Welcome back! Whether your children are ‘with us’ at school or ‘with us’ at home, a big welcome to you all. This week we are tracking at about 65-70% attendance with many other families indicating that they plan to return next week and some deciding on more time in home connected learning. I will be talking with teachers in the next 2 days around how they would like to structure next week, with the possibility that classroom teachers structure a ‘normal day’ and are released for part of the day to support those engaging in ‘home connected learning.’ I will give you full details of this by Thursday evening to allow you the time to decide your plans for next week.

It was great to see many children back on Monday. I think we all feel like things are beginning to returning to ‘normal.’ This has been very difficult for all of you and I send my deep appreciation for your on going support, the care and flexibility of staff and the calmness and positivity of the children. Let us, however, not forget those families who have been impacted so cruelly by this virus; those losing businesses, employment, wage reductions and our grandparents, extended families who have suffered such cruel isolation from those they love. May the good news on the low infection rate continue, may God help us win this battle and restore our lives and livelihoods. Please also remember that if you have been affected financially, we are offering full school fee remissions for this term. Please see Julie for details of the application process. It is simple and fast. Let not concerns about school fees be an extra burden.

Other arrangements
We have been very ‘agile’ in our response to social distancing and whilst health authorities state that our children do not need to abide by social distancing at school, we believe that potentially 455 children in the yard at play time is not desirable and we are called to be extra cautious. We now have separate Recess and Lunch play for R-2’s and Yr 3-6 students. Prior to eating children wash/disinfect their hands and after each play each child lines up for a soap and water handwash. Paper towel is provided. Any play equipment is disinfected daily and we also have extra cleaning procedures each evening. As adults are deemed most vulnerable, our Staff Room is restricted to only a few adults at a time and we are all self monitoring and ensuring that we are healthy and well upon entering school. We continue to not permit Music Tutors, Speech, OT therapists and Volunteers on site until further notice.

A big concern as more children are attending school is the afternoon pick up routine. We have had to make changes to this. The arrangements, which commence next Monday, are detailed in this Newsletter.  Please understand that we are doing everything to keep our community safe and that new arrangements will be difficult for some if not many. But our goal is our safety.

Building Progress
If you have been able to drive past Acton Avenue I’m sure you’d be impressed that the building work has progressed despite COVID-19. We are still aiming for a Term 3 opening and these new spaces will become the Year 1, 2 and LOTE classrooms and the Reception T/S class.   This will allow us to house the Term 3 Reception room where the current RT/S class is located.

The Nature Play construction will recommence in full next week and we are hoping to open this mid term.

Please take extra note of the pick up arrangements for next week. We will monitor the effectiveness of this and we are always open to feedback, new ideas and suggestions to help us achieve our goal of community safety in this challenging environment. 

God Bless