Principal's Report

COVID UPDATE

As you are well aware information and restrictions about COVID change with minimal notice such as TODAY. I will keep you updated as best as I can with the latest Department of Education and Training School Operational Guidelines. Please ensure your details are kept current as information is sent via Compass email. 

Dear Collingwood College,

Welcome back!

Our first few weeks back has been relatively smooth with students adjusting to their new routines and expectations. Our Prep students are doing an amazing job in getting themselves organised in the morning and carefully following new routine and instructions. 

Our new Year 7 students have also adjusted well to secondary school life. Well done to all of our students, staff, parents/carers who have all contributed to our successful start to the 2021 school year.

Leadership team 2021

Staff changes:

Please welcome Angela Watters who as mentioned above is our new Education and Programs Leader for Years 7 & 8.  Angela has over 10 years experience as a Leading Teacher at Staughton College and brings unique and refreshing skill set to our leadership team as well as the Collingwood College community.

I am also pleased to announce during the holidays the Placed Based Partnership initiative provided by the Department of Education (DET) was extended for a further 12 months.  In other words, our Multicultural Community Liaison officers not only remain with us for a further 12 months but the  team will grow by the end of Term 1. Congratulations to Badria, Hassan and Hussain. 

Works around school:

The Department of Education awarded the College with internal facility upgrades late last year. Toilets on all levels on the south side of the building are being overhauled and redeveloped to provide for more accessible spaces.  This is serious construction that has taken place mostly out of hours and have been coordinated by the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA).  I am told the works should be complete by the end of February.  We look forward to completion!

Minor office changes and upgrades have occurred over the break and at the moment we are installing additional benches to create another high level multimedia IT lab.  Our VET offerings are increasing year by year!

Tutoring program

At the end of last year the Department of Education announced additional funding for schools to employ a tutor to support students who are identified as requiring support or extension. Teachers worked hard to assess student learning and the data was collated. We are very fortunate we are able to fulfill this program using teachers from within the school. More information to come shortly - you will be notified if your child has been added to the program.

DET Operations Guide (COVID RELATED): ***These may be updated after next week

Visitors to the school grounds must comply with physical distancing and wear a face mask when 1.5m physical distancing cannot be maintained. There is no requirement to limit the number or type of visitors to school premises, however the density limit of 1 person per 2 square metres should be applied to any spaces and activities being attended by parents/carers and other visitors. The density limit applies to all persons in the space, including students.

To support contact tracing, schools must keep a record of all staff, students and visitors who attend on-site for more than 15 minutes. Schools must record the name, contact details, date, and time of attendance at school, as well as the areas of the school that the person attended. Schools can use existing mechanisms such as visitor sign-in procedures, student attendance records and staffing rosters to record this information.

How this will be implemented at Collingwood College: 

• Parents/carers and family members can come on to the school grounds for drop off and pick up, and some events, so long as these are conducted outdoors. For indoor events, density limits require management of attendees that will prohibit whole school events being conducted in one internal location (such as the theatre or stadium).
• Further information regarding our Market will follow soon.  We want to see everyone back here on Thursday nights!
• Parents/carers and family members who are on the school grounds for longer than 15 minutes are required to sign in at the school office.  QR code sites are also available in reception.

Community Access to School Buildings

To support us in ensuring that we adhere to the density limit of 1 person per 2 square metres and the contract tracing process required, we ask that all community members entering school buildings:

• Enter the school buildings based on a prior arrangement or scheduled meeting with a Collingwood College staff member. This is particularly important for visits to the school that are longer than 15 minutes.
• Report to the School Office to sign in and liaise with office staff about your visit
• Parents/carers can come in to pick up their child/ren from OSHC

Please note, we are asking that families DO NOT enter the buildings to visit their child’s/children’s classroom without prior arrangement with the classroom and/or specialist teacher. 

Whilst this reduced access to learning environments is not our preferred practice, we cannot guarantee density limits are being met without managing the number of people entering the buildings and classrooms and so we are implementing this approach to support the health and safety of staff, students, families and our community. We will review this as more updates about health advice and COVID safe practices come through from DET.

Chinese New Year

Finally I’d like to acknowledge the Lunar New Year.  I know our LOTE department have been undertaking all sorts of activities – including an impressive video that will be shared on instagram shortly. 

xin nian kuai le (Happy New Year)

sheng ti jian kang (Enjoy good health)

Kind Regards,

Sam LuckCollege PrincipalCollingwood College

Cromwell St & McCutcheon WayCollingwood, Vic, 3066

Ph: 03 9412 7700   

www.collingwood.vic.edu.auinstagram.com/collingwood.college