I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and had a chance to refresh in the sunshine over the weekend. I know some of you took part in ANZAC Day commemorations, to those members of our community who serve our nation and their families, I thank you. I know being part of a defence family myself, ANZAC Day holds a special place for us. We don’t always attend a march, but we do take a moment to thinkof all of those who served or who are currently serving in the defence of our nation.

Thank you for allowing me some time away last week. Since the article in the paper on the 3rd January, I have essentially been back at work, so it was wonderful to be able to turn off my emails and relax for a few days. A big thank you must go to
Mrs Carmen Myles for keeping everything ticking along seamlessly and to the whole staff for stepping in wherever needed.

Mother's Day
We will be able to return to some kind of normality this year and celebrate Mothers’ Day. We will begin with the Mothers’ Day stall this Friday. If you would like for your child to purchase a gift for a mother, grandmother, or significant person, these will be available for $5 in the hall on Friday at 11am.  We have limited items

St Vincent de Paul CEO Sleepout
A few years ago I participated in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. I was all booked to participate again last year, but COVID put that sleepout on hold. I have signed up once again for this year, in part to raise awareness of homelessness in the ACT, and of course to raise money for Vinnies support services. Many of you may not know that over 1500 people are homeless across Canberra alone, with 116 000 people homeless across the whole of Australia. Vinnies not only provide shelter and food, but also other support services to help people to get back on their feet and thriving in our community. We will be holding a fundraising event at school but if you would like to add to this contribution, those in need across our community would be very grateful. https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/leahtaylor/canberra

Athletics Carnival
We begin our Athletics Carnival at the Charnwood Playing Fields this Friday with the 800m starting at 8am. The remainder of events will occur at the Playing Fields on Monday.  Students will be walked to and from the fields by their teachers. Parents are able to come and watch the carnival, but I ask that if you do attend, you sign in using the app and remain at a distance from the students. I thank you for your support in this.

What’s happening on the playing field

Last term, we let you know that the ACT Government and the school will be undertaking work on the school playing field to reduce exposure to contaminants from the old fire station site on Lhotsky Street. The area has been fenced off.

The ACT Government is now finalising plans to undertake environmental management works.

The works are expected to involve taking out some potentially contaminated soil from the ELC construction site. The fields are likely to be ‘capped’ with a geotextile fabric, 300mm of soil and then turf. This will prevent contaminated soil being accessible to students and the public.

The school has contracted a landscape architect to add irrigation to the fields during this process and to work with the school community to design a nature play area.

In a further study of the health risks the environmental consultant, GHD, did a Human Health Risk Assessment that was specifically tailored to the people who use the contaminated area. The assessment found:

• the presence of PFAS in the soil represents a low risk to the people attending the school, church and childcare centre
• the levels of PFAS exposure were well below the safe doses published by Australian regulatory agencies.

Background
The environmental management works are part of the ACT Government’s management plan to reduce the potential exposure of students to PFAS chemicals in the playing field’s soil, groundwater and surface water. PFAS were used in firefighting chemicals on the former Charnwood fire station on Lhotsky Street until 2005.

Australian Government health experts say there is no conclusive evidence PFAS cause any specific illness in people. The risk to human health is low unless very large quantities of contaminated soil or water are swallowed. However, because PFAS do not break down easily in the body or the environment, governments across Australia recommend that exposure to PFAS be reduced wherever possible.

A fact sheet is attached here and we will continue to keep you updated.

God Bless

Leah Taylor
Principal