Principal's Message

Issue Highlights

Please find below a summary of this weeks issue:

• School returns full time from Wednesday 3rd November. There is no school on Monday next week
• School COVID-19 Update related to last weeks school closures.
• From today, Victoria will reach 80% of 16+ who are fully vaccinated. From next week school operation guidelines are changing. Please find a summary below of some of the changes:
• From Monday 24th October only staff who are double vaccinated for COVID-19, have received their first COVID vaccination, are medically exempt or have a booking to receive their first vaccination by 25th October will be allowed to work onsite.
• It is now a requirement that students in Years 3-12 wear masks whilst at school, unless a lawful exception applies. Students with a physical or mental disability are not required to wear a face mask where their disability means it would not be suitable.
• Next week we celebrate Values Week and on Friday 5th October it is Russ Jackson Day - who Jackson School is named after.
• Today is World Teacher Day. Our school will celebrate World Teachers’ Day and recognise the incredible contributions our teachers make to our community.
• A massive thank you to our students and families for  the last 20 months of remote and flexible learning and for your flexibility with the Staged Return to School.
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary.
• Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.

Dear Families,

I hope all families have enjoyed their first week of eased restrictions. Last week was a challenging week for our community as we managed our first cases of COVID-19 onsite since this pandemic began. Lucky and unlucky for us these came in the same week. As you are aware, on Monday 18th, Tuesday 19th and Friday 22nd October 2021 Jackson School had to close for 48 hours as a precaution to undergo necessary cleaning due to confirmed cases of COVID-19 and to support us in identifying students or staff who may have been close contacts. Thank you to our whole community for your support, flexibility and understanding with these school closures and quarantine periods. Please be aware that we are unable to provide information about the person who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

The guidelines for managing COVID-19 cases onsite at school changed last week. As a school we are required to now do the initial contact tracing, communication and follow-up with close contacts about testing and results received. Thank you for your cooperation with this to keep our community safe and school open. I am very pleased to tell you that all test results from primary close contacts (high risk: same room, face-to-face social contact, not fully vaccinated OR moderate risk: in the same enclosed space for more than 2 hours and fully vaccinated) and secondary close contacts (low risk: large venue contact / outdoor / hallways and walkways) have come back negative. This is due to fast contact tracing and our families following these health directives. If you or your child have any COVID-19 symptoms please stay home, get tested and isolate until you receive a negative result. Please note: most of our confirmed cases have either had no symptoms or only mild symptoms (runny rose / headache).

All potential primary close contacts have now been notified by the school are these will be followed up by the Department of Health (DH), if they haven't done so already. Some parents/carers may have been given different advice when contacted by DH due to policy changes last week. Families should follow the latest advice given by DH over what has been communicated to you by DET/School. Students will be able to return to school following their quarantine period and have receiving a negative test result on day 6 (moderate risk: fully vaccinated) or day 13 (high risk: not or partially vaccinated / house hold contacts). Please provide school with a copy of this prior to their return. The school is safe for students to return with increased safety measures in place, including air purification devices around the school. 

From next Wednesday 3rd November ALL STUDENTS RETURN to onsite learning at school. There will also be NO SCHOOL MONDAY 1st NOVEMBER. Remote learning will no longer be offered to families. If students are isolating during Term 4, they will still continue to have access to our online learning platforms but these will not be regularly monitored by teaching staff.Medical exemptions continue to apply. We are very excited to see all of our students back at school next week. It has been lovely to welcome all of our year levels back onsite at different times this week.

From today, Victoria is due to reach 80% of 16+ who are fully vaccinated. From next week school operation guidelines are changing. Please find a summary below of some of the changes:

• Camps and excursions can now continue for all year levels.
• Our Year 11/12 students can resume their VET course, school-based apprenticeships, structured workplace learning and work experience where on offer.
• Assemblies will continue in year-level teams for now and we hope to have our end of year Achivement Assembly / Year 6 Graduation.
• The Senior Secondary team are currently planning options for our Year 12 Graduation around the current restrictions. More information to follow.
• Transitions into and out of the school can now continue, as well as our Transition "Step-Up" Day on Tuesday 7th December.
• All visitors, including parents/carers who enter school buildings when on school site, must check-in using the Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record keeping is now mandatory in all schools to enable the effective contact tracing of any COVID-19 cases.
• Parents who come onto school grounds for drop off or pick up, but do not enter buildings are not required to sign in, but must continue to comply with any face mask requirements and social distance from other adults.
• Staggered pick-up and drop off times are no longer required.
• The Concert in the Courtyard continues to be cancelled for 2022 but other events maybe able to continue towards the end of the term.

From 6pm 29 October 2021 (Phase C: 80% fully vaccinated) regional Victoria and Metro Melbourne come together under the same rules. For more information, please visit:  https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/victorias-roadmap 

Vaccinations

From Monday 18th October only staff who are double vaccinated for COVID-19, have received their first COVID vaccination, are medically exempt or have a booking to receive their second vaccination by 29th November will be allowed to work onsite. Because of this work requirement from the Chief Health Officer, some school staffing may be disrupted whilst staff are on leave. We have done everything we can to ensure your child's education is not disrupted and have ensured that staff on leave are covered by other experienced staff.

