6^th October 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

As we look forward to our students all returning next Monday, I know I speak for our staff also as I say another big “Thank you” to all our students, parents and carers for your continued resilience and support throughout this very trying year. To the many parents who have expressed their gratitude to the staff for their incredible efforts to do their utmost to ensure the best teaching and learning opportunities for our children through the remote program, I say thank you and endorse that gratitude to our staff.

I know remote and flexible learning has not always been easy, as we have endeavoured to adapt to the vast range of family circumstances. Through our collective efforts, many of our students have continued to make valuable progress in their learning and you can be confident that our school will identify and support students who have not flourished and therefore require some focused catch up support.

Term 4 is important for all our students, and our teachers will strive to deliver the high-quality learning that we all expect here at CSPS. Our focus for Term 4 is on making sure that every student is supported in their wellbeing, learning and transition needs, including pre-school to school and Year 6 to 7 transitions which we are currently working on.

As you know, remote learning continues this week with only eligible students receiving on-site supervision, consistent with existing guidelines. Next week sees the return to on-site schooling for all our CSPS students and there is a staged return of secondary students as part of the Government’s gradual roadmap towards reopening. We encourage all members of our community to be mindful of health and safety practices as we return to school and model this for our children to help towards a positive road forward without putting at risk all that has been achieved through the period of restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Term 4 on-site schooling arrangements for students

From 12 October (second week of Term 4)

• All CSPS students will return to on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will not continue for our school.

Year Prep – 6 Drop Off Arrangements 8:45am – 9:00am:

Victorian Government Schools’ guidelines state: Students and families are not permitted to congregate at the school gates before or after school at any time.

• At 8:45am, the gates will be unlocked on the basketball court (Bundeera Rd) and the back fence (Marara Rd reserve).
• Once gates are open, all students will be able to enter the school grounds.
• Staff will be at all entry points with hand sanitiser, welcoming and supporting students to enter the school grounds and walk to their classrooms.
• Parents are not permitted to enter school grounds during this time. We encourage all parents to be mindful of adhering to the current Stage 4 regulations of wearing face masks and practising social distancing at all times. It is crucial when dropping children at school that parents avoid congregating particularly at the school entry points. We ask parents who are driving children to use the ‘kiss and go’ method to avoid congestion in Bundeera Rd in particular.
• Before School Care – Students in before school care will be escorted to their classroom by TeamKids staff at 8:45am.

Pick Up Arrangements:

3:20pm – 3:30pm dismissal for all Prep and Year 2 students

• 3:20pm dismissal for Prep and Year 2 students – All Prep and Year 2 students will be dismissed from the grassland on the back fence (Marara Rd).
• Prep and Year 2 teachers will walk their class to the grassland and line up. Teachers will dismiss students as they sight parents and parents are asked to move away from the entrance as quickly as possible.
• Siblings- If a Prep or Year 2 student has a sibling in Year 1, the Year 1 student will be dismissed with their sibling at the back gate. If a Prep-2 student has a sibling(s) in Yr3-6, the older sibling will be dismissed at the same time and same gate as the younger sibling.
• After school care – Each day, Team Kids will notify CSPS of students booked into after school care. A staff member will collect these students from their classrooms and walk them to after school care. For Prep and Year 2 students (3:20pm dismissal), a staff member will supervise the students in the hall until TeamKids staff take over supervision at 3:30pm.

3:30pm dismissal for all Year 1,3,4,5 and 6 students

• 3:30pm dismissal for Year 1 students – All Year 1 students will be dismissed from the basketball court and exit school grounds from the basketball court gates (Bundeera Rd). Year 1 teachers will dismiss students as they sight parents/carers.
• 3:30pm dismissal for Year 3 students – All Year 3 students will be dismissed from the basketball court and exit school grounds from the basketball court gates (Bundeera Rd). Year 3 teachers will dismiss students as they sight parents.
• 3:30pm dismissal for Yr 4-6 students – Yr 4-6 students will be dismissed from their classrooms and are able to exit from either the back gate or basketball court gates. Yr 4-6 teachers will be out in the yard to support students exiting the school.
• After school Care – Students booked into after school care with TeamKids, will walk directly to the hall following their dismissal at 3:30pm.

Outside school hours care and vacation care

Outside school hours care continues to be available to our students attending for on-site supervision this week and will be available for all students from Monday 12^th October, when we all return to on-site teaching and learning.

Health and safety measures

The Term 3 remote and flexible learning arrangements were put in place to significantly reduce the movement of more than one million students and their families across Victoria, to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Thanks to our community for contributing to this as we are mindful that it came with great cost for many families.

As on-site schooling resumes, we will continue to have in place strong measures to protect the health and safety of students, staff, families and the community. This includes start and finish arrangements as listed, restricting parent access to school grounds and continued emphasis on hand hygiene and physical distancing where possible.

Please give particular attention to reducing the risks associated with congregating at school gates and taking steps to contribute to physical distancing, particularly around the school entrances.

Returning this term, please be assured we will be focused on three key priorities:

Mental health and wellbeing

Our highest priority will be the wellbeing, particularly the mental health, of every student and member of staff. This means effectively mobilising all available resources to support our most vulnerable students and enabling staff to access the relevant support services.

Learning and excellence

Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts and those of their families, teachers and support staff. Our priority will be supporting both those who need to catch up and those who have progressed who need to continue to be extended in their learning.

Transitions

We will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for children moving from kindergarten into Prep, the Year 6 students moving into Year 7.

We know some families are worried about their child progressing to the next year level, due to the disruptions of coronavirus (COVID-19). There is little evidence to support the benefits of repeating a year to catch up and indeed much evidence that this may be detrimental to student development. Instead, our school will use teaching strategies that draw on the best evidence available to help students meet their learning needs.

Parents, families and carers can be confident that the best option for almost every child is to stay with their peer group, whether that is moving from kindergarten into Prep, moving from Year 6 into Year 7 at secondary school, or students moving up to any year level in between.

Our school, working with you, has shown it can be flexible and adaptable in responding to the challenges of coronavirus (COVID-19) and will continue to meet student needs to the best of our ability and with all the resources available to us, as we look towards the end of the 2020 school year and ahead to 2021.

Towards the end of this week you will receive a further update regarding returning to school next week.

Warmest regards

Gayle Yardley

Principal
Caulfield South PS