Payments Due and Reminders
Year 6 Ern Halliday Camp Permission and Payment Due 11 March 2022
Voluntary contributions and online learning costs as per the Personal Requirements List (if not paid through Campion)
Upcoming
No Orchestra or choir until further notice
Swim Squad will go ahead as usual.
Message from the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers
What a relief to have some cooler weather! Despite the heat, we have fared so much better than our fellow Australians in Queensland and New South Wales. My thoughts are with those who have lost their homes and possessions in the current floods, and also with those in other parts of the world who have been displaced from their homes and their country, and separated from family members. In comparison, wearing masks and constantly sanitising everything seems manageable.
COVID-19 Update
COVID-19 Update for families 1 March 2022
Please find attached, a summary of information related to school-based COVID-19 measures. It is essentially a summary of the protocols that the Department of Education has put in place, based on advice from the Chief Health Officer. The only recent change for schools follows yesterday’s announcement that the children in Years 3-6 would be required to wear masks indoors, commencing Thursday. This is a measure that we knew was coming, and my understanding is that it’s anticipated to be a temporary measure, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 as case numbers continue to increase in the next two to three weeks. The intention is to minimise the number of students/classes required to isolate for seven days if a student or teacher in their class contracts the virus; and to minimise the number of people in the community who become seriously ill and require hospitalisation. Mask wearing is one of a number of ‘Level 2’ measures that are expected to be in place during March only, and will be reviewed at the end of the month. Children in Years 3-6, apart from those with a medical exemption and/or a specific disability, are required to wear masks in all public indoor settings – this isn’t something unique to schools and classrooms. You can find more information about Level 2 measures generally, via the link below.
Media Statements – Level 2 public health measures to keep WA safe as border opens
Home Schooling versus Remote Learning
Home schooling refers to something quite specific and requires parents to register with their local Department of Education Regional Office, to school their child or children at home. When parents register a child for Home Schooling they assume responsibility for the child’s education.
Remote learning refers to something quite different, and is intended to simply provide some continuity of learning for children when they are unable to attend school for a short period of time. For example, when they are required to isolate because they are considered a close contact of someone who has COVID-19, or a sibling of a close contact who is not old enough to isolate independently. Schools have approached remote learning to best meet the needs of their individual school community. At Kapinara, teachers have planned for the term as they normally would. That is, based on the WA Curriculum and information about the children in their class. Each week they are identifying key aspects of the teaching and learning program that could ‘reasonably’ be completed at home, if required. While some tasks are made available via Connect and/or SeeSaw, this provision is not a substitute for face-to-face teaching.
(If whole classes were learning from home for extended periods of time, as they were required to do in the eastern states last year, it is anticipated that this would look different again, involving Webex sessions etc. It is not practicable however, for teachers to teach face-to-face and online simultaneously).
Recording Student Attendance
The position of our Department is that schools are safe places for learning and that children should be attending school unless they are unwell, or they need to isolate for a short period of time. Where a child is isolating and there is evidence that the child is accessing at least some of the remote learning activities provided, this absence is ‘authorised’ and recorded as such. Where a child is unwell, this is also an ‘authorised’ absence. Choosing to stay at home based on concerns regarding COVID or any of the measures in place are not authorised absences, and remote learning is not intended as a substitute for school attendance. The alternative in this case would be to register for home schooling, even if this was a temporary measure. We have attached some information on home schooling that was developed in 2020, if you would like to read more about this. Home Schooling Information
Also attached is some information, including a fact sheet, developed by Telethon Kids Institute around childhood vaccinations if you are interested. Tomorrow there will also be a link to some information about children and masks. I hope you find this helpful. We remain in unchartered territory and our young people are depending on the adults in their lives to be reassuring and optimistic. I appreciate how difficult this can be, but it’s important that we all give it our best shot!
Telethon Kids Institute Covid-19-kids-fact sheet
Telethon Kids Institute Vaccines for Primary School Kids
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you wish to talk anything through. In the meantime, stay well.
Best wishes
Elizabeth Blackwell
Principal