I am wanting to send a huge thank you to our community for their support over the past few months. Your feedback tells us that we managed the pandemic effectively and that is the best news for me because that shows that we do our jobs well. Our high level of communication over the period really highlighted for us how well we know our community, and now how well you know us. It also ensured that you felt supported to make the right decision for your child and I saw that time and time again.
As the Government continues to find a way through Covid-19 to assist the economy to get back on track, we too will look at our implementation and change what we can as we can. I, much like them though, remain cautious and perhaps not particularly optimistic that the worst is behind us. I think we need to prepare for this to remain with us for quite some time and ensure that we keep safety protocols in place that protect us all.
Many of our processes are in place to ensure that children are safe on site, but of course we are also a large employer, so must make sure that staff are safe too. With over 30 staff on site every day, we have had to introduce many protocols to manage our shared spaces. I look forward to the day when we can once again hold a staff meeting in real life, but feel that will be quite some time away as will shared training days and celebrations.
One of the most pro-active ways I can keep my staff safe is to limit other adults coming on site. Kiss and Drop has assisted this greatly, but I urge you to continue to spread out from the other adults in your waiting spaces. Choosing a consistent space to meet your child is best, and you could stretch that to the other side of the oval or Rose Garden depending on the age of your child. We are lucky to live in a community such as Willunga and it has been exciting to see so many children arriving on site on their bikes. We do not in any way want to stop communicating with families, so Seesaw remains as your best option to contact the teacher in the first case, otherwise email or phone through.
We need to maintain our strict handwashing protocols, but are aware that this is a lot of soap and water for everybody! If your child's hands are getting a bit dry, you may need to introduce some moisturiser into your bed time routine.
We are creeping closer to normal on site. Most programs are up and running with protocols in place. Teachers have started reports and we aim to have them out in the usual time frame. We have had to think flexibly about these as you may imagine in response to the interruptions caused by Covid.
The most important messages we follow at school are:
- Maintain social distancing between adults at all times
- Keep washing your hands
- Stay home if at all unwell and get tested for Covid if you have any signs or symptoms
I look forward to the day I discuss anything OTHER than Covid. Bizarrely, this should have been NAPLAN week. NAPLAN feels a whole lifetime ago now...
Keep washing your hands,
Alison Colbeck