It has been a fairly mixed week in terms of announcements about schools and I’m touching base briefly before the weekend, to keep you updated with a couple of new pieces of information.
We have yesterday been advised that physical distancing between students at school is no longer required. The focus is to be on no touching, and hand washing.
Since adults remain at higher risk, we aim to maintain the 1.5m rule with staff, and I expect over 40 staff at work. We will also be following the government’s directive that no parents or other adults may come on site. I’ll write more about the practicalities of this next week.
Principals have been asked to forward the latest advice to parents from the Chief Health Officer, which is here: Letter from CHO
I sense from my conversations around the Town that many families remain understandably undecided in the face of so much information.
Please know there is no pressure to make a decision immediately.
When you do decide, it would be really helpful for me to know rough numbers. So, if you decide to learn at home, please could you send a short SMS via our usual absence line 0417 973 697, along the lines of: “John and Jane Doe home learning 29 April -1 May”. This will be recorded on our system as ‘learning off site’, and will not be recorded as an absence.
I hope to have fairly firm predicted student numbers prior to discussing this whole situation with my staff on Tuesday. We will work out an initial plan for teaching then, and I will write again after that.
In the meantime, stay safe and well, and keep a look out for our special ANZAC Facebook post tomorrow…
Lisa Dentith