I trust that you have stayed safe and well over the weekend. As Premier Mark McGowan announced earlier today, pending no further cases, the current three day lockdown will end at 12:01am Tuesday, with the Perth and Peel regions moving to Interim Restrictions until 12:01am Saturday, 1st May. St Dominic’s School will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, 27th April.
With the above restrictions in place, the following arrangements have been made to ensure that students, parents and carers at St Dominic’s can be involved safely and in line with current regulations.
Parent and Caregiver Access
Parents and caregivers are able to enter school grounds to drop off and pick up their children, however, must:
- enter and exit the school through the main school gates located on Beatrice Street (not the ‘Kiss and Ride’ gate),
- sign in using the SafeWA app (QR code located on main school gates),
- wear a mask at all times, unless medically exempt,
- practice 1.5 metre physical distancing, where practicable,
- not congregate in groups,
- follow good personal hygiene practices, and
- use the hand sanitiser located at the entrance to the school grounds.
Parents should not enter classrooms this week unless approval is granted by the Principal.
All visitors to the school during the day (outside of drop off and pick up times) are required to adhere to the above directives, as well as report to the main office before entering the school.
Masks
The most important aspect of the Interim Restrictions will be a requirement to wear masks at all times when outside of the home environment. This week the following expectations regarding the wearing of masks at St Dominic’s will apply:
- St Dominic’s School staff will be required to wear a mask at all times, unless they are providing teaching or instructions to students.
- There is no requirement for students from Kindergarten to Year 6 to wear a mask but may choose to do so if they wish.
- Masks must be worn at all times by any adult entering the school grounds.
Although our students experienced seeing masks warn earlier in the year, some students may still find seeing their teacher and trusted adults wearing mask a little strange or even confronting. I would encourage you to speak with your child/ren about this new norm this evening, you may even wish to again model wearing a mask as a way of helping them with this transition back to mandatory mask wearing. Below is an article with helpful tips about how to speak with young children about this topic as well as a social story called ‘My Teacher Wears a Mask’.
Face masks and coronavirus (COVID-19): supporting children 0-12 years
My Teacher Wears a Mask Social Story
Student Attendance
Students who are unwell should stay at home and parents are asked to seek medical advice if their child exhibits symptoms of COVID-19. The normal processes for advising the school of a child’s absence continues to apply.
Drop Off
Families are reminded that students in Year 1 to 6 should not be arriving on school grounds before 8:15am (8:30am for Kindy and Pre Primary students).
Normal drop off procedures put in place last year will continue. The following applies to all Kindy – Year 6 students.
- A staff member will be present at the ‘Kiss and Ride’ driveway each morning from 8:15am to 8:45am and will assist students onto the school grounds.
- Staff members will continue to be on hand to escort our Kindy and Pre-Primary students into their classrooms and these parents should drop off after 8:30am.
- We encourage all families to continue using this option, especially during this week.
- Students not being dropped off by car at the ‘Kiss and Ride’ driveway are expected to enter the school grounds through the main school entrance on Beatrice Street and not through the gate located at the ‘Kiss and Ride’ driveway.
- Kindy and Pre-Primary families not utilising the ‘Kiss and Ride’ option, are required to drop their child/ren at the classroom door located on the courtyard side of the classroom.
- Parents and caregivers entering the school at this time will also need to comply with the ‘Parent and Caregiver Access’ guidelines outlined above.
Pick Up
Kindy – Year 6 students will have access to the ‘Kiss and Ride’ option as per normal and OSH Club at Yuluma will continue to be available via our usual procedures.
We encourage all families to use the ‘Kiss and Ride’ option for pick up in the afternoon.
Parents who wish to park in the school or church carpark and collect their children from outside classrooms, will need to follow the below procedure:
- Enter the school through the main school gate located on Beatrice Street (not the ‘Kiss and Ride’ gate).
- Collect children from outside classrooms or from the main gate. Kindy and Pre-Primary students are to be collected by a parent/ caregiver from the door located on the courtyard side of the classroom.
- Exit the school via the main gate located on Beatrice Street (not the ‘Kiss and Ride’ gate).
- Parents and caregivers entering the school at this time will also need to comply with the ‘Parent and Caregiver Access’ guidelines outlined above.
Playground Use Before and After School
The junior and senior playgrounds are closed before and after school. After collecting students from the classroom, families should exit the school in a timely manner via the main gate.
Water Fountains
Our water fountains will remain on during this period, however, it is strongly recommended that students continue to bring a water bottle each day for their own personal use. These bottles can be refilled via the chilled water bottle refill stations installed earlier in the year.
Uniform Shop
Online orders are still our preferred option this week, however, if absolutely necessary parents may physically attend the shop by making an appointment with our manager, Peta Kelly. To arrange an appointment time, please contact Peta via admin@stdominics.wa.edu.au or by calling the front office.
All students should now be wearing the correct winter uniform as outlined in our School Uniform Requirements document.
CEWA Safe Hands Initiative
St Dominic’s School will continue to promote CEWA’s Safe Hands initiative. Children will be encouraged to use the hand sanitiser provided each time they enter the classroom and will be given time to wash their hands regularly throughout the day.
If your child is feeling particularly anxious about returning to school tomorrow, please contact your child’s classroom teacher who will be able to assist with their transition. Your child’s health and well-being remains our first priority.
Information about the Government’s announcement is available on the wa.gov.au site and the latest health information can be found via the WA Health Department.
Over the coming week, we will continue to focus on providing a calm and safe environment for your children. Hopefully these restrictions will only be for the short term and we can look forward to returning to fewer restrictions in the very near future. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any queries.
The School’s Leadership Team will continue to monitor the situation closely and will be in contact with parents and carers if any further changes need to be made. Please note that some events currently on the school calendar may not be able to go ahead. We will provide further updates with regards to which events can and can’t go ahead, as soon as we receive additional directives from Catholic Education Western Australia, who are currently working closely with the Education and Health Departments.
Leon Bolding
Principal