From The Principal

AN IMPORTANT LETTER

Dear parents and carers,

On behalf of our school, I want to say a big thank you to all our students, parents and carers for your continued resilience and support throughout this year. I know remote and flexible learning has not always been easy, but through our collective efforts, our students have continued to make valuable progress in their learning. You can be confident that our school will support any student who may have fallen behind to catch up.

Term 4 is important for every Victorian student, and our teachers will strive to deliver high-quality learning for everyone. Our focus for Term 4 is on making sure that every student is supported in their wellbeing, learning and transition needs.

The Victorian Government has outlined the staged return to on-site schooling for all students as part of its gradual roadmap towards reopening. 

TERM 4 ON-SITE SCHOOLING ARRANGEMENTS:

Following advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government has released a staged approach for students to return to on-site schooling. 

The purpose of the plan is to get students back in the classroom as soon and as safely as possible without putting at risk all that has been achieved through the period of restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

For our school, the following arrangements apply:

5–9 October (first week of Term 4) 

• remote and flexible learning will continue for all students
• on-site supervision for children of permitted workers and vulnerable students will continue to be provided, consistent with existing guidelines.

From 12 October (second week of Term 4)

• students in Prep to Grade 6 will return to on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will not continue for these year levels

Outside school hours care and vacation care

During the staged return, outside school hours care will be available to students attending for on-site supervision and then for all year levels returning to on-site schooling. 

Health and safety measures

The Term 3 remote and flexible learning arrangements were put in place to significantly reduce the movement of more than one million students and their families across Victoria, to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Thanks to you and your family for contributing to this on behalf of our school community.

As on-site schooling resumes, we will continue to have in place strong measures to protect the health and safety of students, staff, families and the community. This includes staggering start and finish times, restricting parent access to school grounds and continued emphasis on hand hygiene and physical distancing where possible. 

Please give particular attention to reducing the risks associated with congregation at school gates and taking steps to contribute to physical distancing within the school. 

Please be assured we will be focused on three key priorities in Term 4:

Mental health and wellbeing 

Our highest priority will be the wellbeing, particularly the mental health, of every student and member of staff. This means effectively mobilising all available resources to support our most vulnerable students and enabling staff to access the relevant support services.

Learning and excellence

Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers. Our priority will be supporting both those who need it to catch up and those who have progressed to continue to extend their learning.

Transitions

We will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for children moving from kindergarten into Prep, the Grade 6s moving into Year 7.

We know some families are worried that their child may have to repeat a year due to the disruptions of coronavirus (COVID-19). There is little evidence to support the benefits of repeating a year to catch up. Instead, schools will use teaching strategies that draw on the best evidence available to help students meet their learning needs.  

Parents, families and carers can be confident that the best option for almost every child is to stay with their peer group, whether that is moving from kindergarten into Prep, moving from Grade 6 into Year 7 at secondary school, or students moving up any year level in between.

Our school, working with you, has shown it can be flexible and adaptable in responding to the challenges of coronavirus (COVID-19) and will continue to meet student needs as we look towards the end of the 2020 school year and ahead to 2021. 

Kind regards

Lynne Foster

Principal Murrumbeena Primary School

RETURN TO SCHOOL- 

MPS ARRANGEMENTS

Following announcements last week, we will all return to onsite learning from Monday October 12!!

The health, wellbeing and safety of our community is paramount and we acknowledge that there may be some uncertainty returning and this is to be expected.

We have put together a short guide and some FAQ’s that may address some of your concerns and queries. More updates will follow if there are more changes.

There will be no more remote learning options past this date either unless your child has a medical issue that prevents their return. 

Please contact the school to discuss the medical reasons for keeping your child at home.

DROP OFF AND PICK UP

• Parents are asked to not enter the grounds 
• Please do not wait at the gates creating congestion. 
• Staff will be outside to greet students on arrivals.
• Students will put their bags in their classrooms and will not line up in large groups.
• At the end of the school day, students will be taken to the basketball courts to meet their siblings to exit the school grounds together.
• The Weeroona Rd gates will be locked after 9am until pick up time.

Cycling, Riding or walking to school without a parent or guardian

Students who normally ride to school with a parent will have to be able to manage their own bike and scooter without support. This includes putting it in the racks, unlocking their helmet and being able to take their own helmet and bag to their classroom.

Senior students who can do this independently are to use their normal route to school and come in their normal entrance, but at the time specified by their house group. We do not want students confused when they are travelling on their own.

Out of School Hours Care

This service will run as normal and the middle gate will be open for those who have booked to use the service.

Please ensure, if you need to drop your child off before all gates open at 8:40am, that you are registered and have a booking for the service.  Sign in and out will be at the double doors.

Late Arrivals

Late arrivals are always an issue, but they will more problematic than previously, as parents will have to come in and sign for students via the kiosk.

