From the Principal

Semester One Reports

Next week on Thursday 24 June, the Semester one written school report for each student will be sent out electronically to parents.

I thank the staff for all their work in writing these reports. This is not an easy task and teachers spend countless hours examining the evidence of learning to write constructive comments to describe the learning of each child and indicate the next learning goals.

Reports are not the end of learning but are an essential part of the learning cycle. The report should provide clear guidelines of ways the child can progress to the next step on their learning continuum. If you have any questions please come and see your child's home group teacher.

Parent/Teacher Interviews will occur at the end of Term 3

Important Dates.

Term 2 will conclude on Friday 25 June at 1:30pm.
Term 3 will commence on Tuesday 13 July.
Monday 12 July will be a staff Professional Development Day. St Francis de Sales will be joining St Paul Apostle North, Endeavour Hills for a Religious Education Professional Development Day that will be run by staff from MACS, Melbourne Archdiocese of Melbourne.

COVID updates

Based on advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, from 11.59 pm tonight, schools in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria will now operate under the same settings.

Key changes:

Staff must wear face masks indoors at school when not teaching and masks are recommended outdoors at school where physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.
Structured workplace learning and work experience placements can recommence on site throughout Victoria.
Excursions and incursions are permitted throughout Victoria.
Indoor and outdoor interschool sport can proceed throughout Victoria, and outdoor and indoor contact and non-contact physical activity is permitted.
Restrictions around people per square metre still applies once visitors enter the school. Thus parents can only enter the buildings by invitation so that we stay within guidelines.

QR code requirements in schools

The use of Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record keeping is mandatory for all schools to enable the effective contact tracing of any COVID-19 cases.

QR codes will be required to be used by:

all visitors, including contractors, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) and other external staff, and building and maintenance staff.
all parents who enter buildings when on the school site.

QR code check-ins will not be required for staff or students,

QR code check-ins will not be required for parents who come onto school grounds for drop-off or pick-up, but do not enter buildings.

In addition, our existing sign-in and sign-out processes will continue to be used to record visitor attendance, in particular the purpose of visits, for legal and regulatory obligations. We are also about to update this system.

Kiosk check-in service

For visitors and parents who are not able to check in with a smartphone or tablet, we will set up a Kiosk check-in service available to ensure parents/carers and visitors have an alternative way to electronically check into the Victorian Government QR Code Service. This will be set up next week.

All schools are required to have QR codes in place as soon as possible, with full operational use and compliance required by 25 June 2021. This will continue into Term 3 until further notice. Your support to ensure we maintain a safe work place is greatly appreciated. This is another way we can work together to ensure further restrictions are not imposed on our Metropolitan schools this year.

Managing illness in schools and early childhood

One of the most important things we can do to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in our community is to stay at home when we are unwell, even when we have the mildest of symptoms.

What you need to know

1. If a child is unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms, they must stay at home If a child becomes unwell during the day, they must be collected from school as soon as possible.

2. If a child has any of the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) outlined below, however mild, they should get tested and they must remain at home until they receive their results:

fever
chills or sweats
cough
sore throat
shortness of breath
runny nose
loss of sense of smell or taste.

In certain circumstances headache, muscle soreness, stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may also be considered symptoms. For further advice:

call the 24-hour coronavirus (COVID-19) hotline 1800 675 398
call a general practitioner
use the Department of Health online self-assessment tool.
Visit: Where to get tested.

3. A child must stay at home until they are symptom free, even if their coronavirus (COVID-19) test is negative

If a person has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) or been identified as a close contact they must isolate/quarantine until they receive clearance from DHHS.

Children with persistent symptoms due to underlying conditions such as hay fever or asthma whose symptoms are clearly typical of their condition can continue to attend school. They should be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms. They should consider getting a medical certificate from their GP to attend school if they have persistent symptoms that may overlap with symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough or runny nose.

Younger children (up to Grade 2) may have prolonged post viral symptoms such as a runny nose or cough and may return to school following a negative COVID-19 test even if they are not completely free of symptoms. They will need a medical certificate from their GP to confirm they are otherwise well or have recovered from their acute illness.

4. Children do NOT need a medical certificate before returning to school

Once symptoms have cleared, there is no requirement from the Department of Health for children/students to have a medical certificate before they return to school.

Thank you for your support in following these steps, together we can all stay safe

Christine White

Principal