Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,

This week, school systems, including Catholic Schools NSW, made the collaborative decision to stay open for the remainder of this term and to continue to make plans for the regualr return to school in Term 2. There are mixed messages in community about this topic and I understand the reasons. From what I have read, some of the thinking is that children might be safer at school given that parents may need to look for other sources of care, including grandparents, who are vulnerable to the illness. While we have no cases within our school community, parents and carers can continue to work, and children can have access to the full educational program. An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald 17th March 2020, 'Keep the schools open for the sake of the kids', by Kerri Sackville sums up this thinking well. Our school seems very calm at the moment and completely operational but I will also understand when the time comes that the advice is to close.

If schools do close, our teachers will become like many other workers at the moment and continue to work from home. They will be required to prepare and present an educational program for students through online platforms and other options as required. Teachers will be required to provide feedback to students and support students who may need adjustments made to the learning. The only part of their current role they won't be fulfilling is that of playground duty. 

School staff have been under increasing pressure from different sources this week in regard to our position and planning for the potential closure of the school. I must publicly thank the staff of Holy Name for the level of professionalism and for their response when posed with this emerging issue. Together with families, our teachers have supported the creation of a very calm response to some of the chaos in the community. It is business as usual at Holy Name, with the addition of proactive and preventative measures around social distancing, handwashing and hygiene. The students have taken to this new way of doing things with ease. We thank the Priceline Pharmacy and members within our community who have supported us to provide the products needed to enact our responses.

Home Learning

Our staff will continue to develop the home learning options for students so that if and/or when we are called on to close, the staff, students and families will be prepared. Over the next week or two, teachers will be sending information out to families about how to access online learning to check that everyone has access and to iron out any problems. We really need you all to practise accessing the presented options at home and communicate with teachers about any problems you experience so that we can work with you to solve any issues prior to any changes to attendance at school. The details for accessing home learning for Kindergarten and for Years 1-6 will be different. Kindergarten will send home resources and a learning program via Class Dojo. The learnign program for Years 1-6 will be via Class Notebook. We will of course have options for those who let us know they cannot access a device and/or the internet and will send out more details on Monday.

This week, we have already requested that anyone concerned about access to online learning options to email admin@forster.catholic.edu.au with their concern. We have also asked any parents of students whose immune systems are compromised in any way to make contact with the school so that we can begin to develop a plan for their child. 

Proactive measures at school

Together with the increased hand washing, sanitising and wiping down of surfaces, we have introduced social distancing where possible for students. One of the measures taken was to discontinue lining up under Kirkangina in the mornings and after break periods (except Kindergarten who have just got into the swing of this!). Students are asked to line up outside classrooms with their teacher. We are asking parents to only enter the school when necessary, otherwise, to pick up and drop-off students at the gate. Please email your classroom teacher, letting them know the regular pick-up place for the students so we can make sure they are in the correct place.

Thank you for understanding the cancellation of events and opportunities as part of the preventative measures. In some ways, this will allow us to focus solely on our work in classrooms with students, achieving the academic goals we set for them each day.

Support needs within our community

As this pandemic progresses, I understand that individuals and families within our school community may be significantly affected by the roll-on effects of the changes in place. I know that some workers may have reduced shifts and/or lose their jobs altogether and businesses may have reduced sales.  If you or anyone in your family need support during this time of unusual circumstances, please don't hesitate to make contact with me at school. I am keen to rally around our members who need us and to provide support where we can. 

Regards

Brooke Stephens