Returning to school full-time

Returning to School Full time from Monday 25 May onwards

Dear Parents and Carers

Today I am sending home the guide that all principals received yesterday as part of our briefing from the Department of Education regarding the return to face to face teaching on Monday 25 May. This has already been put on Facebook and Dojo. Please read this thoroughly as this will hopefully answer the questions that you may have.

Many of you have already returned to school on a regular or semi-regular basis and will be aware of the processes that have been put into place.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we started new gate procedures for the front gate. This requires parents to wait on the grass area (with physical distancing) and then come one at a time to the gate opening to pick up their child. Once you have your child, you then move away, allowing the next parent to pick up their child. Children will not be sent out to meet parents. This is to ensure the safety of our students.

I want to thank the parents who were so understanding during our trial yesterday. The process went smoothly and there were no issues.

Whilst we are talking about safety, I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents of

• the speed coming down the driveway within the school is 15km/h. A member of staff was almost hit by a car the other day as a car was speeding down the driveway to drop off children who were running late for school.
• ensuring the crossing is used at the end of the day instead dodging the cars by crossing at other places. Not only does this put you and your child at risk, but it sets a poor example to children regarding obeying the rules of the road. It may add a couple of minutes to your walk, but ultimately, the safety of everyone on site is paramount.

It is important to note that the on-line packages will cease as of the end of this week. This is because students are expected to be back at school unless they are unwell or have a medical certificate which states that they are unable to return to school due to an ongoing medical condition. (Please see attached information). Please make sure that this week’s package is returned in week 5 to enable teachers the opportunity to provide feedback for the work that has been completed.

I am including this important message from the P&C

The P&C are very excited to re-open the canteen next week! However, to meet the guidelines and recommendations still in place for COVID-19, there will be some changes to the way the canteen needs to operate for now.

Most importantly to note, the canteen will NOT be open for cash sales. All lunch orders must be placed through Flexischools. There will be no over the counter service which includes the selling of items during the lunch break.

We endeavour to be able to return to the full menu that was available in Term 1, with the exception of iceblocks and slushies. With no over the counter service, it is not possible to provide these to students until guidelines change. If any regular item becomes unavailable, this will be noted within Flexischools online system.

It’s now more important than ever to be a part of the Flexischool community to ensure we can continue to run the canteen in these challenging times! Lunch orders can easily be placed online at any time of the day. The process is cashless and parents have the ability to monitor what their children order. Please note, online orders close at 9am each day.

If you don’t yet have a Flexischools account, please sign up today by downloading the Flexischools App or visiting www.flexischools.com.au

We look forward to re-opening the canteen and being able to provide this service to students. Please support the P&C by ordering online, to ensure we can continue to remain operational each day. 

Thanks

P&C

I again want to thank you for your patience, your understanding and for continuing to work with us as we enter this new phase.

I especially want to thank the staff at Tomaree Public School. Thank you for completely turning yourselves upside down with a few days warning to ensure the success of the home learning packages and for the way you have continued to adapt and change. Thank you too for your professionalism and dedication to the students and families at Tomaree Public School, and for your support and concern in this unprecedented time. It has been such a team effort that has involved every member of the staff, from admin, to SLSOs, to our General Assistants and of course, our teachers.

What an amazing team.

Take care and we look forward to seeing you all back next week

Christene Gray

Proud Principal of Tomaree Public School