The Windang Wave

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Welcome back to school

 

It's been fantastic welcoming back all our students and their families. The smiles on our children's faces said it all as they walked through the school gates and walked directly to their school mates. All students have settled back into their normal school routines and teachers are ensuring a balance between academic leaning and well-being activities. 

 

Can I extend a heartfelt thanks to you all for your support during this difficult time. You have done an exceptional job in keeping our community safe and ensuring continuity of learning for your children.

 

School Canteen

It’s been fabulous having Kerrie Fernandez, Canteen Manager, back onsite this week. Kerrie provides a valuable service for our students and community by providing delicious healthy lunches along with having the canteen open before school, at lunch time and recess. 

 

School Safety Measures

All current school activities and operations are in line with the NSW Department of Education guidelines. 

 

We are following good hygiene practices like:

-Regularly washing hands

-Avoiding sharing drinks or food

-Coughing or sneezing into your elbow, or a tissue which is discarded immediately.

 

We are continuing to implement a range of safety measures; these include; 

-Enhanced Cleaning – additional cleaning to clean toilets, play equipment and high touch surfaces during the day; along with morning and afternoon cleaning services

-Cleaning and disinfecting frequently used high-touch surfaces such as benchtops, doorknobs, taps, and handrails for the midday COVID clean

-Cleaning and disinfecting frequently used objects such as computers, photocopiers and sports equipment

-All students and staff practise personal hygiene, including regular and thorough washing of hands with soap and water or hand sanitiser (with appropriate support provided to students to ensure they are practising good personal hygiene)

-All sport and music equipment is hygienically cleaned on a regular basis

-Adhering to social distancing requirements for teachers and school staff, in line with Government health advice

-Ensuring parents keep a distance from school, using kiss and drop approaches and contacting the school by phone or email as required

-Installation of non-touch hand sanitizer units outside all classrooms, library and the office -Installation of extra liquid soap dispensers in the boys and girls toilets

-Installing a liquid soap dispenser outside the kindergarten classroom; near the basin for ease of access for all students 

-Access to three non-contact infra-red forehead thermometers to check children’s temperature who present at sick-bay, and by

-Increasing the amount of fresh air available indoors by opening windows in classrooms and the library.  

 

Arrival and Departure Procedures 

On arrival all students enter via the crossing gate. Students who arrive after 9am need to enter via the main gate and present at the office. 

 

All students will depart at 3pm as follows:

 

Main Gate

  • KM & K/1P

Crossing Gate

  • 1/2G, 2/3W, 4F, 5U & 6B
  • Siblings (includes students from KM & K/1P)
  • Students being collected at the Kiss & Drop zone
  • Students with Bikes & Scooters

Bus Gate

  • Big Bus & Little Bus Students

Kiss & Drop Zone is “NO PARKING”

Parents using the Kiss & Drop zone are kindly reminded to follow procedures and not use the Kiss & Drop zone to park and wait in the zone prior to the bell ringing. 

 

Parents collecting students need to pull into the zone and move forward. 

 

If children are not ready to be picked up, you must move on as this causes congestion if procedures are not followed. 

 

Information about close contacts, self-isolating and COVID-19 cases at school

The department has updated its pages with detailed guidance for parents and carers about what will happen should there be a confirmed case of COVID-19 at school and students are identified as a close or casual contact.

 

All schools have COVID-safe plans and are taking precautions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission on-site. This includes enhanced cleaning two times a day in all schools in line with the latest advice from NSW Health and SafeWork Australia.

It is important to note that medical advice suggests transmission among children is lower and when they do catch COVID they generally only have mild symptoms.

 

Windang PS is cleaned in the morning and again from 11:30am onwards, this includes the midday COVID clean where the high touch surfaces are cleaned along with the outdoor seating and playground areas. 

 

Contact tracing

NSW Health will notify the school if there is a positive COVID-19 case who has been infectious while at school and we will in turn notify parents and carers. Contact tracing will be undertaken as per other venues. The action we take in relation to the operation of the school will depend on how many people the person has been in contact with. In some cases, this may mean that the school may need to be made temporarily non-operational. Some staff and students may be asked to self-isolate as a precaution while contact tracing is completed.

 

Self-isolation

NSW Health have made changes to self-isolation requirements for people who are identified as close contacts who are fully vaccinated.

  • Close contacts who are fully vaccinated must self-isolate for 7 days (and limit their movements for the next 7 days). Close contacts who are not vaccinated must isolate for 14 days.
  • Casual contacts need to get tested and self-isolate until they get a negative test result - even if they are vaccinated.

A reminder that anyone who has the mildest of COVID-19 symptoms must get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result - even if they‘re vaccinated.

Please visit the COVID-19 response protocols page for factsheets on close and casual contacts, isolation guidelines for children and to answer your questions.

 

Vaccination requirements for staff and students

I want to let you all know that all staff at Windang PS are fully vaccinated. You can have confidence that we are handling the evidence requirements with the department and anyone interacting directly with our students will be fully vaccinated. The only exception is staff supporting Out Of School Hours Care who are required to be vaccinated from 8 November.

 

COVID-19 vaccination is the best protection against severe illness and also reduces the risk of spreading COVID-19 to others. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 now will help to protect both you, your family and our school community.

NSW Health are urging all students 12 and over to get vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible before returning to school.

 

There is currently sufficient supply of the Moderna vaccine to community pharmacies and the Pfizer vaccine to General Practitioners. Bookings can be made via the Vaccine Clinic Finder. Depending on location, bookings are available within the next few days.

 

Updated mask requirements

To reflect the changes in community settings mask wearing requirements have been updated for schools. It is mandatory for all staff and students in Year 7 and above to wear a mask in all indoor settings; and masks are strongly recommended indoors for primary students.

 

Masks are mandatory on public transport. This applies to students aged 13 years and over, and to staff when travelling to and from school and during school excursions by public transport or by chartered or private transport services. 

 

Ventilation in schools

Ventilation is an important layer of support under COVID-safe operations alongside vaccinations, mask wearing, reducing mingling across year groups and good cleaning and hygiene. The department’s ventilation recommendations have been informed by NSW Health advice, expert advice from the Doherty Institute and the World Health Organisation.

 

This advice tells us that maximising natural ventilation in our learning spaces is the most effective method for minimising the spread of COVID-19 as it is a very effective way to disperse particles in the air. This can be best achieved by opening doors and windows.

 

If you’d like more information, refer to the department’s Ventilation page.

All our classrooms have operational windows which will be opened daily to maximise natural ventilation in our learning spaces. 

 

Stay safe, look after yourself and your family.

 

Mrs Kocovska

Principal