Dear Members of the St Raphael's school community,

The last few weeks have been particularly testing for all school community members, and I want to thank everyone for your efforts to have the children ready to return to on-site school.

It has been wonderful to have the children back on-site at school, and they have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with their peers and teachers. In addition, the children have enjoyed their new outdoor learning environments.

The next few weeks and months will be difficult for all of us as we navigate our way through this uncertainty.

At the moment, advice and information can change rapidly. I encourage all parents to remember that everyone, including emergency services, Department of Health, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and the St Raphael's staff are all doing their best to get the children back to school whilst keeping the community safe.

We are being given information quickly, sporadically, and it is constantly changing and evolving. Sometimes advice is inaccurate or needs adjusting. For example, dates for school recommencing have been brought forward, and some practical issues have possibly not been thoroughly thought through by the authorities. It is left to the school to manage these adjustments and make the transition as seamless as possible. We are all doing our best for your children's sake.

In this section:

Contact Tracing
COVID Risk Categories
Return to School Information
Outdoor Learning Spaces
What to do if your child tests positive for Covid-19?
School Closure Day & Public Holiday

Contact Tracing

Unfortunately, the Victorian Department of Health is entirely under pressure with the current outbreaks. However, the school will continue to be proactive and inform parents of any notifications or directives regarding possible positive cases in our school community.

As we have seen over the last few weeks, information and advice can change rapidly and without warning. Therefore, we ask for your patience, understanding and support through the next few months and appreciate the frustration this may cause.

We have well-established protocols and hygiene measures in place throughout the school with children separated into learning zones to minimise interaction with various year levels and to minimise the potential spread of the virus through the whole school community.

The school will contact parents directly if there is an outbreak, and we will put in place the appropriate measures to ensure the safety of all children and staff.

We will continue to update all parents on any information received and ask that you refrain from contacting the school directly for individual advice or further information.

The process for contact tracing at the moment is cumbersome, confusing and untimely, and we once again ask for your patience and understanding.

COVID Risk Categories

We received the following updated advice from the Department of Health last Friday. Despite this information, the DH has since apologised overnight to the school community for sending inaccurate advice to the parents of Foundation - Year 2 who were on-site on 13/10 & 14/10. This has certainly tested our resolve this week, but we worked through this difficult time with everyone's support and understanding.

The following table from the DH details the three risk categories for school children - low, medium and high. The school will determine the risk category for each child and submit this information to the DH. They will then follow up with the parents of children in either the moderate or high-risk categories for further advice.

If the school determines that your child is included in any of the categories, you will be asked to do the following:

High-risk contacts. The Department of Health will contact high and medium risk contacts. They must isolate immediately and seek testing as soon as possible. If a high-risk contact receives a negative result, they must continue their isolation for 14 days from their last exposure to the case. They will require an additional test on day 13 before returning to school. Once they receive their day 13 negative test result, they can stop quarantining immediately.

Medium risk contacts must also isolate immediately and seek testing in line with the above requirements. Moderate risk contacts may be eligible for clearance to attend school after day 7. To be eligible, an additional test is required on/after day 6. This negative day 6 result permits them to attend school only. They will need a further test on day 13 for clearance. Once they receive their day 13 negative test result, they can stop quarantining immediately.

Low-risk contacts are not required to isolate or get tested. However, if they develop symptoms of COVID-19, they should get tested and isolate until returning negative. These contacts will not receive notification from the Department of Health.

Importantly, if a positive case is in the school your children (and staff) are considered the primary close contacts (PCC), not their family members. All primary school-aged children are not vaccinated regardless of a parent's vaccination status.

All family members are not deemed as a PCC unless they develop symptoms and return a positive result. Therefore, it is recommended that all family members continue to monitor for symptoms and get tested.

Return to School Information

Foundation Return to School

All students will return to school next Wednesday 3rd November. Drop off and pick up locations and times are detailed below.

Year 1/2 Return to School

All permitted Year 1/2 children will return to school tomorrow, Thursday 28th October and Friday 29th October. For safety reasons, all children will need to be dropped off between 8:30 am - 9 am and picked up between 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm at the Cooper Street gates.

Drop off and pick up locations and times are detailed below for all students returning next Wednesday 3rd November.

Year 3/4 Return to School

All permitted Year 3/4 children will return to school again next Wednesday 3rd November. Drop off and pick up locations and times are detailed below.

Year 5/6 Return to School

All permitted Year 5/6 children will return to school tomorrow, Thursday 28th October and Friday 29th October. All children will need to be dropped off between 8:30 am - 9 am and picked up between 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm at the Breen Street gates for safety reasons.

Drop off and pick up locations and times are detailed below for all students returning next Wednesday 3rd November.

Onsite Supervision

On-site supervision for all children of authorised workers will continue in the school hall and the Art Room until Friday, 29/10.

Would you please email principal@srprestownest.catholic.edu.au

Drop off between 8:45 am - 9 am at the Breen Street gates. Pick up at 3:20 pm at the Breen Street gates.

