COVID-19 FAQs

1) Is school open on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th of October?

Yes. Jackson School is open for authorised and vulnerable students for the first two days of Term 4. Additional to this, only our Year 12 VCAL students in classes SSA, SSB and SSC will return onsite for the first two weeks of term from Wednesday 6th October. 

2) My child was in the onsite program in Term 3, can they still attend on Monday? 

Yes. If your child was eligible (authorised or vulnerable) in Term 3 then they can continue to attend school from Monday 4th October. There is no need to confirm with school if they were previously onsite. Your child can continue to access the SDTP buses as normal. Parents/Carer can also choose to pick-up and drop-off if you’d prefer. Staggered pick-up times will resume from Week 4. 

3) Will the Student with Disabilities Transport Program (SDTP) be running? 

Yes. All school bus routes will run fully from Monday 4th October for the rest of the term. Your pick up point will be the same as normal and am pick-up time the same. Afternoon drop-off times may vary depending on the number of students on the buses. 

4) Will all school staff be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19? 

Yes. All staff will be required to have a first dose of the vaccine by 18th October 2021 or be able to produce evidence of a vaccination booking within this week. All school staff will be required to be fully vaccinated by 29th November 2021 unless a medical exemption applies and will be required to show evidence of their vaccination status. Because of this work requirement from the Chief Health Officer, some school staffing may be disrupted whilst staff are on leave. As a school we will do everything we can to ensure your child's education is not disrupted and ensure staff on leave are covered by other experienced staff. 

5) If my circumstances change, is my child able to come to school sooner than their staged return date? 

If you are an authorised worker and/or your child is vulnerable because they are not able to learn from home they can attend our onsite program. The public health advice, from the CHO, is that the number of students and staff onsite should be limited until all students will return to school on Friday 5th November. 

6) For the staged return to school, will this be a full day? 

Yes. On your child’s allocated days this will be from 9:00 to 2:50 as normal. 

7) Is Their Care continuing to provide Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) before the 5th November? 

OSHC (before and after school care) is open to children attending school on the relevant day for their year level AND other children eligible for onsite supervision and learning. 

8) For the staged return to school, will this be with my child’s class teacher? 

For the majority of students, your child will be with their class teacher on their allocated staged return to school days. However, there may be a change to the grouping based upon our authorised and vulnerable students onsite as well as if staff are absent from work due to illness, COVID testing and isolation or to get their COVID vaccination. For the onsite program, a roster of staff has been developed to supervise their students. This may not be your child’s class teacher or education support staff. 

9) Why cannot Year 7/8, Year 9/10 and Year 11/12 students return together? 

Jackson School had requested this in consultation with the School Council President. In line with public health advice from the CHO, the regional panel has determined that to reduce the number of students and staff onsite, all schools should follow the staged return to onsite learning without variation. This decision was made to reduce the number of students on site at any one time and to ensure the separation of student cohorts on each school day.

10) Does my child have to wear a mask at school? 

Public health advice recommends that all students (primary and secondary) should wear face masks when at school, attending an OSHC program, or when travelling to and from school on public transport, taxis or ride share vehicles to keep our community safe. However our students are exempt from wearing a mask due to the nature of their disability (see below). Our Year 11/12 students this may be a requirement for work in some apprenticeships, vocational training and work experience placements. 

A face mask is not required to be worn in some circumstances including for: 

• Students in Prep-Year 2
• Persons who have a physical or mental health illness or condition, or disability, which makes wearing a face covering unsuitable, including persons with obstructed breathing, a serious skin condition of the face, an intellectual disability, a mental health condition or persons who have experienced trauma.

11) If my child is feeling unwell can they still come to school? 

Public health advice is to stay home when unwell and get tested. Please continue to regularly check exposure sites and follow the direction of the Department of Health. 

12) Will camps and swimming go head as planned? 

Camps, excursions (including swimming) and incursions for all Victorian schools cannot take place at this time. 

13) Can I still visit onsite and will school community events continue this term? 

Visitors to school grounds should be limited to essential school services and operations. With the exception of pick-up and drop-off, parents/carers should sign in at the Xuno Kiosk and on the Services Vic QR Code (if visitors enter the premises beyond the school entrance). School events, gatherings, assemblies, and non-essential meetings will be deferred or held remotely. At this point the School Fete, Sports Day and the Concert in the Courtyard have been postponed. We are hopping we can still have the Year 12 Graduation and Year 6 Graduation/Achievement Assembly. 

14) What about my Year 11 child who is doing the VCAL program or my Year 12 child the ASDAN program? 

Year 12 VCAL students return on Wednesday 6th October. This does not include Year 11 VCAL or Year 11 or 12 ASDAN students unless they are unable to learn from home. All Year 11/12 students will return to school on Tuesday 26th October. Remote learning will continue until this date. 

15) My child is in Senior Secondary, can they still take part in their offsite programs? 

• VET - Students in their final year of schooling can participate in their VCAL classes, including VET studies, where these are held at TAFEs, RTOs, non-school senior secondary providers, or schools.
• SBAT - Students undertaking School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SBATs) may continue their employment if it is on the Authorised Providers and Authorised Workers list, and they have an Authorised Worker Permit.
• SWL/WE - All Structured Workplace Learning and work experience placements must continue to be deferred, or if that is not possible, cancelled. Only students undertaking a School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship are able to attend their place of employment, if it is on the Authorised Providers and Authorised Workers list.

16) What has been the impact on my child’s learning because of lockdowns? 

From our assessment records at the end of Semester 2 2020 and end of Semester 1 2021, the impact on students learning overall is minimal and our students were track to meet their learning goals. 95% of students made some progress of above, with 91% making good progress or above. In fact, our student growth from our reading assessments in 2020 was the best it has ever been! Victoria overall had the best results compared to other states. Your child’s progress will continue to be communicated to you in their Semester 2 reports. 

17) Can my child repeat a year because of the disruption to their education? 

Generally this is not something we do at Jackson as it impacts their funding to attend Jackson beyond the age of 18, particularly if they are enrolled in a VCAL course. The advice from DET and from research (John Hattie) is that repeating a year actually has a negative impact on student’s performance. For more information please visit: https://evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkits/the-teaching-and-learning-toolkit/all-approaches/repeating-a-year/ or https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/learning/Pages/Repeating-a-year-level.aspx 

18) What if a positive case of COVID-19 has been identified onsite at school?

If a staff member or child tests positive for COVID-19, DET will get advice from the Department Health to confirm the case and any necessary actions they need to take.  The school site may close for 24 hours while Department of Health investigates the reported case. If it's confirmed that someone attended the school while infectious, the school site will remain closed while Department of Health does a detailed assessment of risks and exposure at the school and undertakes contact tracing to make sure that the spread of COVID-19 is contained. The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) will also make sure a deep clean of the school takes place if Department of Health confirms that someone was on site while infectious. 

For more information on this process, please visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/school-site-closures-due-coronavirus-covid-19