Principal’s Address
Created by Lynnette Bates
Monday, 21 March 2022 @2:33PM
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are starting to see an increase in the number of students, staff and/or their family members having COVID-19. Of course, this is having an impact upon the school’s operations. Your child is likely to have different teachers from time to time over the coming weeks. They also may have one of the specialist teachers or a deputy or principal as their class teacher. We appreciate your understanding during this time.
You would also be aware that many of our school events have been postponed. This is due to the Very High Caseload Guidelines we are required to put in place. Schools have been requested to minimise cohort and contacts where possible. As such, there are several changes to our normal operations. I have listed below some of the ways in which we are doing this at our school:
Assemblies/Whole school activities
- Online WebEx delivery.
- Use of Microsoft Teams and online platforms to share key presentations and critical information to parents, staff and students. This includes P&C and School Board meetings.
Staff meetings and gatherings
- Meetings held via online.
- Staff eating recess and lunch in their teaching blocks.
- Physical separation of key staff (e.g. limiting access to other staff workspaces). Staff stay within their block and do not cross teaching blocks unless required to do so.
Timetabling
- Staggered recess and lunch breaks with half cohorts of students at a time.
- Specialist areas taking Year Level cohorts on given days.
Outdoor learning/activities
- Increased opportunities for outdoor learning.
- Scheduled breaks within a lesson outside, eg Crunch and Sip
- Separated play/recreational areas with daily rotations of play areas on the school oval.
Teaching and learning
- Education Assistants assigned to cohorts.
- Executive Team members allocated to blocks except the Principal who goes across all teaching blocks.
Health and Hygiene Practices
- Allocated toilet blocks for cohorts of students. (e.g. year levels).
Library
- Year based roster for use of the library. Establish bulk loans opportunities.
As you can see we have put a lot in place to support minimising the spread of COVID-19 within our school. We expect that this will be in place through Term 2 also.
Furthermore, given the requirements to minimise contact between cohorts we are not able to run our before and after school clubs, these include:
Dance Troupes
Numero
School Choir/Ensembles
Before school fitness class
How can you assist as a parents?
- Please read all the information that is sent out to you regarding COVID-19 and requirements regarding isolation.
- Please let the school know immediately if your child has tested positive to COVID-19 by emailing Campbell.PS@education.wa.edu.au. This allows us to determine close contacts and advise families quickly. Please be aware, we do not publicly identify individual students as COVID positive.
- If your child is isolating at home following being identified as a close contact from someone at school, please let the school know that they are returning to school as they have returned a negative RAT test or PCR test by completing the survey sent out via SMS.
I appreciate that parents and students may be disappointed with many of the operational changes we have put in place, however, I do expect that you will be supportive and understanding of the changes. Comparisons to what others schools may be doing is not helpful. I remain steadfast in supporting the guidelines we are given from the Department of Education and for prioritising your child’s health and well-being, at all times.
We are in a pandemic and doing all we can to ensure that your child’s well-being and time at school is maximised and met with minimal disruption. This is our priority.
Kind regards,
Lynne Bates
Principal