Drop Off/ Pick Up Arrangements from 03/11-05/11

Next Wednesday 3rd November the children in all year levels will return to on-site school. Whilst we welcome this important milestone we must ensure the safety of all children, staff and parents.

The following arrangements must be adhered to and supported by the children and parents. Whilst these arrangements may be perceived as an inconvenience for some parents, I remind you that it will be more of an inconvenience if everyone in our school community has to isolate for 14 days due to an outbreak of a positive case in the school and we failed to adhere to keeping the children as separated as possible.

Our intention is to minimise large gatherings of children and parents at the Breen Street and Cooper Street gates.

Due to the virulent nature of this virus, gatherings of people in large groups are dangerous and put our students, staff and other parents at risk. When you pick up your child please move away quickly from the gate areas. If you wish to chat with other parents then move further down the street well away from the school gates to conduct this conversation. Staff have been instructed to remind parents to move on quickly.

Whilst we would hate to have to enforce this measure, a failure to comply with this directive will be dealt with directly by the school with the offending parents.

We ask for your support with this important safety measure.

We will trial the following pick up and staggered drop off arrangements commencing next Wednesday 03/11 - Friday 05/11:

Surnames A-K

Drop off @ Breen Street gates (8:30 am - 9 am)

Pick Up @ Breen Street gates

3:20 pm pick up for children without siblings in the school

3:30 pm pick up for children with siblings in the school

Surnames L-Z

Drop off @ Cooper Street gates (8:30am - 9am)

Pick Up @ Cooper Street gates

3:20 pm pick up for children without siblings in the school

3:30 pm pick up for children with siblings in the school

Learning Spaces

Many of you would have heard about the Victorian Government's air purifiers for schools. Unfortunately, we are yet to receive any details of the quantity, nor delivery date. However, all staff have been instructed to open all windows and doors throughout the school to ensure cross ventilation of all learning spaces and indoor areas.

Each year level has been allocated a designated outdoor area of the school for their children to work outside during the warmer weather. The children have enjoyed working in these spaces over the last few days, and the staff will try and keep them outdoors as much as possible over the coming months.

Our Year 3 - 6 children need to be kept outdoors as much as possible as they do not need to wear masks outdoors, only indoors. All children must have a hat to wear when outdoors. We have set up some lovely outdoor, shaded learning spaces.

We have also applied for the Victorian Government's School Shade Sail Program. We will be installing these shade sails along the bamboo forest area as soon as we receive confirmation from the government's grant allocation committee.

What to do if your child tests positive for Covid-19?

At this stage, if your child tests positive for Covid-19 and it has been contracted from someone at school, then your child will become a primary close contact (PCC) to the positive case. All family members are not considered a PCC unless they develop symptoms or return a positive test result before day 6 or day 13. As a safety precaution, it is suggested that all family members get a test on these days.

When a negative test result has been returned on days 6 and 13, your child can return to school once this 14-day infectious period is over. The latest advice that we have received is that the Department of Health may not be in touch with you to give you this clearance.

The school will notify you if your child is in the 'low-risk or 'high-risk' category. Depending on the circumstances, location and proximity to the positive case, if your child is identified as 'high-risk', they will need to isolate for 14 days and get tested on days 6 and 13.

If your child is 'low-risk, they will not need to isolate for an extended period and get tested if symptoms develop.

How to talk to your child about a COVID diagnosis

The link below is an article written by a paediatric nurse who has worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute for the past 24 years.

'How to talk to your child about a COVID diagnosis … and share the news with others’

https://theconversation.com/how-to-talk-to-your-child-about-a-covid-diagnosis-and-share-the-news-with-others-170014

As we transition into the next phase of the pandemic, we encourage parents to talk with their children about what this means. Help children understand the essential roles that COVID testing and vaccination play in returning to school and friends. Give them space to ask questions and reassure them there is no shame in being diagnosed with COVID.

School Closure Day & Public Holiday

The school is closed on Monday 1st November and Tuesday 2nd November (Melbourne Cup Day).

School Fees and Levies

As you would be aware, many of the off-site and extracurricular activities such as the whole school aquatic education program, Year 5/6 camps and other incursions/excursions have had to be cancelled due to the impact of the lockdowns throughout the year.

As a result, the school leadership team, in collaboration with the school accountant, MACS Business Manager and the School Advisory Board, have met to discuss possible refunds or credits from the balance of this year's school fees and levies.

As you would appreciate, the school has incurred unexpected and significant online and subscription costs during this year's lockdown to ensure that remote online learning continued for your children. In addition, last year, we offered substantial refunds/ credits on all school fees and levies. Many local schools did not provide the generous refunds/ credits we afforded our parent community last year.

We were also able to provide financial support to a number of families in our community who could not pay their children's fees and levies due to the impact of the Covid crisis on their employment. As a Catholic school, our mission has always been to provide those most in need with a Catholic education.

In the coming weeks, we will notify parents of the details and options for refunds or credits and ask for your patience as we work through these logistics.

Learning Diversity

Annie McNaughton

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