Return to On-Site Schooling - Stage Two

It has been wonderful to have our Prep to Year 2 students on-site this past two week and next Tuesday (9 June) we look forward to welcoming back our Years 3 to Year 6 students.

I'd like to thank all our parents for their amazing support over the last couple of weeks and congratulate our wonderful students for the way they have embraced the new arrangements.

All students will be expected to attend school as normal. This means if you choose to keep your child/children home after their year level has returned to on-site schooling, we can no longer support their learning from home. This does not apply to children who need to be absent for their own health or medical reasons. For those families, please contact us so we can make an appropriate plan.

This same approach is being taken by all government schools in Victoria.

School Operation

While the Chief Health Officer has advised that students will not be required to maintain physical distancing at school, there will continue to be a number of important changes to our school operations, consistent with health advice including: student drop off and pick up, parent / teacher contact, School Council and Committee meetings, hygiene and cleaning.

Hygiene and Cleaning

To support the health and wellbeing of all our students and staff, our school will continue an enhanced cleaning routine and will encourage frequent hand washing and sanitising.

Unwell Children

If your child is ill or is feeling unwell, they must not attend school. They must remain home and seek medical advice. Children who are unwell will be sent home.

Drop Off and Pick Up

As has been happening for the last two weeks we have adjusted arrangements for drop off and pick up, including staggered school start and finish times.

To limit the number of students entering and exiting the school at the same time, there will be staggered starts and finishes to the school day. This will be organised by surname, to ensure siblings can enter and exit the school together. This will impact Session 1 and Session 6 of the day.

Children need to arrive at school between 8:45am – 9:05am. As they arrive all children will walk directly to their classroom. Parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds. Please support us by ensuring your child does not arrive before their allotted time.

Parents are asked to say your good byes before getting to the school gate. The children will be asked to enter the gate quickly and parents are asked not to congregate around the school gates, in order that other parents and children can get to the gates as well. We will have staff in the school grounds to help your children get to class.

It is hoped that parents will disperse their arrival/departure around the several entry points into the school and not all elect to use the main entrance. If this does not happen naturally we will be allocating drop off and pick up points to families.

Our drop off arrangements are:

Students whose last names begin with:

A to G	to arrive at school at 8.45am
H to P	to arrive at school at 8.55am
Q to Z	to arrive at school at 9.05am

We will have the children packed up and ready to be collected from the gates starting at 3:10. This process will be more complicated than the morning drop-off, particularly as we will now have children who will be walking home without adult supervision and the volume of children and adults will increase, so we ask for your patience and understanding. Parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds.

Please discuss with your child where they are to meet you in the afternoon. Again we will have staff on hand to assist your children to get to the appropriate school gate.

Our pick up arrangements are:

Students whose last names begin with:

A to G	to be picked up at school at 3.10pm
H to P	to be picked up at school at 3.20pm
Q to Z	to be picked up at school at 3.30pm

Adult Access to the School Site

Adults are not to enter the school site unless arranged with the office. If your child arrives late or needs to be picked up early, please contact the office.

Reports and Interviews

Reports will be made available for parents at 4pm on the last Monday of Term (22nd June). As indicated at the beginning of the year we will be holding formal interviews at the end of Term Three. If parents would like to discuss their child's report with the teacher, please email the teacher and they will call you.

The transition back to school process will become a little more complex next week. We will resend the Update - Returning To School document to parents at the end of the week. We urge all parents to read the document again carefully and support us by following the instructions. We understand that the process will be inconvenient for some families and apologise for this in advance.

Attendance Before 8.45am and After 3.30pm

Parents are also reminded that children must not arrive at school before 8.45am and must not stay at school after 3.30pm. If students are here outside these times they will be placed in OSHC.

If parents require care for their children before 8.45am or after 3.30pm, please contact Camp Australia to arrange care. Child Care is free until the end of this term.

We understand that some families may feel anxious about this move back to classroom teaching and learning. I can assure you that this decision has been taken on the basis of the best health advice available to our state.

More information about the return to school and coronavirus (COVID-19) can be found on the Department’s website, which will continue to be updated:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/department/Pages/coronavirus.aspx

Thank you for your continued support and patience during this time. We look forward to welcoming all our students back to the classroom next week.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Cancelled Curriculum Day 5th June

The Curriculum Day on the 5th June has been cancelled.

Robyn James

Malvern Primary School Newsletter

2020

Issue 10 · 03 Jun 2020

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