Numurkah Primary School

COVID-19 Policy for Term 4 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline how our school will be managing risk relating to Coronavirus (COVID-19) during key interactions between students, parents, and staff during Term 4, 2020.

Numurkah Primary School is committed to providing a safe learning and working environment for our students and staff. We ask for the whole school community to follow this policy to enable us to provide the safest possible environment during this time. We all have a role to play in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria.

Background

Numurkah Primary School is following the advice from the Department of Education and Training which can be found on the Department’s website at: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Scope

This policy applies to everyone in the Numurkah Primary School community. This includes all members of staff (principals, teachers, and education support staff), all parents/carers who interact with the school and all students. It also includes visitors to the school.

Requirements

Attendance on-site

The Department of Education and Training (DET) advises that:

As the main risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the school environment is between adults, it is important that visitors to school grounds are limited to those delivering or supporting essential school services and operations.

This means that at our school:

All unwell staff and students must stay home.
Visitors to school grounds will be limited to those delivering or supporting essential school services and operations (e.g. student health and wellbeing services, specialist curriculum programs, maintenance workers).
We ask that any parents/carers wishing to discuss any matters with a staff member to first use the options of either a phone call or email. If a face-to-face meeting is needed, it must meet the physical distancing requirements of 1.5m between adults.
All interschool activities that involve onsite attendance by students from other schools is currently being reviewed.
School assemblies and other non-essential large gatherings is currently being reviewed to ensure we are in-line with state directives.

School arrival and departure

DET advises that:

As the main risk of introducing coronavirus (COVID-19) to the school environment is from adults, close proximity between adult members of the school community should be avoided, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up.

This means that at our school:

We ask staff and parents/carers to observe physical distancing measures by not congregating in areas inside or around the school.
To minimise the interaction of students and adults within the school the following entry points will apply:

P1A and P1J and any older siblings of the children enter and exit through the front gates on Quinn Street.

12R, 56H & 56S, and any older siblings enter and exit by the East gate near the Multipurpose Room on Gray Street.

23C, 34W & 34S and any older siblings enter and exit by the West gate on McCaskill Street

Bus travellers enter and exit through the Northern gate on Callander Street.

Hygiene

DET advises that:

Everyone can protect themselves and prevent the spread of coronavirus by continuing effective hand hygiene.

At our school:

All staff and students will undertake regular hand hygiene, particularly on arrival to school, before and after eating, after blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using the toilet. This will be directed or supervised by staff where required.
All staff and students will be temperature checked at the start of every day
Soap and water are readily available in the toilets and hand sanitiser is located in every classroom in the school
Students must bring their own water bottles to school for use (and refilling). It is recommended that students do not drink directly from drinking fountains at this time.
The sharing of food is not permitted.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has confirmed that the use of face masks or coverings by adults or children is not recommended in schools at this time. However, staff and students who wish to wear face masks at school or travelling to or from school are welcome to do so.

School offices and staff facilities

DET advises that:

As the greatest risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the school environment is between adults, close proximity between staff will be avoided where possible and especially in offices and staff rooms.

At our school we will:

limit the number of staff permitted in the staff room to 7 and hold a staff meeting in the Library where there is ample space
In line with other workplaces across Victoria, we will remind staff to maintain physical distancing from each other as much as possible in the reception, staff room, and offices.

Cleaning and facilities management

DET advises that:

Environmental cleaning, coupled with regular hand hygiene, remains important to reduce the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission.

At our school we will:

Continue extension of routine environmental cleaning, including progressive cleaning throughout the day to ensure that risks of transmission are reduced for high-touch services. See Department information about Access to cleaning supplies and services.
We will be practising hand hygiene immediately before and after the use of shared equipment

Sport, recreation, camps and excursions

DET advises that:

In line with community advice, reasonable precautions are still advised to reduce the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission in the context of sport and recreation.

Playground equipment can be used at Recess and Lunch. However, students will be directed to practice hand hygiene before and after use.
Wherever possible, outdoor facilities will be used for physical education and recreational play. Where indoor facilities are used, we will limit the number of students.
Hand hygiene will be practiced before and after the use of any sporting equipment.
As school camps have been cancelled this year, but we will look into providing an opportunity for students to attend at least one excursion this term.

Provision of routine care and first aid

DET advises that:

Physical distancing is not practical when providing direct care. In this situation, standard precautions, including hand hygiene, are important for infection control.

At our school:

Standard precautions as per DET Infectious Diseases policy will be followed when providing first aid. For example, we will use gloves when dealing with blood or body fluids/substances.
Hand hygiene will be practiced before and after performing routine care or first aid.
Additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for example, face masks, is not required to provide routine care or first aid for students who are well, unless such precautions are usually adopted in the routine care of an individual student.

Management of an unwell student or staff member

DET advises that:

It is important that any staff member or student who becomes unwell while at school returns home. While it is unlikely that a staff member or student who is unwell with flu-like symptoms will have coronavirus (COVID-19) there are some sensible steps schools can take while a student awaits collection by a parent or carer as a precaution.

This means that at our school:

Staff and students experiencing compatible symptoms with coronavirus (COVID-19), such as fever, cough or sore throat, will be isolated in an appropriate space with suitable supervision and collected by a parent/carer as soon as possible. Urgent medical attention will be sought where needed. Unwell students will not be permitted to travel home unsupervised.
Where staff or students are experiencing compatible symptoms with coronavirus, we will ensure hand hygiene, physical distancing, and (where possible) use of a face mask. See DET guidance for the use of Personal Protective Equipment in education.
Health care plans, where relevant, should be updated to provide additional advice on monitoring and identification of the unwell child in the context of coronavirus (COVID-19).
If a staff member is unsure whether a student is unwell in the first instance we will contact the parent/carer to discuss any concerns about the health status of the student, and we will take a precautionary approach, requesting the parent/carer to collect their child if concerns remain. A trained staff member may take the temperature of the student, where appropriate, to support decision-making. Gloves will be worn for the purpose of taking a temperature.
Staff or students experiencing compatible symptoms with coronavirus (COVID-19) should be encouraged to seek the advice of their healthcare professional who can advise on the next steps. A medical certificate is generally not required to return to school after a period of illness, however, staff and students should not return until symptoms resolve.
If a student spreads droplets (for example by sneezing, coughing or vomiting), surfaces will be immediately cleaned with disinfectant wipes (and using gloves).

Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19

DET has comprehensive procedures in place with the Department of Health and Human Services to manage suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in schools.

We will contact the Department of Health and Human Services on 1300 651 160 to discuss what to do next if a student or staff member:
is a confirmed case
has been in close contact with a confirmed case
We will inform the Department’s Incident Support and Operations Centre who will support the school to make an IRIS incident alert.

DHHS defines ‘close contact’ as someone who has either:

had at least 15 minutes of face-to-face contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19)
shared a closed space for more than two hours with someone who is a confirmed case.

Further information and resources

DET Coronavirus (COVID-19) website:
- https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/Pages/coronavirus-advice-schools.aspx
DHHS Coronavirus (COVID-19) website:
- https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
DET Infectious Diseases Policy:
- https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/infectious-diseases/policy
DET Health Care Needs Policy:
- https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/health-care-needs/policy
Talking to your child about COVID-19:
- https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/department/covid-19/talking-to-your-child-during-coronavirus.docx
Department of Education and Training COVID-19 Advice Line – 1800 338 663
Department of Health and Human Services Coronavirus hotline – 1800 675 398 (24 hours, 7 days a week)

Review

This policy was last updated on 3rd October 2020 and will be reviewed as required.

Numurkah Primary School

Creating the future together

Issue 14 · 16 Oct 2020

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