21 Oct 2021
Good morning Parents and Caregivers,
I apologise in advance for this long letter, however, to ensure that I am communicating direction from the department, as well as Kotara High School context information, it really needs to be this long. Below you will find the guidelines for our students return to school from next week, Monday October 25. You will notice in the letter that some of the text will be directly from the department, and some written by myself. Please have a read and do not hesitate to give me a call at the school if you have any concerns or require any clarification.
We have worked with NSW Health on our COVID-safe plan to return to school and we have put in place effective practices: vaccinations for all staff on site, mask wearing, reduced mingling of staff and student groups, ventilation in classrooms and continued good hygiene and cleaning. I will outline these practices specific to Kotara High School below.
The department has made it very clear to all schools that the return to school roadmap is subject to change depending on advice from NSW Health at any time. You can stay up to date with the most recent information on the departments Advice for families page. This is a site that is updated constantly and is the source of truth of what is happening in public schools and what directions are currently in place.
Do all students need to return to School?
The Premier and the department has mandated a return to school for all students from Monday October 25. From this date remote learning will cease and the expectation is that all students are back at school and learning in the classroom. However, if there are medical reasons for a student not to attend school can you please contact me as soon as possible. I respect and understand the anxiety that some students and parents have about a return to school, and I am more than happy to talk with you and clarify any concerns that you may have.
Updated mask requirements
To reflect the changes in community settings mask wearing requirements have been updated for schools. When students and staff return to school, the following requirements are in place:
- masks are required for all staff and students in Year 7 and above in all indoor settings.
- Masks are recommended to be worn outside
Students also must ensure that they have a mask on their person at all times, even outside. If a student does not bring a mask to school, or refuses to wear one, they will be directed to a Deputy Principal. The deputy will offer a mask to a student and if this is refused, they will need to be picked up by a parent and may be issued with a formal warning. Persistent refusal to wear a mask may result in suspension. Masks are also mandatory on public transport. This applies to students aged 13 years and over. Before we went in to lock down transport police did issue some of our students with warnings for not wearing masks whilst catching a bus to and from school. Please encourage your children to wear their masks whilst travelling to and from school on public transport.
Staggered Return Daily COVID Practices as DoE Directed as of Monday October 25
The department has directed all schools, where possible to stagger start and finish times. At Kotara High School, we are fortunate that we already stagger times between the senior and junior school, therefore, our times essentially will not change. The only slight change will be the end of day times, where we are trying to minimise student mingling and interacting. Please see below -
School Day Start Times
Year 11 & 12 – 8am start time.
Year 7-10 – 9am start time.
Support – 8:50am start time.
School Day End Times
Year 11 & 12 1:30pm end time (unless a period 5 class is timetabled)
Year 7-10 3:05pm Students catching a bus end time (students go to allocated area and will show a bus pass to indicate their need to catch a bus)
3:10pm Students walking home or being picked up end time
3:00pm Support Student end time.
Arrival and departure points for students
To support the staggered start and end times the department is also requiring schools to utilise all entrances to the school grounds where possible. To implement this direction, I have made the following adjustments for Term 4. I appreciate both community and student support in implementing the following -
Students arriving on buses enter via Lexington Parade.
Students arriving on foot via Lexington.
Students being dropped off/picked up via Corriston Crescent.
Students on bikes / driving cars via Corriston Crescent.
Break Time and start of day Year Cohortation
The department has directed schools to minimise the mingling of different year cohorts whilst in the playground, during break times and before school. I am sure you can see that this is quite problematic with a school of our number and the physical size of the space that we all occupy. I have come up with the below model to support this direction. I understand that it may not seem equitable, considering different cohorts are excluded from certain parts of the playground, but I am sure that you can see that this has been quite an undertaking to organise. As we come back to school and settle into our new areas I will relax this direction, or amend the areas, if required. I am trying to take a commonsense approach in the initial weeks and respect that this may not meet the needs of all students or be a model that is completely workable at Kotara High School but I won’t know this until we are all back and we have lived the model for a week or so.
Year 12 – A Block and Senior Learning Hub and Eastside to the end of A Block.
Year 11 – Library Verandah and adjacent grass area.
Year 10 – Canteen area and seating between A Block and Canteen and seating across the outside of the Canteen.
Year 9 – Basketball Court closest to Canteen.
Year 8 – Basketball Court closest to D Block.
Year 7 – Main Quad and Shelter.
