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Principal’s Update 18-2-2022

by | Feb 18, 2022

NB: ENTRY ON TO SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR RECEPTION PICK UP IS TO HAPPEN ONLY FROM 3PM ONWARDS.

Dear families,

It has been a real pleasure to have nearly all of our students back at school. Speaking with a number of children across reception through to year six, they universally comment that a really positive aspect of being back at school, is being with their friends. One cannot understate the need for children to socialise with their peers, as well as experience the normality of classroom learning.

Covid-19 Information
Thank you to all parents and caregivers who have helped us over the last week as we experienced a number of Covid positive cases among students. I have appreciated the prompt way you have contacted the front office to let us know of a positive Covid case. As we expected, the very nature of young children who love to be close to each other when playing and socialising, was always going to lead to a spread of Covid.

For your information, if a child is positive to Covid in a classroom, all parents in that classroom receive a letter, the class teacher and any specialist teachers who taught the child during the infectious period, receive a letter, a text is sent to parents, each child is recorded online and the information sent to SA Health. The name of the child is not shared. In essence we are the contact tracers. We identify each of the lessons that the child had outside of the classroom, the room number or location and the date and time of the lesson, as well as any adults who were teaching or supporting the students during this time.

If you are ever advised that the class is going to be closed for a time, or that all students in a class should be PCR tested, that advice will come from SA Health, via myself as Principal. This strategy is designed to provide a circuit breaker for what may appear to be a spreading of the virus.

For the majority of parents and caregivers, instructions from SA Health, in this case to do a PCR test recently in two classes, was readily accepted and it enabled us to have a level of comfort in knowing that students attending school were Covid negative. For the two parents who phoned the front office staff and were abusive, that is not appropriate behaviour. Front office staff and in fact all school staff deserve to be treated with respect. Everything that is done in relation to Covid is designed to care for children during their time with us. We are also required to comply with SA Health directions. Many of our staff have their own children at schools, where they have been experiencing exactly what some of you have experienced, when a positive case is identified in their child’s classroom.

The virus does not discriminate and it is nobody’s fault if somebody contracts Covid. We will do our best, to minimise the spread of the virus as it inevitably happens in different classes across the school. Working in partnership with you as the carers of your child and children, we aim to keep the spread as minimal as possible. This is why any student or staff member who exhibits even mild symptoms of illness, will not remain at school.

OSHC Update
Recently you would have received an update about accessing OSHC when your child is a classroom contact. While we urge all parents to minimise the contact that their child will have with others if identified as a classroom contact, we know that there are times when there are no alternative ways of providing care and supervision, other than using the services of OSHC at school. You are quite able to access that service if needed.

Collection of Reception children at the end of the school day
At this stage we have permitted parents of reception children to enter the grounds from 3 pm to collect their child from the classroom. However, this is on the condition that entry is from 3 pm onwards. We still have people teaching and working with students, moving from room to room which is still continuing up to 3 pm. I noticed that a number of people have begun to walk into the grounds at about 2:45 pm. This is not minimising the number of adults on school grounds, nor is it ensuring a safe workplace for teachers and students. For parents collecting a child in reception at the end of the school day, please help us to stay safe and wait outside of the school fence until 3pm.

Kiss and Drop Zone
The signage has been corrected, meaning that the entire indented section on Edward Beck Drive is designated a short stay kiss and drop zone. Please read the signs and follow them, as they are there to make drop off and pick up a safe activity. It is not an area to park, or to leave your vehicle. The police were present recently and I am aware that they took a lot of notice where parents parked illegally, taking down registration numbers. They also spoke with a number of people during their time here. Once we notified Marion Council, their response to reposition the sign, was immediate which has alleviated some of our earlier problems with traffic.

School Uniform
Thank you to all parents who have manage to remember our new Uniform Policy. In particular, the expectation to have the correct coloured socks, no logos on clothes, jewelry is not to be worn and there is to be no nail polish. The policy is available on the school website if you wish to read the entire policy. We do receive many positive comments about our students in school uniform, and the aim is to continue with that.

Take care and have an enjoyable weekend,

Kind regards,
Steve Freeman

Principal