St Anthony's School

Important Back to School announcements

Information regarding returning to School in Term 2

13th May, 2020

 

Re: Returning to school for Term 2

 

Dear Parents, Guardians and families,

 

Thank you for all your support during these past few weeks of remote and flexible learning.

Following advice from the Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government and the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) have advised that schools can begin a phased return to onsite schooling.

 

STAGE ONE

In the first stage, all staff will return to school. Students in Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2, senior secondary students (Years 11 and 12 VCAL and VCE) and all students in specialist schools will return to school from Tuesday 26 May.

Year 10 students undertaking VCE studies, including VCE VET studies, should also attend school for those classes where practicable. If this is not possible for your child/children, our teachers will make sure the work provided to students attending at school is also provided to your child/children. Year 10 students unable to travel home at the end of their scheduled VCE/VET classes may be supervised at school for the remainder of the day.

To support all school staff to prepare for this transition, Monday 25 May will be a student-free day.

 

STAGE TWO

In the second stage of our return to onsite schooling, all other year levels will return to school from Tuesday 9 June. This includes students in Year 3-6. Community Hubs programs will return from Tuesday 9 June and this includes Playgroup in the community Hub. Before and After School Care will be available on all days should you require it.

 

For those students who cannot be supervised at home and vulnerable children, the existing model of onsite schooling will remain in place during the two-week period from Tuesday 26 May to Tuesday 9 June. The current process that we are using to enable parents and carers to indicate the days or part-days for which onsite schooling is required will continue for this two-week period. You must contact the school Office and speak with Patrika or James for any matters related to onsite schooling. All 3-6 students who can learn from home, must learn from home.

 

All other students in those year levels will continue learning from home until Tuesday 9 June.

Once a year level has returned, 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 onsite schooling, we can no longer support their learning from home.

This does not apply to children who need to be absent for 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 Catholic and government schools in Victoria.

To support the health and wellbeing of all students and staff, our school will continue an enhanced cleaning routine and will encourage frequent handwashing. We have a good supply of hand sanitiser and it must be used throughout the day regularly. The bubblers (drinking taps) will not be available. You must send a water bottle to school with your child each day.

If your child is ill or is feeling unwell, they must not attend school. They must remain home and seek medical advice.

While the Chief Health Officer has advised that students will not be required to maintain physical distancing at school, there will be a number of important changes to our school operations, consistent with health advice to all schools that will be made available in coming days. These will apply until further notice. I will provide more details about our local school context as soon as possible, but it is important to note that changes will include:

  • Access to the uniform shop
  • adjusted arrangements for drop-off and pick-up, including staggered school start and finish times
  • adjusted playtime and lunchtime breaks across the day
  • strict rules for kiss and go drop offs and pick-ups only at designated gates NO ACCESS ONSITE
  • no parents entering the school site
  • restrictions on access to the school site for anyone other than immediate school staff and students
  • the way we conduct parent–teacher meetings and interviews

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 CECV website, which will continue to be updated: www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/Coronavirus-information-for-parents.

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

Yours sincerely

 

Patrika Rowley

PRINCIPAL

Information regarding Before and After School Care