This is to be avoided at all costs to maintain adult distancing and ensure the safety of our staff.

Please ensure you allow for extra time to get back into the school routine and ensure you use the 8:45-8:55am window to get your children to school.

What if my child is sick?

If your child is away because of concerns they have a sore throat, runny nose, cough or temperature, they will not be able to revert to remote learning. If they are away for a day, like normal illness, they should rest and please ensure you have registered the absence on Compass.

If, for some reason your child is absent for longer, please email your child’s classroom teacher.

Students who present to school with symptoms such as sore throats, temperature, runny nose or cough

Students who come to school unwell will be sent home. Teachers will contact our first aid attendant if they have a concern and they will go to the classroom to assess if the child needs to go home.

What school events will be affected?

• No face to face assembly
• No camps
• No excursions

Hygiene at school

• Safe distancing protocols will still be in place for staff and for adults entering the school premises and for adults on site.
• Students will be asked to use sanitiser as they enter the classrooms and wash their hands under supervision before they go to recess and lunch. They will also need to use sanitiser before entering any other room.
• Each classroom will have a container with sanitiser, bacterial wipes, tissues and antiseptic to use during the day.
• The DET is also providing extra cleaning during the day. Cleaners will be onsite to sanitise door knobs, doors, toilets, and high touch points from recess to 3:30pm.

Drink Fountains

Further hygiene restrictions mean that children will not have access to the school bubbler taps.

All children will require their own drink bottle which they will take outside during breaks. Please make sure your children’s drink bottles are full and clearly labelled with their name and grade. This will be extremely important as the weather warms up.

Playground Equipment

Students will wash their hands before and after using the outside equipment as it is not possible for us to sanitise the equipment.

School Procedures

Parents should avoid coming to the school office, unless they have been called to pick up sick children or by appointment where possible. There is a school doorbell and we ask parents to ring the doorbell before entering and use the sanitiser available.

Visitors to School

All 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).

Additional staff, including parent volunteers, are discouraged from attending school at this time and programs such as SAKG and library helpers will be adjusted on the understanding that volunteers will not be able to attend this term.

Returning Books

Books that have been borrowed from the library or classrooms should be returned in the first week back.

BYOD

We now have an established program of BYOD for iPads in Years 5 and 6. This will now be open to all students in Years Prep-4 and will reduce the risk of cross contamination. It will also help us to place our current resources in year levels with the most need. 

This is not compulsory and your child will not miss out if they do not have an iPad. We do think our students have shown they are very adaptable to technology and this will also support the future use of Seesaw.

More information will come out through Compass, as agreements need to be filled out and devices need to be sent on certain days when our technician is on site to connect them to our school server.

SAKG

We will be running a modified program without volunteers. The kitchen program will include a variety of activities. Students may be given small amounts of food cooked by Angel, but they will not share food or have the whole grade in the kitchen at once. Students will need to bring lunch on their kitchen days until further notice. 

School Uniform Shop

The uniform shop at school will be closed until further notice. Uniforms can be purchased at the shop in Ormond or you can order online. Online orders have free delivery if they are delivered to school and then the items will be passed on to students.

Second Hand Uniforms

Unfortunately, we are unable to take any more items, our shed is already overflowing and we have to make room for school items in preparation for works on our attic areas. Please do not send any more items to school until we are able to hold another stall.

Outside Providers

After school and during school extra-curricular activities have been postponed until further notice. There will be no Kelly Sports, Sportwise or Chess programs this term.

Canteen

Sue Hunt will still be running the canteen, however there will be changes to the lunch breaks and recess times, so counter sales will be limited.

Orders can still be placed online and they will be sent to classrooms as normal.

First Aid

Standard precautions as per DET Infectious Disease policy will be adopted when providing first aid. For example, use gloves and apron when dealing with blood or body fluids/substances.  Always washing hands with soap and water or using hand sanitiser before and after providing first aid.

Additional PPE, except for masks, are not required to provide standard first aid on children, young people and staff who appear to be well. Hand hygiene, cough etiquette and environmental cleaning are the most important measures for reducing risk.

Management of an unwell child, young person or staff member 

• Staff, children or young people 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.
• In this situation, where staff, children or a young person are experiencing compatible symptoms with coronavirus (COVID-19), the important actions to follow include hand hygiene, physical distance and (where possible) putting on a face mask.
• All children and young people with a health care plan should ensure this is up to date and that it provides additional advice, where required, on monitoring and identification of the unwell child in the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
• We will not be taking the temperature of each child as they enter the school grounds, but, if a child is unwell, we will seek permission to do so if the child has compatible symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) as this could be one indicator of potential illness.
• Teachers will alert our first aid officer if they have a child who is unwell and where possible the first aid attendant will come to them.