Principal's Report 

Dear parents and carers,

I hope this finds you well and that you were able to make the most of the holiday break.

School resumes for all students in Prep-6 on Monday 31st January and our staff are all looking forward to a new year and welcoming students back to the classroom.   

Up until the long weekend, students in Prep will have a day off every Wednesday. Students will attend for full days every other day. Transitioning to school can be very tiring for some children and at times, children may need to have an additional rest day.  Families are encouraged to speak with Ellen or myself if they have any concerns.  On Wednesdays, OSHC will be running for families who require childcare for their Prep student.

If your child is absent, please ensure this is recorded on Compass.  Prep families do not need to mark their child as absent on Wednesday Prep Days Off.

Ensuring students and staff are able to make a smooth and safe start to the year is a priority and we will be doing everything that we can, to make sure our school stays safe and open.  Maintaining hand hygiene, mask wearing (Years 3-6), and social distancing will continue, wherever possible, in Term 1.   

In addition, the Victorian Government has announced some new measures for the beginning of the 2022 school year across all Victorian schools.

Free rapid antigen tests

These will be available for the first 4 weeks of Term 1 2022 and will be distributed to schools as early as possible.  Home administration testing, conducted twice-a-week is strongly recommended for both students and staff, to help keep everyone safe.  No RAT testing will occur at school.   The department will supply the tests to our school and I will let you know once the test kits are available for collection.

Students and staff will do the tests at home and only need to report their result if it is COVID-positive. They must report a COVID-positive result to:

• the school by phone or the RA Test Portal; this is so the school can support them, record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms
•  the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398. 

Information about how to do a test and how to read RAT results, including a how-to video translated into 33 languages, is available online.

Current Vaccination requirements

Parents and carers must have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid medical exception (with limited exceptions) to enter school buildings.

All staff working in schools need to be fully vaccinated or have a verified medical exception. 

COVID-19 vaccinations for students are not required for them to attend school but is highly encouraged. For more information on how to book a vaccination, including important information about vaccination for children aged 5 to 11, visit Vaccination information for children and teenagers. 

Ventilation

We have now received a number of air purifiers, which will be used around the school as an added safety measure.  We will also continue to make sure that classrooms are well ventilated by opening windows and doors, to minimise the risk of infection. 

There’s no doubt that this term is going to be challenging for all of us, but we are also very excited to kick off the school year and welcome back all of our students. 

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you in 2022.