Principal's Report
NATASHA RANKIN AWARD
In a year full of so many challenges, it is great to have something wonderful to announce - the addition of a new and prestigious ACPS student award. In 2020, in a year where hope and inspiration are ideals that should be cherished, it is particularly apt that ACPS is introducing the inaugural Natasha Rankin Award.
As you are aware, Natasha was a beloved and respected mentor, colleague and friend to us all at ACPS and it is wonderful that her legacy will be captured by way of a perpetual award in her name. Those who knew Natasha will be aware that as a dedicated teacher her students were the centre of her universe – hence recognising a young person in this way is such a befitting honour.
To ensure the criteria underpinning the award is reflective of Natasha, Jo contacted Dan (Natasha’s husband) and Ian & Jill (her parents) to seek their guidance re the values supporting Natasha’s approach to life. It will come as no surprise to you that these included:
- Responsibility
- Respect
- Integrity
- Empathy
- Happiness
- Intelligence
- Resourcefulness
- Positivity
The value of responsibility is particularly important to Dan, with his explanation of this emphasising Natasha’s ability to take responsibility for the situation she found herself in – knowing and understanding her treatment; accepting it and taking it on board; never complaining and always facing it with a ‘can do’ attitude. The 2020 recipient of the Natasha Rankin Award should particularly display one or more of these values, particularly the ‘can do’ attitude to any challenges that confront them.
Prep to Year 6 students are eligible to receive the award.
2021 Book Packs
With the end of year fast approaching we have aimed to keep you informed about our new system for ordering your child's book pack for 2021 and would hate to see anyone incurring a $15.00 late processing fee. As corresponded earlier, ACPS will no longer be ordering the book backs and money for these is to be directly paid to Kaka Kids the supplier. Each itemised book pack will then be delivered to the school at the start of the 2021 school year.
Please visit - www.booklistsacps.com
Go to PURCHASE BOOKLISTS in menu heading
Enter - acps2757 in the Guest Area
Congratulations to Amber 5/6S for receiving this week's values award for POSITIVITY.
Amber is a great helper to her peers in the classroom and always demonstrates her positive attitude to others. Well done Amber!
What an exciting day today has been with our Foundation 2021 students coming for their very first transition day. The children attended in small groups of 10 and each group settled into the classroom really well. After the second session, these beautiful children were proud to share their spider artwork.
Mrs Verga and Mrs Callaway were so happy to finally meet the children in person following all our online Story Time sessions.
"I am really looking forward to getting to know and teaching this wonderful group of students in 2021." Mrs Verga
"It has been wonderful to see the children interacting and enjoying the bright, colourful classroom equipment." Mrs Callaway
Class Locations for 2021
Over the last few weeks we have announced the class structure and staff for 2021. This week we'd like to share where each of the classrooms will be located for next year. Please see the attached copy.
Last Step and changes to operations
On Wednesday we received an updated operations guide which sees many restrictions being eased or lifted.
The Victorian Government announced that Victoria moved to the Last Step of the roadmap for reopening from 11:59pm, Sunday 22 November 2020. As a result of the changes announced, some important updates have been made to school operations.
Updates to the Term 4 Operations Guide
To support contact tracing, schools must continue to keep a record of all staff, students and visitors who attend on site for more than 15 minutes.
For public areas, signage must be displayed to indicate the maximum number of members of the public that may be present in the space at a single time. The Department will provide posters via next week’s School Update.
School visits Limitations on who can visit school premises no longer apply from the Last Step.
This means parents can be welcomed back on site, for example for school drop-offs and pick-ups.
Non-essential visitors, such as guest speakers and incursion leaders, are now allowed to attend school on site, subject to gathering limits. Activities involving parent volunteers can also resume.
Department staff including school improvement staff and broader support staff working with vulnerable students such as Koorie Education Support Officers (KESOs), Navigator and Lookout program staff can now also resume standard on-site delivery.
Graduation ceremonies can take place with parents on site Face-to-face year level assemblies and graduations can occur at full capacity if they are exclusively attended by students and staff only.
Subject to public gathering limits, parents can also now attend student graduation ceremonies. Graduation ceremonies and other large gatherings on school site involving external guests are subject to gathering limits for ceremonies; total venue cap (including students, staff and visitors) of 150 indoors or 300 outdoors.
For information about this and other end-of-year-celebrations including ‘Schoolies’, refer to today’s article: Preparing for end-of-year celebrations
Year level and inter-school mixing Schools are no longer required to consider how students can be grouped separately (for example, in class or year levels).
Similarly, inter-school mixing is also now permitted for the activities listed below.
Events such as debating can now resume with adherence to existing measures.
Reasonable precautions are still advised to reduce the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission. This could include limiting use of changing rooms, using outdoor facilities where possible and practising hand hygiene, along with the measures outlined in the Operations Guide.
Kindergarten to school transition activities are permitted, but group sizes should not exceed public gathering limits.
Use of face masks Updated advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer requires that face masks must be worn indoors by people aged 12 years and over, unless an exemption applies. Face masks are not required outdoors except where physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.
This means that secondary school students aged 12 years and over and school staff should wear a face mask while indoors at schools and while travelling on public transport. Teachers and education support staff are not required to wear face masks while teaching.
For more information, refer to today’s article: Promoting safe and correct use of face masks
Public events on school premises All schools are required to follow public health directions and apply the operational health and safety advice to schools during large events.
A public event is defined as an organised public gathering for a common purpose, which is conducted on a one-off or periodic basis, open to members of the public, publicly announced or advertised, and may be subject to specific license, approvals or permits.
Any activity that meets this definition (for example, school fetes) will be required to comply with the Public Events Framework.
Drinking fountains The use of drinking fountains in schools is now permitted. Following extended periods of non-use, schools are reminded to flush all drinking troughs/taps that are to be available for staff and students for up to five minutes.
Staggered starts Schools are encouraged to move away from staggered starts. However, to ensure consistency with physical distancing measures, students and families are required to maintain 1.5 metres between each other as far as is practical at the start and end of the school day. Schools should display signage at entrances to this effect.
Students with underlying conditions (such as hay fever or asthma) If a student has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the student should still be tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms.
Parents/carers should also consider getting a medical certificate from the child’s treating GP to confirm that it is safe for them to attend school with persistent symptoms that may overlap with some of the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) such as cough or runny nose.
Young children with persistent mild symptoms For younger children (in grades Prep to 2) who have had a negative coronavirus (COVID-19) test that was taken after they developed symptoms, the decision about return to school should be made in conjunction with the child’s treating GP. If the GP is satisfied the child has recovered from their acute illness, is otherwise well, and does not need a repeat coronavirus (COVID-19) test, the child can return even if they are not completely free of symptoms. Any worsening of symptoms will require review and repeat coronavirus (COVID-19) testing, if considered appropriate by the doctor.
Students with a negative coronavirus (COVID-19) test whose symptoms have completely resolved do not need a medical certificate to return to the school.
The shift back to standard delivery for so many school operations is a significant outcome that highlights how far Victoria has come on the path towards COVID Normal.
Thank for your continued contribution to slowing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in schools.
Thank you
David Howes Deputy Secretary Schools and Regional Services
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