590 Anakie Road, Lovely Banks VIC 3213

P: (03) 5260 9999

E: enquiries@gbc.vic.edu.au

W: www.gbc.vic.edu.au

21/01/2021

Welcome back to 2021.

The staff at GBC wish all of the community a happy and safe new year and trust that this year will be

quite unlike last year. Welcome back one and all, and a very special welcome to the new GBC

families and trust that families will soon find themselves firmly connected in the GBC community.

TRAFFICTRAFFICTRAFFICTRAFFIC

As the school year commences, it is regretful to note that the upgrade to Anakie Road has all but stopped and

no improvements have been made since school closed last year. As a consequence, there is no option but to

proceed with the same plans that were in place last year. GBC will continue to use the lower College entrance.

Please see the map below, with only the following minor change.

The College buses will follow the same route as other traffic, rather than turning around and exiting against

the traffic flow in the afternoons. Staff members will be on duty to ensure that the buses enter the traffic

safely in order to exit.

Please observe the speed restrictions on the College grounds. 20km/hr on all College grounds, excepting

10km/hr in the pick-up/drop-off zones. Please be aware of students when driving around on site, and heed

the instructions given by staff involved in traffic management.

For the first week of term, new Foundation parents and families may park at the basketball courts and walk

children to the staff member holding balloons near C Block (the primary area). From 2pm in the afternoon,

cars can either park near the basketball courts, or begin lining up in the ‘snake’. Primary students will be

brought straight to the cars, including the basketball court car park. Parents are not to exit their cars and must

wait for their child to be walked to them, in order to avoid traffic congestion.

New primary bus travellers will be walked to the bus, for afternoon bus run, for the first week.

All other new parents and families are able to park next to the basketball courts and walk their child to the

College office, where there will be teachers, student leaders and other staff members to then take children to

their classroom. After the first day of school, all primary students will be dropped off at the top car park or

‘snake’ and all secondary students will use the bottom drop-off area.

PARKINGPARKINGPARKINGPARKING

Please note that the auditorium to administration is a NO PARKING ZONE between the hours of 8:00am to

9:30am and again from 2:00pm to 3:45pm, due to it being a designated drop-off and pick-up zone.

Please remember to bear with new families as they learn the ropes for our traffic conditions. If families have

any questions regarding the drop-off and pick up process, please contact the office.

COVIDCOVIDCOVIDCOVID----19 UPDATES19 UPDATES19 UPDATES19 UPDATES

With the slight easing of COVID-19 restraints, there are more freedoms although there are some that remain

in the interests of community safety. It is fair to suggest that the way there used to be parental access and

foot traffic through the school is never likely to return to pre-COVID levels.

GBC is required to maintain records of visitorsmaintain records of visitorsmaintain records of visitorsmaintain records of visitors to the school and observe social distancingobserve social distancingobserve social distancingobserve social distancing, with regular handregular handregular handregular hand----

hygienehygienehygienehygiene. All visitors must enter the College via Administration and are required to log their presence using the

College QR code. Visitors must also still sign in and out on the GBC attendance register.

GBC is pleased to note that there are limited opportunities for parents attending special functions while

maintaining density limits and record keeping for contact tracing.

Face masksFace masksFace masksFace masks for secondary students are required when physical distancing of more than 1.5 meters cannot be

maintained. Face masks must be carried by individuals aged 12 and over and continue to be worn on public

transport and College buses.

As a community, everyone is asked to remain vigilant and respectful of one another. Please keep children at

home if they are unwell, encourage them to perform regular hand hygiene and maintain physical distancing

wherever practical.

COLLEGE STUDENT DIARIESCOLLEGE STUDENT DIARIESCOLLEGE STUDENT DIARIESCOLLEGE STUDENT DIARIES

Students from Foundation to Year 12 are issued with a College Diary. These are a vital tool for parent and

teacher communication. In primary, diaries are to be signed daily, by both the teacher and parent. In lower

secondary, diaries are signed weekly by both parties. The cost of the first diary is covered in school fees,

however if a replacement is required, the cost is $10.

GBC GBC GBC GBC COMMUNITY BBQCOMMUNITY BBQCOMMUNITY BBQCOMMUNITY BBQ

Previous correspondence to new families stated that the GBC Community BBQ would be going ahead, but

unfortunately due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, this annual event has been cancelled. The hope is

that a similar event will be able to take place soon, in order to welcome our new families to our College

community.

UNIFORM REMINDERUNIFORM REMINDERUNIFORM REMINDERUNIFORM REMINDER

Please refer to the page in our last newsletter regarding important information about the College uniform,

shoe and hair guidelines. Please click the link below to read the information.

https://newsletters.naavi.com/i/A5DkbRM/issue-20/page/4

CANTEENCANTEENCANTEENCANTEEN

Arrangements for the re-opening of our College canteen are underway. More information to follow.

TERM DATES TERM DATES TERM DATES TERM DATES –––– 2021 2021 2021 2021 ---- REMINDERREMINDERREMINDERREMINDER

(Year 7s commence Fri 29 Jan)

Term 1 Mon 1 Feb - Thur 1 April

Term 2 Tue 20 April - Fri 25 June

Term 3 Tue 13 July - Fri 17 Sep

Term 4 Tue 5 Oct - Tuesday 7 Dec

(While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of future dates, these are still subject to change)

Sincerely,

Judy Sobey Neil Wetmore

Primary Principal Secondary Principal