Vaccination is not mandatory for students, but it is highly encouraged. Getting vaccinated is the best way you can protect your child and your family from infection and serious illness from COVID-19 and our school community from further outbreaks and the spread of COVID-19. If you have any health concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccines, please speak to your GP.  You can also refer to the Department of Health website for information on vaccine safety and possible side effects. 

More information 

Read the attached fact sheet or visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-information-people-disability for the latest information about accessing a vaccination, as well as: 

• a checklist: before your COVID-19 vaccination to prepare for your vaccine appointment
• a list of vaccination centres with enhanced accessibility
• a social script about getting vaccinated.

Face Masks in Schools

As previously communicated to families, students in Year 3 and above are required to wear face masks, unless a lawful exception applies. Students with a physical or mental disability are not required to wear a face mask where their disability means it would not be suitable. However, to keep our community safe, we will continue to recommend to all of our students (Prep-Year 12) that they wear a mask whilst at school and at OSHC, but this will not be enforced due to the nature of their disability.

For students with a disability, parents and carers should speak to the child’s doctor or regular health professional about the best methods to encourage mask wearing. Students and parents can also contact the Disability Liaison Officer program for more information. Click here to complete the request form: shorturl.at/rPRW5 

We have a supply of disposable masks at school for staff and students use. We would like parents/carers to provide a mask where possible for their child to use at school if possible. People with a disability should be eligible for a free face mask through their disability service provider and some GPs clinics and pharmacy practices. 

For more information on COVID-19 for people with disabilities, please visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/information-people-disabilitycoronavirus-

disease-covid-19

Values Week / Russ Jackson Day

Next Friday 5th October is Russ Jackson Day. 1n 1989 our school was renamed Jackson School to honour the work done by Russ Jackson. Russel was a volunteer at Jackson for over 20 years; he was gardener/handyman, caretaker and School Council President. One of his main initiatives was setting up the gardening program. Because of this, next week we celebrate "Values Week" to highlight what is means to be a Jackson Learner in Russ' name. Our students strive to display our values everyday. Next week our students will take part in volunteering activities around the school in memory of Russ Jackson.

Our Vision

Jackson School is a collaborative learning community for all. We aim to develop independence through safety, respect and responsibility.

We aspire to offer authentic, quality education experiences that develop futures, create opportunities and inspire student potential; enabling our students to be valued and contributing members of the wider community. 

World Teacher Day - 29th October 2021

Today is World Teacher Day. Our school will celebrate World Teachers’ Day and recognise the incredible contributions our teachers make to our community. World Teachers' Day is an opportunity for our community to say 'thank you'. On this day, we will recognise the passion our teachers have, and how teaching has extended beyond the classroom to maintain connections through remote learning. Feel free to let our teachers know you appreciate their resilience, leadership and adaptability throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. You and your children can get involved by sending a message of thanks to a teacher who is making, or has made, an impact on your life by heading to the World Teachers Day website for a range of resources, including ‘Thank You’ card templates or by sending a SeeSaw message.

Thank you card templates and resources: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/events/Pages/world-teachers-day.aspx  

I would personally like to thank our teaching and support staff for the huge efforts they have gone to to ensure there has been a continuity of learning during remote learning. It hasn't been easy to navigate as we all longed to have our students back in the classroom. This year has been filled full of further uncertainty than we all experienced in 2020. Our teachers have had to adapt quickly and learn how to collaborate remotely with each other, our students and families. This of course wouldn't have been possible without the support of parent/carers at home. Many teachers were working long hours to set activities online, manage settings in online platforms, give feedback to students, video conference with individual students/classes and provide offline learning grids and activities to do at home. All work set has been aligned to your child's Individual Learning Plan (ILP) goals set for this semester. This is an experience we will never forget and in some ways will change how teachers teach when we return to the classroom.

When we initially began our remote learning journey in 2020, as a profession we were largely unequipped to move online what we do best in the classroom. The innovation and creativity from our staff has been so impressive. Some highlights for me have been seeing teachers using their fridges as whiteboards, through to kitchen science and teaching outdoors from the chicken coop. The response from our learners has exceeded our expectations in how they have approached and presented their learning, responding to feedback from their teachers using a range of technology. This will give our students a firm grounding for their future careers in this rapidly changing world. To our students, I send my thanks to you for your hard work and patience once again this year. I have loved seeing your responses to activities as well as watching you help your parents/carers at home and getting outside to exercise. I have no doubt you are all looking forward to seeing your friends at school next week after your long weekend.

And finally I would like to send a very special thank you to all of our families for supporting your child over during remote learning and for your flexibility with the Staged Return to School. It wasn't the plan we had expected over the last two weeks, but we are very much looking forward to all of our students returning to school full time. Without your support and home-school partnership, learning from home for our students would have been impossible. I hope you have a lovely long Melbourne Cup weekend and a well-served "real" break when our students finally return back to school next Wednesday.

Take care and stay safe,

Anthony