In shining majesty the mighty sun, 

A king upon his chariot of gold,

Climbs higher till the heights of heaven are won

In glory streaming, blessed to behold.

And watching him, I feel a strange sense grow

That speaks of things that now I cannot see;

For only later will I truly know

How at his hour, God's Spirit of the Sun is touching me. 

Dear GHSS Families,

Birak Festival This Friday afternoon, December 10th from 1.30pm we invite our school community to join us for our Birak Festival.  This is a lovely way to round out the year, with each class presenting an item, all stitched together with our community singing songs of the season in between performances.  We shall gather outdoors, under the trees in front of Classes 1 & 2 or, should the weather be inhospitable, we always have the option of the hall.  I look forward to this gathering together of our community.

Memorial for Sol On Monday, December 13th we shall be holding a memorial in honour of Sol.  This has been organised in consultation with Sol's family.  Classes will spend the morning making kites.  The memorial is then open to the attendance of parents from our school community from 1.30pm.  We ask that parents gather with their child's class to proceed to the hall rather than gathering outside or entering the hall ahead of the classes.  The Memorial will begin in the hall with music and readings and then move to the oval for kite flying.  At 3 tolls of the bell, we will conclude our flying and gather in a circle on the oval to sing our school song.  Classes will then move back to their classrooms and we ask that parents collect them from there at the days end, to ensure an appropriately reverent end to the day.

Let us dress ourselves in Yellow to honour Sol's name and the love he had for his favourite yellow jumper.

COVID-19 Vaccination Concerns It has been brought to my attention that there are community concerns around the COVID-19 vaccinations and if children will be required to be vaccinated to attend school.

The directions are very clear on the fact that children are exempt from the requirement to be vaccinated in order to attend school.  This is inline with current requirements regarding childhood vaccinations and compulsory school aged children.  For those who have shared concerns about stories coming out of the USA and Europe, where it has been reported there have been mandates in relation to primary-aged children, it is to be noted that, unlike for Australia, childhood vaccinations are considered mandatory in many parts of Europe and in the USA they are mandatory for school entry.  This is in contrast to Australia where childhood vaccinations are simply recommended.  Schools currently do not prevent children who are unvaccinated from attending school once they reach compulsory school age, as to do so would contravene the Education Act which enshrines in law the requirement for all children to be enrolled in a suitable program of education.  I hope this clears up any concerns held by parents regarding the mandating of COVID vaccination for children under the current Education Act.  See the following link for further information. 

Which countries have mandatory childhood vaccination policies? - Our World in Data

The directions also make clear that parents will be able to attend school to collect and drop off their children and to attend festivals, assemblies and parent meetings, regardless of vaccination status.  Those who volunteer may do so on an ad hoc basis. This is defined as attending for no more than 1 day a week at no more than 1 school.  Parents wishing to attend more regularly than that will be required to provide the office with evidence of their double vaccination status.  Follow this link to read the directions in full.

Thank you to those community members who have met with me to discuss concerns and ask questions.  Should you have any concerns I encourage you to direct your queries to the school and if I am unable to give you an immediate answer, I will investigate further and get back to you. 

Jacqui Hollingworth

Principal