COVID-19

We have a number of protective measures in place as a result of the High Caseload Settings announced yesterday.

Although these restrictions will be challenging for the community, the positive aspect is that students and staff will be back at school much quicker should they be deemed a close contact of a positive case and continue to test negative or exhibit no symptoms.

The goal is to minimise the impact of the pandemic on your child’s learning journey and keep schools open as COVID-19 becomes more present in the community. Please be reassured that as a staff and School Board, we are fully aware of the implications these restrictions place on the school’s operations. Knowledge gained and processes implemented throughout the COVID-19 experience in 2020 and 2021 has ensured we can remain operational, maximise learning opportunities and minimise health and safety risks. We encourage parents and caregivers to begin ‘Kiss and Drop’ at the classroom door or school gates as soon as possible.

Although we know it will be difficult for you to have less involvement in the classroom and less opportunities to connect as a community, I’m sure you will agree that face-to-face learning, staff and student safety and keeping your child connected to their friends needs to be our priority at this time. Let’s hope we can transition back to how we operated for the majority of 2021 before too long.

What do you need to know?

• Parents are welcome at school for drop-off and pick-up.
• You do not need to be vaccinated or show proof of vaccination to pick up or drop off a child.
• If you volunteer at school more than once a week or at multiple schools within a week (eg canteen, uniform shop), you need to meet the vaccination requirements and show proof of vaccination or exemption.
• There are a few ways you can show proof of your COVID-19 vaccination, both in a digital and paper based form. The easiest way to show your proof of vaccination evidence is using the ServiceWA app.
• Your child does not need to be vaccinated to attend school. Parents are encouraged to get their children 5 years and older vaccinated. Information on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines is available on healthywa.wa.gov.au.
• More information: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/high-caseload-measures-schools-and-childcare.

Things we are doing to keep your child safe at school:

• Break times have now been staggered to limit different year levels mingling.
• Whole school assemblies will not go ahead. Merit Certificates will still be handed out in classrooms and announced on our special assembly program ‘Behind the Rose’
• Choir is still postponed.
• Staff and regular visitors to schools must meet vaccinations requirements.
• Our students and staff are encouraged to regularly clean their hands with soap and/or sanitiser.
• Staff, students and parents/carers must stay home when sick. Please notify the school if your child will not be attending school.
• Physical contact and physical greetings are avoided where possible.
• Ventilation assessments have been conducted in schools with physical checks of windows and doors and on mechanical ventilation (air conditioning units) to ensure adequate ventilation.
• All classrooms will be required to have doors and windows open throughout the school day and use air conditioning and fans to keep air moving.
• A portable unit has been provided to observe CO2 levels in classrooms as required.
• 5 air purifiers have been provided by the Department of Education and will be deployed to areas deemed as having insufficient ventilation as per the school assessment.
• Enhanced cleaning before and after school.

Maps of the Staggered Play and Eating Areas

Continuity of Teaching and Learning

At Rosalie, we will continue to teach students as we always have.

Please be assured that our staff have planned for multiple scenarios, including planned work for individual students required to isolate, plans for relief staff to continue teaching in the case of staff absence and we have a whole school two week teaching and learning remote learning plan ready to send if we have a full school closure.

As a staff, we will choose activities each day that minimise the risk of exposure. As a parent/carer, you will continue to have the choice whether your child participates in extra-curricular activities.

School is the best place for your child/ren to learn. They have exceptional teachers providing lessons and will be around their friends. Information on home schooling is available on the Department’s website.

School Closure/ Students Quarantining

If the Chief Health Officer advises us that we need to close the school or have groups of students learning at home, we will:

• provide online learning resources and/ or hard copy learning packages
• support vulnerable students remotely or refer them to the School of Special Educational Needs
• access additional support for our students’ mental health and wellbeing.

Student or staff member with COVID symptoms

• We will send the student or staff member home and ask them to seek testing in accordance with State guidelines.
• The student will be given a mask to wear and be isolated from others while waiting to be picked up.
• The student will be provided with support to learn from home if they are directed to quarantine by WA Health.
• If they test positive, the Department of Health will advise close contacts (or their families), so they can also be tested.

Current protocols for confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and close contacts

• If your child tests positive for COVID-19, please inform the principal as soon as possible. Contact Roslyn Kay, by email (rosalie.ps@education.wa.edu.au) or via the school phone number (08) 9366 9700 during office hours.
• The principal will inform the Department of Education and work with the Department of Health to manage the response. The principal does not have the authority to close the school.
• If the school must close temporarily due to a confirmed case, the WA Health Department’s Chief Health Officer will advise the principal. The community will receive a notification via text message and email from the school with further information.
• The school site may be closed temporarily to allow for assessment and contact tracing to be conducted. A thorough deep clean will also be carried out to make the school safe for the return of students and staff due to being confirmed as a close contact of a positive case in the school environment, clear communication will be delivered to affected families in conjunction with Department of Health WA.
• Students required to quarantine will be provided with access to our ‘Student Isolating’ home learning program.