Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the strangest term three I have ever known. As you know specialist schools and VCE/VCAL students are the only students who are physically attending schools at the moment.

REGARDING MASKS

This week we have also been told that from Thursday everyone must wear a mask when outside their home.

Although students over the age of 12 are to wear masks at school an exemption for specialist school students has been made. Lots of parents have phoned the office to ask about this as they were worried how they were going to get their child to wear a mask. It’s good to know we have the option. I did see a great idea on Facebook for an autistic boy who didn’t like the elastic on his ears, he was wearing a material mask and a cap, his mum sewed buttons on the side of his cap so the elastic attached to them rather than to his ears.

Of course many of our students will want to wear masks and that’s fine too.

TEMPERATURE TAKING

We have been taking student temperatures as they arrive each day and after the first few frustrating days we seem to have got the hang of it. The thermometers were not working well outside and so we have changed the system so we take temperatures before students hop off of the bus and Michael takes the temperature of the students dropped to school by parents in the foyer. The thermometers are now much more accurate. Any student who has a high temperature sits for a few minutes in the APT room and then we re-take their temperature and send them off to class.

Any student who shows signs or complains of a symptom has to be sent home, this is not my rule it is part of the DET directive in the term 3 school operations guide. I want to thank all our lovely co-operative families who understand this and pick their children up quickly after I call.

COMBINING CLASSES

Another aspect of these interesting times is that many of our families have chosen to keep their children at home rather than send them to school. As a result sometimes we are having to combine classes due to very low student numbers and to cover staff absence.

FINAL RETIREMENT

Lastly a few of you may remember that I had a go at retiring at the end of term 1. It didn’t work out for me. I’m going to try it again, I have offered my resignation and it has been accepted. My last day at school/work will be September 18th. I never thought my retirement would be so weird, we do live in interesting times.

Cheers Sue

FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENT