Principal's Report

Dear students and families,

We are so happy to welcome our students back to school on Monday. I know that returning to on site learning for the final ten weeks will give our students the opportunity to finish the school year in a positive way. In my chats this week in Google Meets, all students are very excited at seeing their friends and teachers again in person.

The Department of Education and Training has set guidelines to reduce the risk of the transmission of coronavirus in schools. I'd like to highlight some of those here:

>Based on the advice of the Chief Health Officer, given the current levels of community transmission in Victoria, mandatory temperature testing of all students on arrival to schools will not be required in term 4.

>Ensure that unwell students remain at home even if they have mild symptoms. Any students showing symptoms compatible with COVID-19 must be collected from school and taken home.

>Students over the age of 12 are expected to wear a face mask while at school and while travelling to and from school. Some students are exempt from this requirement. This includes students who are over the age of 12 and are unable to wear a face mask due to the nature of their disability. This also includes students who have a medical condition, such as problems with their breathing, a serious skin condition on the face, a disability or a mental health condition.

>Good hygiene practices are expected of all staff and students. Staff will reinforce this daily with students.

>Hand sanitiser units have been installed at key locations around the school. Additional hand sanitiser is available in every space in the school and is part of every student's daily routine.

>DET is continuing to fund additional cleaning during the day during term 4. This involves disinfection of high-touch surfaces.

>Playground equipment is also sanitised after recess and lunch use.

>Access to the school by external visitors is limited.

>Parents and carers are not to congregate at school gates before or after school

>Parents and carers are required to wear face masks during school drop-off and pick-up.

>Parents and carers will be required to maintain 1.5 meters between each other as far as practicable at the start and end of the school day.

>To support these guidelines we will continue to have staff waiting near the front gate in the morning to support students entering the schoolyard safely. In the afternoons, Junior students who are collected from the back gate will be dismissed at 2:45pm and escorted to the back gate by staff.

>During afternoon pick up, please wait in your car as long as possible and avoid congregating near the gate.

>The main office remains closed to visitors except in essential circumstances where business can not be conducted by telephone. I ask that any communication with the school be conducted by telephone in the first instance to avoid any unnecessary face to face contact.

>Any visitor who must come on site needs to schedule this with the office.

Naranga School will have the following three priorities in term 4:

1. Mental health and wellbeing - ensuring that every student is supported to successfully re-engage with school.

2. Learning - conducting assessments to determine how students have progressed in their learning and adapting our teaching and learning program to be responsive to the needs of students.

3. Transitions - supporting students who are moving into the school or leaving for other settings and finding appropriate ways to conduct end of year celebrations.

I look forward to welcoming all the students back to school on Monday morning.

Kai

Principal

Important dates:

Week 2 October 12 All students return to school

Other important dates:

October 23 Grand Final public holiday

November 3 Melbourne Cup public holiday

November 23 Curriculum Day – this will be a pupil-free day for

assessment and reporting purposes.

December 18 Final day of term 4

Centrepay

Naranga School is registered with Centrepay. We can organise your payments for you, just pop into the office or telephone us on 9788 2222. Centrepay is a voluntary and easy payment option available to Centrelink customers. Contact www.humanservices.gov.au/centrepaybusiness for more information and to set up your Centrepay deductions.

Disabled Car Park

Reminder: We have only one disabled parking spot near the office. This is reserved for cars which have a disabled sticker on its windscreen.