March 17 2020
Dear Regent Families,
I'm sure by now that you are realising the dramatic impact that COVID-19 Pandemic will have on our lives this year.
This newsletter will
outline:
- Additional events to be cancelled
- What the College is currently doing to minimise the risk of infection
- Home based online learning program
- What we will do in the event of a School closure
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
It is unfortunate but necessary that we cancel the following events this term:
- All scheduled excursions (excl. River Rangers walk to the river)
- Hockey program (Monday mornings before school)
- Choir rehearsals
- Netball training (was scheduled to commence soon)
- Assemblies for the remainder of Term 1
- Easter service
- Fathering Project event postponement (Paper Planes and Pizza)
- Run Club (Friday mornings)
- ANZAC service
- Likely postponement (Year 4 camp currently scheduled for Week 1, Term 2)
- Parent-Teacher interviews final week Term 1. These face-to-face meetings will be rescheduled as telephone interviews and will still occur in the final week of Term 1 (Pp-Year 6). Details and scheduling to follow.
- Please note that Chess, Mandarin and Instrumental tuition will continue for the moment.
THE REGENT COLLEGE APPROACH
In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the College has
- Established a COVID-10 Pandemic Response Team
- Educated students, parents, staff and visitors about our special hygiene requirements
- Signage at College entries alerting prospective entrants to the importance of not entering the premises if within 14 days of entering Australia since recent 15th March announcement
- Provided hand sanitiser in the key high traffic areas of the school (in addition to regular replenishment of handwash in student bathrooms)
- Increased daily cleaning regime of classrooms, bathrooms, door handles, desks and surfaces regularly touched by College members
- Provision of regular updates to all families in our community in a timely manner - we are requesting that
all parents ensure their contact details are up-to-date.
Commencing tomorrow (18 March)
- No further usage of shared drink fountains by students. All students are required to use their water bottles and taps for refilling. Please ensure that your child has his/her drink bottle at school each day. Teachers will ensure that disposable cups are available for any student who
forgets their water bottle
- To minimise the number of parents on College grounds, the kiss and drive service will be extended in the morning until 8:45am until further notice. While the morning bell will continue to sound at 8:30am, the kiss and drive service will remain open receive students Kindergarten to Year 6 until 8:45am. This is a measure to reduce the volume of people and support social distancing. The afternoon service will continue as normal
- College library
books need to be returned this week. There will be no further borrowing from the library for the remainder of Term 1
- Student readers will not be sent home for nightly reading commencing tomorrow, Wednesday 18 March.
HOME BASED, ONLINE LEARNING
In the event of partial/full College closure, we envisage
that Seesaw will be the key platform interface providing students the opportunity to work independently and collaboratively with the teacher and other students.
Our plan is to provide learning instructions and materials ready for students/families within 24-48 hours of closure.
- IMPORTANT - A NEW Seesaw Home Learning Student Sign In Code is coming
home tomorrow (Wednesday 18th) in your child's blue folder. This is a different QR code than the one parents use to view their child's work. The new code is for individual logins and allows students to upload work and complete activities at home. Students are asked to login at home Wednesday night, find their teacher's video and follow the instructions. Please note, it is vital that students only post work and complete activities as directed by their teacher. As a trial, one activity will be posted by each classroom teacher by the end of the week for students to respond to immediately. Other than technical support, parents should refrain from completing their child's work for them.
SCHOOL CLOSURE
We will be guided by the Department of Health regarding the need for school closure (if at all) and do not intend to pre-empt this decision. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue sending your children to school. Any unexplained absences from school require a letter of absence.
In the event of a partial or full College closure, please note the following announcement/confirmation process:
1. SMS to College families directing them to check their email for a communication from the College
2. Email announcement explaining the partial or full closure process.
Yours sincerely
Derek Nicholls. Principal