COVID

The last two weeks have reminded us that we are not out of the woods yet.  The threat of an outbreak is ever present and a good reminder that COVID safe practices at school and within our community need to continue until our state achieves an acceptable vaccination level. 

Our teachers spent the last few days of Term 1 (when schools closed down just before the April school holidays in the midst of another outbreak), preparing for this scenario. We had last week's work planned and the staff spent Monday "tweaking" it ready for distribution either on paper or via One Note. It seems the technology glitches of last year had improved and more students accessed the work electronically this year. We decided as a staff to make communication with students and parents/carers a priority this time. Therefore, a significant number of families would have had their children attend daily online sessions with their teacher and class-mates as well as check-in phone calls from teachers and teacher-aides. A number of teachers moved from using Zoom to Microsoft Teams to connect with students given this works more effectively with One Note and other programs the school uses. We had a week's work ready to go this week if we had needed it and we will hold onto this in the event it is required later this year or next year. Let's hope that isn't the case. I congratulate parents/carers who took on the challenge of home learning. To keep your child in a learning routine is a gift to them in that it makes the transition back to school more successful.  We have had a number of students who have not yet returned. I encourage parents/carers not to leave it too much longer. Experience tells us that the longer the students stay home after such an event, the harder it is to get them back to school and gaps begin to form in their learning. I can assure we are taking as many precautions as we can. 

• Restricting unnecessary persons on-site:  Only essential deliveries and visitors can attend the school currently. I'd ask parents/carers not to come onto the school-grounds unless it is essential for the time being. In all cases, you should report to the rear window of the school office rather than going directly to a classroom, playground or covered area. If your secondary school-aged children need to pick up a younger child please ask them to go to one of the gates and inform your child's teacher of the pick-up location. Sometimes plans get mixed up and your child goes to the wrong gate. Please be assured that we can solve this issue with a little time and patience. For some children this is a new routine and after a few days they get the idea of where they need to go with the support of their teachers.                        
• Hand-washing, sanitising and reducing touch surfaces: We have propped open doors and have opened windows where possible to reduce the touching of surfaces. Hand-soap,sanitiser and hand-towels are readily available in toilets, classrooms and eating areas.
• Cleaning: Since the first outbreak last year, we have had additional cleaning shifts throughout the day of classrooms, playgrounds, toilets and touch surfaces. 
• Adult mask-wearing:  All school and P and C staff working on-site must wear a mask at all times unless sitting down to eat and drink. 
• Sick staff and students:   We actively encourage sick staff and students to stay home. We are not doctors so we don't know if a runny nose or a cough is not COVID-related. The Department of Education tells us we must regard it as such. If you are unsure if your child should be at school, please talk to myself or the Deputy Principal, Narelle Green. We would always seek to maximise a child's attendance at school but have to balance this with the current COVID climate.
• Cancelled/Postponed/Modified Events and Activities:  Indoors we must not have activities which involve multiple year levels and we must allow 4 square metres per person.  Adults (other than staff) have restrictions placed on their access to school grounds. The Department of Education has prohibited excursions for the time being. Therefore, many of our events rely on these conditions to be successful. In most cases, we attempt to reschedule the event after restrictions lift to hold them in the way they were originally intended. In some cases the events may have to be cancelled or modified. 

We thank everyone for adapting so well to the drop off and pick up arrangements. I need to remind everyone that there should be no Craigslea State School parent/carer parking in Ballinger or Buran Street. Please park in adjacent streets. In Ballinger Street cars should only be there if they are in the pick up line, there shouldn't be anyone out of their vehicle. Buran Street is a walking gate only so parents/carers should not be driving cars in this street at all. This compromises the safety of students and staff and in Buran Street it is making social distancing and staff matching parents to students difficult.  Of course there will be residents parked in the street and that is something we can't change. We will be talking to Council about how to ensure that there is no school parking in this street in the coming weeks whilst allowing access for residents and their guests.
Additionally, parents/carers waiting at Buran Street should not crowd the gate but leave the area free for the movement of students and staff.  Staff will not allow a child to leave without identification of a parent/carer so we ask parents/carers to exercise some patience in stepping back and keeping distance between adults. This is what's needed around all of the gates in fact. We may have to put out crosses etc from next week but we are hopeful adults can manage this themselves. 

COMMUNICATION

Below you will find instructions on how to download the Craigslea State Schoolzine App for Android or Apple devices. The codes you will need to gain access to the app and to receive specific notifications will be sent by email. I encourage all parents/carers to download it as it will have helpful school information at your fingertips when you wish to access it e.g:

• Links to FaceBook, School Website, Parent Teacher Interview Bookings;
• School Calendar;
• Contacts for School Office, Classroom Teachers, Tuckshop, Uniforms and Bookshop, OSHC and P and C;
• Absentee Forms and Contact Information;
• Key School Documents;
• Links to Current and Archived Newsletters.                                       

Another feature is that certain staff have permissions to send push notifications for urgent messages which go to "FEED" on the app and these can be received like a text message. You can receive a sound notification as you may have for text messages or other apps if you apply that in your settings as an option. 

We can send push notifications to an individual year level or groups of year levels. We have set up Running Club, Volleyball, Reading Club, Choir, each of the strands of Instrumental Music etc. Parents/Carers just subscribe to the groups that apply to their children.

We have been working on this for some months but it is something that we will continue to refine. There is a suggestion form for any feedback/ideas you have on how to improve the app in the Links Section.

Instructions on how to download the Craigslea State Schoolzine App for Android or Apple devices.

Have a good week. Stay Safe.

Kathy