Acting Principal’s Report

We look forward to seeing all students back on site from next Tuesday! As you are likely aware, our staff have been back on site since last Monday 25th May and our Unit 1 and 3 students have been back with us since Tuesday 26th May. It has been a calm and enjoyable return for students and staff. Our attendance data for Year 11 and 12 students has been pretty much like pre-COVID-19, with 93.4% of students in these year levels present in class last week.

There will be a few changes to our normal way of doing things when all students are back on site, and the details of many of these changes are outlined in the newsfeed sent out this morning. We have provided hand sanitizer on entry to the school, in corridors and in classrooms. In some practical classes, extra precautions will need to be adhered to for hygiene purposes. We ask that all students maintain 1.5m physical distancing with all staff members. There will be limits on the numbers of students in the Café and Library during breaks. By and large though, students will have a similar educational experience to what they would have had in Term 1. Many of our extracurricular programs, such as aerobics and cadets, will also be able to transition back to face to face training, which is pleasing.

We’ve also adapted some of our existing procedures on a trial basis. We know that students travelling on public transport are concerned about the ability to maintain physical distancing with other members of the public, so we have slightly staggered the start and end times to spread the load of students on the Bridge Road trams as best we can. Students will be allowed to wait in most of their classrooms, to reduce congestion in the corridors. A separate ‘Yarra Corridor’ has been created to reduce congestion at the northern end of the main building. We’re going to trial no bells for the remainder of Term 2, but with music as our warning bells for the start of the day, recess and lunch. This last initiative is based on feedback from our students.

We know that the past eight weeks have been a trying time for students, parents and teachers. Humans by their nature are social beings. The overwhelming feeling around the school over the past two weeks has been of people reconnecting with one another, and we hope this can continue over the final three weeks of term. The most important way that we can ensure that this is the case is to ensure that no-one attends school with any cold or flu-like symptoms, and we ask for everyone’s assistance with this.

Brent Houghton

Acting Principal 2020

Important Dates

• 8th June - Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
• 9th June - Years 7 to 10 return to on site learning
• 17th July – Semester One Reports available at 9 am for Parents/Guardians
• 19th June - Report Writing Day
• 20th July - Semester One Reports available at 9 am for Students
• 26th June - Last Day of Term Two