08 May 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
Our start to Term 2 has been very smooth and so I would like to talk to you about our plans for the staggered return of students that begins on Monday 11th May. As you will know from previous information, students are returning to school as part of their stage for 1 day a week. These days are:
Monday – Kindergarten and our Diverse Learners
Tuesday – Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Wednesday – Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)
Thursday – Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6)
Some parents have indicated that they still feel worried about sending their child to school on their allocated stage day due to the virus, so they will be keeping them at home and continuing with online learning. This is ok because as I have stated before, during your child’s stage day they will be participating in the same work that the children will be doing from home online so that no child is disadvantaged during this time.
On top of this we have been seeing approximately 50 to 60 students attending school every day to support those parents who are essential workers or those who have new work commitments.
We have a number of different plans prepared for when students start returning to school to ensure that your child is safe and supported through their learning, these include:
Social Distancing
We are utilising almost all of the learning spacing in the school so that we can spread the children out whilst they are in the classroom. At the moment we are aiming for 10 children per room but of course this will have to change as more students return. This will mean that your child may not be in their own classroom on their stage day but they will be with their teacher. Our plans include the option of teachers moving through a number of classrooms with the aid of support staff so that they can work with their whole class over the day. Remember, one of the main reasons we want to see the children on their stage day is to see how they are going with their online learning at home, see how they are going emotionally and for your child to have the chance to see and socialise with their peers. As more students start to return on a daily basis and space becomes a priority, I will adjust our plans around numbers of children in each classroom, but of course I will let you know if and when this happens.
In addition, we have plans in place for social distancing in the playground. This includes sitting down to eat recess and lunch as well as the opportunity for children to play with their friends safely. Staff are rostered to supervise certain areas of the school during break times to ensure that the children are maintaining safe distances from each other whilst still enjoying the time to play with their friends.
Hygiene
The school has been provided with ample provisions to support good hygiene practices. This includes hand soap for the bathrooms and hand sanitiser as well as a revised cleaning schedule to ensure learning surfaces, high traffic areas as well as Lap Tops and IPads can be cleaned regularly. Staff will encourage students not to share stationary items throughout the day. Children will be encouraged to wash their hands frequently and will be provided with hand sanitiser both before eating times and after play times. I am asking that all children coming to school bring their own bottle of water as I will be turning off the bubblers. We do however have bottle refill stations at the bubblers that the children will have access to so they can refill their drink bottle throughout the day. If your child forgets their drink, don’t worry, we have purchased some extra bottles of water that we will give them.
Social Gathering
We are asking that parents drop their children at the school gate in the morning and wait outside the gates in the afternoon when picking up your child. This request is to ensure that we don’t have large numbers of adults congregating on the school site to protect the children and the staff from the possibility of infection. I understand that this will not be possibly for all families, but I ask that if it is, that you support me on this one. Of course for our Kindergarten students, and some other students across the school, we expect a level of separation anxiety as the children return and we are happy to support families with this. We will have staff out at the gates to take the children into the school. Failing this, if a parent needs to come into the school to drop their child off we ask that you do it as quickly as possible, that you adhere to social distancing protocols and that you do not to stay in the school grounds beyond a successful drop off. On Monday, we are going to take our kindergarten students straight into the classrooms on their arrival instead of leaving them in the playground until the bell goes at 9am. In the afternoon, we ask parents who feel their children are capable of meeting them outside the gate to do so otherwise, if you need to come onto the school site please don’t enter before 2.55pm and leave promptly after collecting your child. Writing this is really hard for me because at any other time I would be encouraging as many family and friends to be a part of our school. It’s just at this time I need to commit to the safety of the children and my staff.
Canteen
For next week the canteen will remain closed. Parents will have to ensure that their child has recess and lunch in their bag ready for the day. We will support any child who does not come to school with food for the day. We expect the canteen to open in Week 4 but I will communicate this to you before the end of next week.
Uniform Shop
The uniform shop will be open on Thursday morning. If you need to purchase uniforms we are asking that you ring your order through to the front office before Thursday so that it can be ready for you to pay for and collect on Thursday morning. This should make the process quicker and will stop large numbers of parents waiting around to be served. If you need to come on the school site to order or pick up uniforms please adhere to the social distancing protocols.
The staff are so excited about seeing their students next week, if only for 1 day. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s return to school please contact the front office and we will help you. Once again, thank you to our wonderful Bennett Road Public School family who have been so supportive of us throughout this time and happy Mother’s Day to all of our mums on Sunday.
Glen