eNews #5 Return to School                                                                   14 May

After the announcement of a return to school, students in Webex sessions were buzzing this week. We are certainly looking forward to see our students in person. Although we have just entered the fifth week of LFH, it seems like much longer than that.

At this stage, principals are still waiting on the detailed Return to School operational guide, so please expect further communication next week. This eNews will pre-empt that detailed information.

Of course, we have begun our Return to School planning. The operation of schools is dependent on the Chief Health Officer’s satisfaction that the spread of the coronavirus remains at an ‘acceptable’ level. We all continue to play an important part in maintaining social distancing between adults and limiting contact. It is essential for the community to understand that any confirmed coronavirus cases in our school community could mean that the school closes and with very little notice to families.

A key part of our planning is around continued social distancing to limit contact between adults, including our staff, parents and visitors. There are many factors to consider in how staff use shared spaces in the school and liaise with each other. I can share some of what we anticipate will be in place, although many things are subject to change. I do apologise for the following list of unusual (and, we hope, temporary) arrangements, which are beyond the school’s control.

Access to the school

It will certainly be strange not having parents in the playground or buildings. Even as we return to school, it remains important that physical distancing for adults and strict hygiene measures continue to be observed. To discourage adults from congregating, parents and other visitors to the school are limited until further notice, except for:

• Drop off and pick up from OSHClub, without entering the OSHClub building
• Picking up children who are ill from the office

This means we are restricting ’visitor/parent access’ to the classrooms, library, office, second hand uniform shop, onsite meetings (including School Council, Parents Group and sub committees) etc. until further notice, and not only during school hours.

The Classroom Helpers program will not start this term. Extracurricular activities and community use of our facilities remain ‘on hold’. Please complete any ‘office business’ by phone or email.

There will also be no lunch orders this term, due to visitor and food handling considerations.

Pick Up and Drop Off

Our Leadership Team has considered our options in this area. We have tentative plans, pending the DET operational guide, around how we will start this with Prep - Year 2. We do know that all DET schools can stagger school start and finish times to manage adult interactions. LPS will facilitate siblings arriving/leaving together at the same time and ensure students are safely supervised while on the school site, noting there may be some impact on total instructional time.

We anticipate that these plans will use the current Webex class groupings by surname (A – L and M – Z). This might seem simple, but within each of these groups, there are also other considerations around:

• Students with siblings at school
• Students without siblings at school
• Students attending OSHClub

As teachers need to supervise groups at every point of drop off and pick up, this is more complex than it may appear at first. Further details around times and pick up points will be relayed to parents via eNews.

At this stage, we anticipate there will only be two entry and exit points for students at the school, the Janet St and Pakenham St entrances. This is to allow for organisation of students and full supervision of multiple groups, both inside classrooms and awaiting pick up outside, particularly during pick up, and considering the likely wintry weather conditions. If your child usually enters or exits via Blacks Walk, they may need to use the Pakenham St gate as their access point for the time being.

Cleaning and Hygiene

Sonya and I started working on this area in March and Bernadette is stocktaking, monitoring and reordering essential supplies. We have installed additional soap dispensers and have sanitiser available for every classroom, the office and staff areas.

We have been assured by DET that enhanced cleaning in schools will be implemented for the remainder of Term 2 and Term 3. This will provide progressive cleaning of high-touch points and other surfaces throughout the day, requiring additional hours of cleaning.

As school drinking fountains/taps cannot be used, please ensure that your child brings a filled water bottle to school.

Webex Class Meetings and Literacy Intervention

These will continue, as currently organised, until each of those year levels return to school. However, each year level will have one day of Webex class meetings cancelled as teachers take their Professional Practice Day (PPD) for Term 2. Under the Victorian Schools Agreement, all teachers receive this one day every term to work on agreed areas for improving teaching and learning. Our teams had postponed these days to focus on Learning from Home. It makes perfect sense to take these before students return to school, so we can avoid classes being taken by CRTs.

Every PLC team will take their Professional Practice Day in the week before their classes return to school. In that week, although teachers will also be planning for a ‘normal’ week at school, they won’t have the LFH tasks to prepare. I will let families know these dates.

At the moment, I can confirm that Webex meetings on these days are cancelled for the following year levels:

• Prep: Tuesday 19 May
• Year 1: Tuesday 19 May
• Year 2: Friday 22 May

Specialists will hold their PPD on Thursday 21 May. Literacy Intervention sessions are not affected by this scheduling.

Library and Take Home Books

Unfortunately, after discussion with Wendy Keogh, there will be no borrowing of books from the library or classrooms yet. The school will facilitate the ongoing use of online reading resources this term, and also encourage parents to explore the online resources on the LFH for Parents page. Thanks to one of our parents, Jenny, for letting us know that Whitehorse Library is doing Home Delivery of books – click here for info.

What else can parents do?

• Keep an eye out for eNews updates, which will further detail our arrangements.
• Familiarise your Prep - Year 2 child with which one of the two areas they will use to enter/exit the school. Remember, our Preps didn’t have many days at school last term and we have new students as well. Our staff will assist new students to find their classrooms (and anyone else who needs a reminder!).
• Teach your child how to wash their hands properly, and for at least as long as it takes to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice. Here’s an informative video for children, courtesy of BTN and the ‘how to’ video and instructions from the U.K. National Health Service.

So much to consider, especially in a very large school such as LPS. As we work through all the organisation and onsite arrangements, in light of new, not-yet-seen compliance measures, please be assured that safety is our highest priority.

We will update families and confirm our arrangements as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.

Kim