Principal Report

COVID-19 Update

As confirmed cases of COVID-19 Coronavirus get closer to our district, I am very aware of the heightened state of anxiety amongst our staff, students and parents. As Principal, and as a parent, I can assure you that I too have those same feelings of concern and worry, for the staff and students here at the College, and of course for my own children, and the rest of my family. I worry too, as many of you do, for the health and wellbeing of our community.

However, I want to assure you that we have protocols put in place to immediately respond, should we need to, to a positive or confirmed case in either the staff or student body. For the most part, in such a situation we would be subject to the requirements of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), who have been coordinating response efforts in other schools that have had confirmed cases.

Significantly, should a case be made known to us, it is likely that all people who have had contact with any students or staff at the College, or who have been visitors to the College over the preceding week, will be immediately contacted as a part of Contact Tracing process. This means that it is very important that parents answer calls, even if they look to be from an unknown or a private number. Such a call could be a very important call, and one that could have an impact on the health and wellbeing of your family.

At the moment, we have not cancelled Edenhope College participation in VETiS courses in Horsham or Longerenong. However, we have kept the College community informed of events in our area, including the positive cases in at St. Brigid’s College in Horsham, and Warracknabeal Secondary College. I can assure you that students from those schools are currently NOT attending VET courses in Horsham, and I am confident that both schools have been following the advice and guidance of the DHHS in responding to these cases. While the official DET advice is that VET students should still attend their courses, we support the decision of parents to keep their children absent from Horsham VET if they so desire.

For other details of the steps being taken in the College to minimise risk of community spread, please see our COVID-19 Return to School policy.

Face Masks

As of Monday, it will be mandated throughout Victoria that masks are worn when out of your home.

The following advice applies to use in schools:

Teachers and education support staff will not be required to wear face coverings while teaching, but those who wish to do so, can.
Teachers should wear face coverings in other areas of the school when not teaching (for example, in the staffroom, on yard duty and when providing first aid or taking temperatures), and when travelling to and from school.
Staff who have a medical condition - including problems with their breathing, a serious skin condition on the face, a disability or a mental health condition - are not required to wear a face covering.

While it is currently anticipated that most staff and students will supply their own face coverings, we have received a supply of single-use face masks this week to provide to students and staff if they are unable to access one themselves.

All students above 12 years old must wear masks, however where students have a medical condition - including problems with their breathing, a serious skin condition on the face, a disability or a mental health condition they will not be required to wear a face covering.

Exceptions apply in terms of usage by teachers where hearing impaired students are concerned.

School Review

Over the next few weeks I will be compiling evidence to complete our Pre-Review Self-Evaluation report, which is an important element of our School Review, scheduled to occur in Term 4.

It is normal to invite staff, student and parental feedback on the progress of the College over the last four years (the period of our current Strategic Plan - 2016-2020) as part of this process. However, given that the current situation is definitely not normal, I believe it would be unwise and irresponsible to hold focus group meetings as we did in 2015-2016.

Instead, I will be sending out a Google Survey to all staff, student and parent emails today. The surveys are slightly different for each of the three key stakeholders. While they are similar to other DET surveys that we ask you to complete each year, these surveys focus more on specific elements of our planning and implementation over the past four years.

These surveys will be the first of two. The second lot of surveys will be customised based on particular areas identified by the respondents. In other words, if certain areas of importance are highlighted in the first response to surveys, we will ask you about your thought/opinions on those particular topics. This process is intended to ensure that we are able to fully explore those areas of concern that staff, students and parents have.

I ask you to take a few moments to complete the first survey, and to do so again in a couple of weeks when the second survey comes out. It should not take you more than 5-10 minutes, and will help me (and our independent reviewer) in identifying goals and objectives for Edenhope College for the next Strategic Plan. Your opinions are important, and our College can only improve if our staff, students and parents have input into its future.

School Council News

I am very pleased to announce that Mrs Ema-Lee Rowe has been elected School Council President for 2020-21.

Ema-Lee is the parent of Xavier (Year 1) along with her husband, James Rowe (our Student Wellbeing Support Officer). She is a new member of the Council, and is excited to be part of our School Review year, and the development of our next School Strategic Plan.

I extend my thanks and appreciation to Nikki Hollis, who has held the role of President for the last two years. Nikki remains a valuable member of the Council, whose advice and wise counsel will remain a key part of the College governance process into the future.

Jon Neall

Principal

17.07.2020