08 May 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a complex and amazing learning journey we have been on. Had anyone said to me in February by the end of March we will be delivering online learning to most of our students and that our community would be in isolation, I would not have believed it, however, here we are.
Our school has successfully delivered online learning to most of our students and at the same time met the learning needs and ensured safety for the students who have remained at school. Our staff have worked from home to deliver the online programs and on site to deliver learning to students who are attending.
I have been very excited to see the photos of students learning from home shared to the SeeSaw learning journals. I am so proud of this incredible and resilient community.
Returning to school
Next week we move into a new phase which will see most students and staff return to school. It is important to note that some staff will continue to work from home for the time being. Our goal however, is to see all students and staff return to school in line with the Department of Education’s advice and that passed down from the Premier.
Our learning plan from the 11th of May sees many students at school, some will continue to learn from home, and some students will attend school for a negotiated number of days a week. We thank all the families for the time you have spent on the phone with us ensuring all students are accessing the right pathway for their learning.
From the 11th of May most of the staff will return to face to face teaching on site. As previously mentioned a number of staffs will continue to work from home and their responsibility will be the preparation and delivery of the on line learning program. Most students will be in their regular classrooms with their usual teachers, students whose classes look different will be with familiar staff and with their peers from their usual classes. We have employed temporary and casual staff to ensure safe numbers of students in each class, and to provide the learning, health care, personal care and safety needs of the students.
Safe Hygiene at Yandelora School
Frequent hand washing for staff and students, enhanced cleaning services across the school and the use of gloves, sanitiser ensure we do our best to maintain a high level of hygiene standards at our school
We support the students to practise social distancing in the classrooms and playgrounds, and to keep our numbers low we are minimising visitors to the school.
Therapy
For now, we are unable to have external therapy providers at the school. This is to help us to support social distancing requirements and to keep the number of people in the school to a safe minimum. We are also unable to support Zoom or other forms of video conferencing for therapy sessions at school.
Dropping off and Picking up students
As of Monday the 11th of May, there will be a new system for waiting for students to be collected to go to class and for parents to wait in the afternoons. Markers will be placed on the ground 1.5 meters apart in front of the school hall. We request that you wait in this area rather than on front of the school office thus ensuring entrances to the school are clear and that we are maintaining social distancing requirements.
We are also carefully monitoring visitors to the school. If when you arrive and press the buzzer and we are unable to see you in the security camera, we may ask your name. If entering the office please be mindful of the number of people in the foyer and we ask that there are no more than 2 people in the school foyer at one time. You are encouraged to use the hand sanitiser on the counter while in the foyer.
Health and Wellbeing
It is very important for the health and wellbeing of the Yandelora community that unwell students, staff and community members not attend the school. Unwell staff members will stay home even if they have mild symptoms of any health concern. If you think your child is unwell we ask that you keep them home. Should children become unwell during the day we will contact you and ask that you collect your child. This is vital to protect the health and safety of all of our students. A doctor note stating your child is ready to return to school may be required.
Please continue to communicate with the school. Talk to your child’s teacher, write in the communication book, send a message on SeeSaw or call the office. We are only too happy to hear from you. We are here to answer any questions you may have.
If learning from home you must engage with the learning that is being prepared, we need to see photos of students engaging in the work or samples of their work, we are here to help answer all of your questions around this as well.
Finally, please all stay safe and well, stay home when you can over the weekends as hard as it is and take good care of your families physical and emotional health. We are all in this together and together we will continue to learn and succeed!
Warm Regards
Jacquie Lockyer