SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

It was with great excitement that we welcomed back all our students (albeit not all year levels at once) this week. Well done everyone on a smooth transition back onsite. 

Farewell to our Year 12 students

On Thursday this week, during our whole school assembly (online), we celebrated many things, but especially our Year 12 students. Our pride and admiration for this group has continued to grow, especially during remote learning. These students have taken the disruption to their senior certificate with humour, good grace, and have used it to become even more focused and determined. If anyone deserves to shine in their exams and their final round of coursework, it is these students! It has been a difficult two years in which to undertake their senior studies but our Year 12s have continued to approach their schooling with tenacity. They are ready to take on anything! The Korumburra community can rightly be very proud of these students, but beyond this, they have also earned our respect. It is always with sadness that we farewell our senior students, and next week will no doubt be very emotional for everyone as another group of outstanding adults leave our school. We wish the VCE students all the very best with their exams and congratulate our VCAL students on the completion of their certificate.

COVID updates, changes to the secondary close contact rules

Recent changes to quarantine periods mean that secondary close contacts of confirmed cases are no longer required to self-isolate. So basically, if you live with or have spent time with a close contact (primary close contact of a confirmed positive case), you are no longer required to self-isolate. As a school we are appreciative that our community, students, families, and staff are continuing to err on the side of caution. In all instances of this this term, individuals have continued to isolate, and/or got tested, even if they are a secondary close contact. The rules have not changed around primary close contacts, they must isolate for 14 days and get tested early, and then again on day 13, with the one exception below.

In news on Thursday 14th October from James Merlino, he has stated that, “VCE students who become primary close contacts will now have permission to attend their exams, while otherwise complying with the isolation orders that apply – which will be 14 days for unvaccinated students, or 7 days for those who are fully vaccinated.

These students will be able to sit exams in dedicated rooms with separate entrances either by themselves or safely distanced from other students who are also primary close contacts, depending on capacity. They will be supervised by staff wearing face shields and enhanced PPE in safely ventilated rooms that are cleaned between each use.

Each student who is a primary close contact will need to be tested every 48 hours in their first week after exposure, then again on day 13 – with regular testing the key to ensuring any potential virus is picked up early and contact tracing can begin to prevent further spread at exam sites or in the community.”

Please also note that the Year 12s sit their final exams off-site at the Masonic Lodge. Any student who was a primary close contact would be supervised separately in a different space to other Year 12 students.

Currently my observation and information from friends and colleagues in Baw Baw Shire is that close contacts are often not being contacted in a timely fashion. It would appear that this process has not improved much since we experienced it last year. Parents and families who went through this process with us would know that it was 10 days before DHHS confirmed that the contact tracing process was finalised. Most families received only text messages and some messages did not name which member of the household was the close contact. Again, if anyone in our school community does test positive, communication with the school and directly with close contacts is certainly a way in which we can all act swiftly. Unfortunately, parents and families also need to be aware that because contact tracing is handled externally from the school (DHHS), our hands are at times tied in terms of the information we receive and/or can share. 

As this space is changing daily, it is hard to say exactly what might occur if the school was to have a positive case, however, there is some hope that any school closure would be short and that students who were not primary close contacts could return to school very quickly. Currently we are operating ‘bubbles’ at school so that we would be able to narrow the scope of primary close contacts if we were to have a case. This week and next week, staff are still working both onsite and from home. All students and staff are expected to return to full time teaching and learning onsite on Tuesday, the 26th October.

Thank you everyone for your ongoing support and open communication during these challenging times. 

Principal - Vaya Dauphin

Assistant Principal  -  John Wilson