learning, while being responsible stewards of creation. 

We spent some time thinking and asking for feedback, finally deciding that we will henceforth be known as (drumroll please)… 

Why TechServe? 

To be honest, to start with, I didn't really like the name. However, the more I reflected upon it, the more I (and our whole team) became convicted that TechServe really sums us up well. 

ICT to many people, doesn't really mean anything, and TLAs (three letter acronyms) are so 2003! So we wanted to stay away from that. The abbreviation "tech" is one that most people can immediately identify with, and so makes sense for our name. We also want to promote (and be reminded of) our servant hearted focus. We are here to serve. Parents, Students, and Staff members alike, our purpose is to serve in whatever way we can. 

So TechServe it is.

Mr Dave Youl
Director of ICT

Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program.

In 2019 the following vaccines will be offered:

Parent Information Kits that include an information sheet, consent form and privacy statement will be sent home to parents/guardians. To consent to the vaccination of their child, parents/guardians are advised to:

• read all the information provided
• complete the consent form, including signing their name next to the vaccine/s  they would like their child to receive
• return the completed consent form to their child’s school
• ensure that their child eats breakfast on the day of the school vaccination clinic.

Please note that students who commence HPV vaccination in school clinics in Year 7 but do not complete the course during the school year may be offered catch-up doses at school in Year 8. Students who have any HPV doses at their GP will be advised to complete the course with their GP.

Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw their consent for any reason may do so by writing to the school Principal or phoning the school. The Procedure for Withdrawal of Consent is available here on the NSW Health website.

To improve vaccination completion, students will be opportunistically offered any missed doses throughout the year where possible.  

A Record of Vaccination card will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic. Parents/guardians should ensure that this record is kept for future reference and should not assume that their child has been vaccinated if they do not receive this Record of Vaccination. 

Frequently Asked Questions

• My child received the Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine when they were aged 4. Do they need this one? Yes this is a booster dose that all adolescents in Year 7 require. 
• My child received the Meningococcal vaccine when they were an infant. Is this the same vaccine? The Australian childhood immunisation schedule included Meningococcal C vaccine. This vaccine contains four strains offering additional protection against Meningococcal ACWY. 

Visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation for further information and translated copies of the Vaccination Information Kits

13/02/2019

Year 7 Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (Dose 1)

Year 7 Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis

26/06/2019

Year 10 Meningococcal ACWY

21/08/2019

Year 7 Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (Dose 2)

Year 8 Catch up vaccinations may be added to a clinic depending upon the interval between doses. The Year 8 Catch up student list will be sent to the School Immunisation Coordinator prior to each clinic to facilitate planning.