A message to parents and carers from our principal, Nitsa Comninos.
Schools are safe and open for full time face-to-face learning
The students will be returning to full face to face classroom learning from Monday 25 May. All school activities and operations will be in line with Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and NSW Health guidelines as applicable.
School attendance
From next Monday, all students should be at school unless:
- they have a medical certificate which states that they are unable to return to school due to an ongoing medical condition
- they are currently unwell.
Students who have a medical certificate to stay at home will be supported to learn from home in line with regular procedures if they are able to. These regular procedures are different to what was offered during the learning from home period. If you require work to be provided to your child whilst they are at home due to an underlying health condition, please contact the school for assistance. Please note, students who live with a family member in one of the categories identified as being at increased risk by the AHPPC, should attend school unless a medical practitioner advises otherwise in writing.
No physical distancing requirements for students
Physical distancing of children in schools is not required by the latest AHPPC guidelines. Research has shown limited transmission risk associated with school children in the school environment. However, students will follow good hygiene practices such as:
- regularly washing hands
- avoiding sharing drinks or food
- coughing or sneezing into your elbow, or a tissue which should be discarded immediately.
Sickness
- If your child is unwell, we ask that you please keep them at home and phone the school to notify of their absence.
- If a child comes to school and presents with cold or flu like symptoms, they will be sent to the office in sick bay and parents will be notified to collect their child. The school has also been issued with a thermometer to check a child’s temperature if and as needed.
- If a student is absent without a medical reason for more than three days, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and followed up by the class teacher. If you need any support to get your child back to school, please do not hesitate to contact the office on 9587 9472.
Physical distancing requirements for adults
Physical distancing requirements remain for adults. All adults must maintain physical distance from each other (1.5m) including all staff and parents.
Lunch and recess break
Students will eat lunch in their designated areas supervised by the teacher on playground duty. If the weather does not permit for this to occur, students will eat lunch inside the classroom. Please ensure that your child brings a refillable water bottle. The canteen will be open as normal from Monday 25 May.
School activities
Teachers will continue to follow the regular school curriculum with the exception of some activities that can’t go ahead for now.
What student's can't do
- Use bubblers and fixed play equipment
- School incursions and excursions including camps
- School assemblies (unless for critical information)
- Inter-school activities (debating, inter-school sport)
- In-school activities requiring parent or other volunteers this includes Special Religious Education
- Borrow books from the library
Arrival and dismissal
From Monday, we will continue with parents remaining outside the school grounds in the mornings. Children are to arrive at school between 8:30am and 9:00am. A staff member will be at both the Gladstone Street and the Princess Highway gate to greet students.
As of Monday 25 May, we will also require your assistance in ensuring that we dismiss students in the safest way to maintain social distancing. All parents will complete a survey indicating their preferred time and exit point for pick up. Students will then be dismissed accordingly and staff will escort students to their designated pick up point. Parents will follow the instructions from the teacher on duty, leaving the school grounds promptly after collecting students.
Thank you
Once again, I extend my sincere thanks to our whole school community for your ongoing support and feedback this term. We are so grateful for all of your hard work, time and energy in supporting the home learning schedules. The staff are excited to have the students return to fulltime learning at school and look forward to continuing to work in collaboration with you throughout the year. Our home school partnership is our priority and we value the contributions that you have made in ensuring our success, especially throughout this extremely difficult time.