COVID Update & School Routines

(as published on Compass)

The Department of Education has released an updated School Operations Guide to support schools in planning for a safe and effective year. This advice aligns with the Victorian coronavirus restrictions under “COVID Safe Summer”. Please see below for important information regarding the school year at NMPS.

Traffic Safety and Management

To ease traffic congestion around the school at arrival and dismissal times, we ask that where possible families walk or ride a bike/scooter, to drop off and collect their children. If driving is the only option, we ask that families park in surrounding streets and walk the short distance to the school gates. The teachers will be speaking with students about traffic safety, including the use of helmets for scooters and bikes, and we encourage families to do to the same.

Morning Drop-off Procedure

To ensure we remain COVID Safe please adhere to the following morning drop-off routine. Gates will be opened from 8:45 am until 9 am with students entering/exiting through the following designated gates. If you have children in multiple year levels, all children are able to enter at the youngest child’s gate.

Prep	Year 1 & Year 5	Year 2 & Year 6	Year 3 & Year 4
Garden gate (gate 7)	Flex gate (gate 3)	Water tank gate (gate 2)	Bottom Southside gate (gate 5)

Parents may choose to drop their child/ren off at the gate and allow the child/ren to walk to their rooms independently or parents may choose to walk their child/ren to the outside of their classroom. Unfortunately, parents are not able to enter the classrooms at this time, however, we will have our open classroom afternoon later this term for you to meet the teacher and view the learning spaces.

We ask that if parents are entering the school ground that they comply with physical distancing and carry a face mask for use when 1.5 meters physical distancing cannot be maintained. Visitors, including parents, are asked not to gather on-site and should leave the school as soon as possible before 9 am as any visitor who attends on-site for more than 15 minutes is required to sign in.

Gates will be closed at 9 am. If you are running late for school your child/ren will need to enter the school via the Main gate (gate 1).

Afternoon Pick-up Procedure

All students will finish school at 3:30 pm. Students will be walked to the gate with their classroom teacher to meet their parents/carers. If you have children in multiple year levels, all children will meet at the youngest child’s gate to be dismissed.

If your children have Biz-E-Kidz the teachers will send/deliver them to Biz-E-Kidz at 3:30 pm.

To ensure consistency with physical distancing and density measures, unfortunately, students and families will not be permitted to congregate at the school after 3:30 pm.

Before and after school care

Children in Year 1-6 attending before and after school care should be dropped and collected from gate 8 on Murphy street. Please wait at the entrance, we will assist you by signing your child in/out and locating them for collection.

At this point, we encourage families to leave the school grounds after they have dropped off or collected their child, and to not enter the Biz -E -Kidz building unless by appointment.

Administration of the service is still happening from home where possible, so if you need to have a discussion with the coordinator or assistant coordinator, please contact us by phone or email and we can set up a meeting that is safe and at a mutually agreed time.

2021 Prep children

At this point, the 2021 prep transition to aftercare program will be held in room 12. Prep parents are advised to enter and exit the school grounds via gate 2. Before school care for Preps will be in the Biz - E - Kidz building and children should be dropped off at gate 8 as above.

Visitors On-site

As mentioned above all visitors to the school grounds must comply with physical distancing and carry a face mask for use when 1.5 meters physical distancing cannot be maintained, and practice good hand hygiene.

To support contact tracing, all visitors who attend on-site for more than 15 minutes must sign in via the Compass Kiosk at the front office. To ensure we are able to maintain accurate records of people attending the school, all visitors must enter/exit through the main gate (gate 1). All other gates will be locked between 9 am and 3:30 pm.

At NMPS, we welcome open lines of communication with families. Due to the current climate, unfortunately, it is not as easy to have informal conversations with teachers before/after school. If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher, please either email or phone the school in advance to make an appointment at a mutually convenient time.

Health and Safety Measures for all Students

The most important action the school can take to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus is to ensure that any unwell staff or students remain at home and get tested.

If students are unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms, they should remain at home. Once symptoms resolve students are able to return to school.

If a student becomes unwell at school parents/carers will be called to discuss any concerns about the health status of the student, and taking a precautionary approach, request that the parent or carer collect their child if concerns remain.

North Melbourne Primary School is following the Department of Education’s direction to ensure we are maintaining a COVIDSafe School. COVIDSafe principles are in place and all members of the community will be encouraged to use COVIDSafe behaviours at all times.

2021 Annual Implementation Plan