PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents/Carers, Families and College Community

Welcome

As we approach the half way point of term I want to thank our staff, students and families for a smooth start to the year despite added pressures of COVID. For the most part I have been very pleased with how quickly we were able to settle into our normal College routine and the general positive tone around the place. 

Typically, some of the novelty for students starts to wear off around this time and minor irritations start to rise to the surface and can become big problems. We are noticing and dealing with some minor issues where individuals are choosing to forget the expectations required as part of this school community. The closed weekend is a great opportunity to go home, have a rest and return for the second half of the term with a renewed focus.

As reported previously, the Student Councillors and senior staff have worked to update and refine the standards around hair, appearance and jewellery. The goal was to revisit our standards in keeping with societal norms, whilst maintaining the positive image of the College and adhering to workplace safety requirements.  There are only minor changes mostly centred on refining and clarifying previously ambiguous statements.  

As from next week the following will apply.

Jewellery

• Maximum of two piercings in each ear - a conservative look will be expected (sleepers and studs are acceptable, hoops, bars and spacers are not).
• Maximum of one nose piercing - must be discrete small stud only.
• In Trades and Farm, ear piercings must be discrete small studs which do not pose risk of entanglement. 
• Maximum of one ring per hand. In Trades and Farm, no rings to be worn.
• Bracelets and wrist bands must be discrete and limited to one per arm. In Trades and Farm, bracelets and wristbands must not be worn.
• Watches need to be constructed to break in the event of entanglement. 
• Necklaces must be discrete and not extend beyond clothes. In Trades and Farm, necklaces are not to be worn.
• Medic Alert bracelets/necklaces are acceptable.

Appearance and Hair

• Students in uniform at any point (including Day students outside of school hours) are expected to maintain the image of the College by wearing their uniform, and maintaining their appearance as per expectations in the College Handbook.
• Hair that is shoulder length (see diagram below) or longer must be tied back on Farm, Trades and in the dining room. Additionally, depending on the activity, hair that is shoulder length or longer may need to be tied up during activities of additional risk. Students in food preparation areas must wear hair nets regardless of the length.
• Clippered hair must be no shorter than Number 2 and sufficiently blended to avoid stark contrast between different areas of hair.
• Hair extremes will not be tolerated and a conservative view will be taken on styles such as undercuts, mohawks, dreadlocks, multi dyed hair. 
• Excessive use of makeup, false eyelashes and false nails are not necessary in a school setting and students will be counselled to rectify. Nails which impact on safe work practices or impede learning and training must be trimmed or removed at the earliest convenience.
• Tattoos must be covered at all times whilst the student is in school uniform or representing the school.
• Students should be cleanly shaved however if able, may grow mature facial hair provided that a start is made in holiday periods and the hair is maintained in a neat manner. 
• Students are not to clipper or cut their own or other students hair whilst at the College.

COVID Update

By now you would be aware of COVID cases in various schools around the state. Lessons learned from the responses to these cases is that in the secondary setting particularly, the impact on other students and staff is far less than initially imagined. 

This is a result of the refined definitions of close contact; 

• 15 minutes face to face with a confirmed positive case, both not wearing masks, or 
• 2 hours in a room setting (dorm room, classroom, dining room) with a confirmed positive case, both not wearing masks. 
• Positive cases need to be within their infectious period which is deemed to start 2 days before symptoms present, or two days before a positive PCR, whichever is earliest. The infectious period lasts at least 7 days from the start or until symptoms cease.

You will note from these definitions that if masks are worn correctly and when they are supposed to be worn, the chances of being a close contact is very slim. Our goal is to reduce the number of staff and student close contacts because they are obliged to go home and isolate for at least 7 days. Not only does this impact the school operation but it also impacts on families at home if they need to isolate alongside their children.

With recent changes to the community settings in WA, we will need to make some adjustments to the way we operate. One such change is that we will expect students to continue to wear their masks in the dining room except for the period that they are actually eating. 

This will include residential hours as well where masks will need to be worn in the dining room and foyer area and only taken off when actually eating. The aim will be to reduce time without masks, in this face to face setting, to less than fifteen minutes. This is in line with experiences from a boarding school in Perth where a large number of students were identified as close contacts through meals and through sport. 

Schools have been asked to manage the process of identifying close contacts after a confirmed case and to ensure the positive case and close contacts are isolated. As previously indicated, our expectation is that parents will collect their child as soon as possible if they are symptomatic, are a confirmed case, or if they are identified as a close contact.

To assist us in our efforts to manage, please contact us if you are aware of any confirmed case in your family or if your child is a close contact so we can map back to establish the possible impact on the College.

The following link to a recording on managing children with COVID may be of interest. 

Caring for children with COVID-19 video

Have a great weekend.