Dear Parents and Carers
Mount Kanwary Public school continues to be a busy and productive place as Term 3 progresses. We showcased the achievements of our school and families during Education Week. I hope everyone enjoyed the video of our students and staff celebrating the highlights and challenges of 'home learning'.
Thank you to our parents who are helping keep our school community safe by waiting outside the school gates and not sending students to school if they are unwell.
If you wish to speak with any staff please ring the school prior to entering school grounds to ensure our school complying with DoE COVID guidelines.
On Monday updated guidelines were issued to schools from the NSW Department of Health. It is imperative that these guidelines are met to ensure the safety of all students and staff in our school. I, along with my staff will be following the directives below to ensure that our school can continue to be operational. We ask that you also assist us to comply by making sure that your child is tested for COVID-19 if they have any of the following flu-like symptoms (please see below):
(Extract from NSW Government Health updated 17 August 2020)
What are the symptoms of flu? - people with influenza typically experience some or all of the following symptoms:
- fever and chills
- cough, sore throat and runny or stuffy nose
- muscle aches, joint pains, headaches and fatigue (feeling very tired)
- nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea (more common in children than adults)
Some symptoms may last for more than a week. Some people may also experience very mild symptoms if they have some immunity from a previous infection or vaccination.
The new directive states the following -
Safety and Hygiene - What's changing
As of 17 August some of the changes required from schools are:
- Vigilance in ensuring that staff and students do not attend school or work if they are unwell
- Students absent or sent home due to flu-like symptoms need to be tested
- Staff and students must not return to school or work until they have a negative COVID-19 result and are symptom free
- Schools must sight the negative COVID-19 test result prior to allowing students and staff to return to school
- Schools should limit activities to year groups whenever possible.
Whilst we understand the implications that this will have on our families and staff we ask that you also understand that our hands are tied in this matter. Recent events in Sydney have led to the implementation of these changes for all schools.
Your cooperation during these unprecedented times is greatly appreciated.
Check-in Assessment for Year 3 and 5
Year 3 and 5 students will participate in a new reading and numeracy check-in assessment this term. The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online reading and numeracy assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor student learning following the period of learning from home.
The Check-in assessments can supplement existing school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and to help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs.
I also want to let the whole-school community know that our school's External Validation (EV) process is now complete with all of the school's judgements against the School Excellence Framework having been upheld and validated. This validation is a testament to all of the staff's hard work and dedication to delivering high quality educational opportunities for all students at Mount Kanwary PS. The EV process is a great start for the new planning cycle for the school.
Have a wonderful week!
Katrina Cameron
Principal
