Rapid Antigen Testing

Dear Parents and Carers,

The Victorian Government is implementing a rapid antigen testing program for students who are identified as close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case from Monday 15 November.

It will be available to students who have been identified as a close contact because of school contact, but not to those identified because of household contact.

This program will help unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students to safely return to school as quickly as possible after being identified as a primary close contact (PCC), reducing their isolation period to seven days instead of 14. 

To support the roll-out of this program, resources to support parents and carers can be found at coronavirus.vic.gov.au. This information will be added to over the coming weeks.

How the rapid antigen testing program will work

The at-home rapid antigen testing program is an opt-in program for unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated, students. Parents and carers can choose if their child will participate. Our school will provide you with rapid antigen test kits if you opt in. You do not need to buy these test kits. 

Following an exposure at our school, you will be notified that your child has been identified as a primary close contact (PCC) of a confirmed COVID-19 case. 

If your child is eligible (meaning they are unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated and not a household PCC) and you want to take part in the at-home rapid antigen testing program, your child must first quarantine at home for seven days. 

On day six of quarantine, your child must get a standard (PCR) test at your local COVID-19 testing site. If the test is negative, you must bring evidence of the negative test tothe front office].

We will then provide you with a supply of rapid antigen tests which come with instructions.

Your child will then be required to complete a rapid antigen test at home before they come to school on any day between days eight to 14. 

Before coming to school each day, you must report the result of each test using a web page (we will provide you with the link). If the test is negative, your child can come to school. If the test did not work for some reason, your child cannot attend school. And if the result is positive, you must take your child for a PCR test as soon as possible. Your child does not need to complete the tests on weekends.

Parents should continue to follow current school policy and public health advice. If your child is unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms, they must stay at home and get tested for COVID-19 with a standard (PCR) test, regardless of a negative rapid antigen test result. 

Rapid antigen tests do not replace PCR tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19. 

If we do have a confirmed COVID-19 case in our school, we will communicate with you as soon as we can, including with instructions on how to access the tests, conduct them, how to report the results, and support available if needed. 

The statewide roll-out of rapid antigen testing is one of many strategies currently in place to support schools during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep students and staff safe. 

Kind regards,

Brian Grace