On Monday, Mark McGowan announced details of the remaining phases of Western Australia’s Roadmap for easing restrictions. The next phase, Phase 4 will start this Saturday, 27 June.
The main aspect of this that affects us at school is that the ‘100 people inside / 300 people outside’ rule will be removed and the 2sqm physical distancing rule will be reduced. This limit on gatherings has affected much of our normal operation this year, including the number of people allowed on site and many of the activities we normally run.
Depending on infection rates locally, Phase 5 is planned to be introduced on Saturday, 18 July and will result in the removal of the 2sqm rule. It is also expected to see the removal of all gathering restrictions and other COVID-related rules introduced by the WA Government.
Phase 5 will hopefully be announced just before the start of term 3.
This means we are fairly confident about organising our scheduled semester 2 events.
Some of the main things we really hope to be able to do in semester 2 include:
School cross country; interschool cross country; assemblies; school athletics carnival; interschool athletics carnival; year 6 camp; P&C events such as disco and bike ride; swimming lessons; excursions; year 6 graduation and final assembly.
Our drop off and pick up arrangements and access for parents to collect children during the day will remain as I announced in phase 3, a couple of weeks ago. That announcement is here. In essence it is to please drop children at the gate in the morning, and there is the option of picking up from the gate or the quad at the end of the day as long as gathering and distancing restrictions are adhered to.
The removal of gathering restrictions and social distancing next term, should make pick up much easier to manage, as we won’t have to monitor numbers in the quad. Feedback from staff and students alike is that they prefer the quad to be calm, quiet and less busy at the end of the day, so hopefully this quietness can continue.
I want to thank everyone for your support this semester. There have been a lot of changes in how we operate and everyone has been very flexible and accommodating. It looks like things will be much easier and more social next term. We are all looking forward to it!
Lisa Dentith