Thank you for your support and understanding with our unexpected closure yesterday. We all have a deep concern for the health and well-being of our whole community. I do understand that this will have presented challenges and caused everyone some anxiety. It is important that we make the right decisions to protect our community.

I am especially grateful to the Education Department. As soon as I was notified of the initial test result on Saturday morning, this was managed by a dedicated team in Melbourne who have the experience and expertise to bring together a complex range of information and make decisions in the best interests of the school community.

There are not enough positive words to describe the committed support provided to the school by this team, by the Area Executive Director with whom I have had so many discussions in the last three days right up to the Deputy Secretary of the Education Department who was still in his office making personal contact late on Sunday night.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the school’s leadership team, our Assistant Principals, Kate Wojcik and Nicole Alonso and our Business Manager, Simone Spencer-Gardner.

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We have reopened today after the Department for Health and Human Services reported back that there was not a confirmed case. As someone who is not medically qualified I believe that this is “a false positive”. Between a student who has not attended since the end of last term and other family members whose tests all came back negative, I am now certain that we have not had anyone on site who has tested positive.

Consequently we have not needed an additional deep clean. We will continue to follow the Education Department protocols for additional cleaning throughout the day which has been happening since March.

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COVID 19 is a highly infectious virus that we need to treat with the greatest respect to keep our community safe. It is important that we all follow the advice of the Chief Health Officer. If a child feels unwell with one or more of the symptoms listed in the DHHS advice, you should get tested.

If the result is positive, please contact me immediately philip.dunlop-moore@education.vic.gov.au . This will then be managed by the team in Melbourne who can access tests results and other actions being taken by DHHS so that they can advise the school of the appropriate actions to take.

These are complex decisions which can take time to work through so that the correct decision is communicated. DHHS, DET and the school take the importance of maintaining people’s privacy very seriously. Information communicated to the community will be limited to what needs to happen. Please be assured that every consideration is given to all aspects of maintaining the students’ and the community’s safety.

Please be patient waiting for information. When the school receives information from the Education Department we will communicate this to the community immediately. It is essential that we communicate the correct information even if this takes some time to get right. Information coming from the school, which has come directly from Melbourne, is the only source of information on which you can rely to be completely correct.

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The School’s Facebook page is a reflection of the school’s community and should reflect our school’s values. I deeply appreciate the many positive comments in support of the school that have been made. There were a small minority of comments that did not reflect two of our values in particular – Acceptance and Integrity.

Our acceptance means that we do not post comments denigrating others. Integrity means that we do not post information that is not correct. Some of the comments contained information that was at best speculative and unhelpful.

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Welcome to Week 2! We had a visit from Harley in Year 5 this week to share his partitioning and doubling of 3 digit and decimal numbers using an algorithm. Harley was very excited to show us how he completed these tasks! Well done Harley!

We appreciate that the last few days especially may have presented a challenge for some families, students and staff. Please see below some services that you may access if you feel either yourself or someone in your family needs further support. You may also contact your local GP if you wish or be in touch with us at school.

Websites for mental health support:

https://kidshelpline.com.au

https://headtohealth.gov.au/

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums

Websites to support coping with stress:

https://au.reachout.com/collections/coping-during-coronavirus

https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-cope-with-stress-related-to-covid-19/

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Book Club Issue 5 is out online now. Please visit link below to view the catalogue and place your order.

https://www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP

All Book Club orders must now be made via the LOOP online by Friday 31st July 2020. We do not accept cash payments.

All orders will be distributed to students at school.

Thank you

 

 

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Welcome back to term three. We hope the entire Drysdale Primary School community had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable term break, and are ready and refreshed for everything term 3 brings our way.

Term 3 sees some changes to staffing at OSHC. Kane will be away in weeks one, two and three of term, as well as week six due to being on teaching rounds. Upon completing this placement he will finalise his teaching degree. While this is excellent for Kane, we will be very sad to see him go. I know many children have their fingers and toes crossed that he gets a job at Drysdale Primary School and they get him as a teacher next year

In accordance with Camp Australia policy, upon arrival to the surface we will be commencing checking the temperature of children that are booked in to attend. We have yet to commence doing this already due to our thermometer still being on the way. We ask that, even though parents are no longer physically signing their children into the service (for the time being), they still need to bring their children into the service, instead of just dropping them off at the door and letting them walk into the service alone. This is especially important now because if your child records an elevated temperature you will be required to take them back home. Children who record an elevated temperature at the commencement of After School Care will be kept away from everyone else (while still being supervised), and parents will be contacted to collect.

Read more…

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