Support Students – D Block and Library.
Break Times and Library
During the initial weeks of return to school only the Support Unit Students and Year 12 will utilise the library during break times. As I have explained with the above designated areas, hopefully this will change after we settle back into school after a few weeks.
Canteen Use
Under our current restrictions we are not able to utilise our canteen as we normally do. We can only cater for orders that can be placed for either break. The orders can be picked up in the canteen area at the start of each break in year cohort lines. The canteen has shared an updated menu and app ordering guideline through our Facebook page. Please note that students can still order of a morning at the canteen, the app is just another option for our students and families.
Wednesday Sport till the end of term
Under the current restrictions sport cannot proceed as normal. Sporting activities are only able to take place within designated PE lessons for the remainder of the term. This will mean that students will be placed in a class, with students from their year cohort, and they will spend Wednesday afternoons completing activities in this setting. It is not possible to send students home, instead of sport, students need to be here for this time and only students with an appointment and with documentation to support will be able to leave on Wednesday afternoons. I understand that this direction will be upsetting for some students, but unfortunately, under our current restrictions sport onsite and offsite is not possible.
Semester 2 Reporting
The reporting model that we will utilise for Semester 2, will be very similar to our model that we implemented after our last lock down in semester 1 2020. As a school we will do our best to create an authentic report under the circumstances in which we have delivered for most of this semester. I made a conscious decision to also cease all formal assessments for Year 7-10 during lock down for several reasons, including placing extra stress on students and families and the authenticity of completing all assessments remotely. I have also made this decision because of the statewide Check in Assessment mandate for Year 7-9 and the Minimum Standard Testing for Year 10 and 11 as outlined below.
Statewide Check in Assessment (Year 7-9) and Minimum Standards Testing (Year 10 & 11)
On return to school the department has mandated that all Students from Year 7 to 9 will complete an online literacy and numeracy test. This test will be utilised as a diagnostic tool to see where we may need to provide extra support for students after coming out of lock down and back into face-to-face. Students in Year 10 and 11 will also re-commence their attempts at meeting the Minimum Standards for the awarding of the HSC. The dates for both sets of testing are being finalised currently and will be communicated to students and families after students return to school.
Ventilation and Kotara High School
I know there has been a lot of information in the media around ventilation in schools, and how the department will try and ensure adequate ventilation during our current circumstances. The department’s ventilation recommendations have been informed by NSW Health advice, expert advice from the Doherty Institute and the World Health Organisation. This advice tells us that maximising natural ventilation in our learning spaces is the key to keeping people safe and this can be best achieved by opening doors and windows. Staff at Kotara High School will be directed to keep windows and doors open, as appropriate, to support these findings.
Close contacts, self-isolating and possible COVID-19 cases at school
The department has updated its pages with detailed guidance for parents and carers about what will happen should there be a confirmed case of COVID-19 at school and students are identified as a close or casual contact. I recommend that all parents read this information. The department has also been highlighting that medical advice suggests transmission among children is lower than in adults, and if children do contract COVID they generally only have mild symptoms.
How will contact tracing take place in schools?
NSW Health will notify the school if there is a positive COVID-19 case who has been infectious while at school and we will in turn notify parents and carers. Contact tracing will be undertaken as it is in all other venues. The action the department will take in relation to the operation of the school will depend on how many people the person has been in contact with. In some cases, this may mean that the school may need to be made temporarily non-operational. Some staff and students may be asked to self-isolate as a precaution while contact tracing is completed.
Self-isolation and schools
NSW Health have made changes to self-isolation requirements for people who are identified as close contacts who are fully vaccinated.
- Close contacts who are fully vaccinated must self-isolate for 7 days (and limit their movements for the next 7 days). Close contacts who are not vaccinated must isolate for 14 days.
- Casual contacts need to get tested and self-isolate until they get a negative test result - even if they are vaccinated.
I would like to remind the community that anyone who has the mildest of COVID-19 symptoms must get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result - even if they‘re vaccinated.
Please visit the COVID-19 response protocols page for factsheets on close and casual contacts, isolation guidelines for children if you would like any further clarification.
I did state at the start of my letter that this was going to be a long one. I sincerely apologise for this, but I want to make sure that the community is well aware of how Kotara High School will function in line with the department directives. Thank you for all of your support through the remote learning period and we are all looking forward to having our students back with us from next week.
Take care
Mark Snedden
Principal
Kotara High School
Thursday October 21, 2021