Entry and Exit Points for Years 3, 4, 5/6

03-Jun-2020

Dear Families,

Dear Year 3, 4, and 5/6 Families

On Tuesday 9 June, we welcome back our Year 3-6 students as part of the Government’s staggered return to school plans.

It is an exciting time and we are very much looking forward to seeing our students again.

To ensure a safe and smooth return to school, we have implemented a range of measures to support our students. We will need the help of every member of our school community to help transition back successfully and we will be focussing on one of our school values – Doing The Right Thing – over the next few weeks.

We have never lived, taught or parented through a pandemic before and we will not know exactly what might transpire when all of our students are on-site next week. With this in mind, we ask for your patience and understanding as we adapt to the needs of our students and community. There will no doubt be some frustration and parts of the plan may not suit every member of the community.

It will take time to adjust to the changes. We have seen that pick up and drop offs are taking longer than usual (particularly on wet days) and students and families have adapted to the entry and exit gates identified for our Junior school students. I am confident that our Year 3-6 students and families will be able to adapt to the new arrangements, as they become part of our new normal over the final 3 weeks of term 2.

The plans we have in place acknowledge the uniqueness of our school setting and will differ from other schools in our Network. They focus on the safety of our students and families and the need for us all to take a responsible and considerate approach to implementing them.

We know that it is going to be tough. It is going to be tough to adjust back to routines. Tough to recommence learning at school and tough to adapt to a new school schedule. We are also reminded that ‘tough times never last but tough people do’ and we will tough this out together.

We have sought advice from our Kingston Council on ways to ease congestion around the school perimeter at the start and the end of the day. Their recommendations include (if possible and safe to do so) “to use short distance points away from the school, to park and wait for children to walk to the car, or to park and walk and wait within a physically safe distance to the school”. If you are parking your car to collect your child, please plan with your child, where you will be parking. If it is possible, we encourage your child to meet you at your vehicle and ask that all parents and students always use the school and pedestrian crossings. Please do not call your child across a road to meet you at your car.

As the main risk of introducing coronavirus (COVID-19) to the school environment is from adults, close proximity between adult members of the school community should be avoided; particularly during school drop-off and pick-up. We have taken these steps to reduce the number of adults congregating outside the school and encourage social distancing.

 

Entrance to school grounds:

We request that students of the following year levels, enter through their designated gate: By opening as many entry and exit points to the school as is safe; and allocating staff to ensure students are safely supervised we are hoping that students and parents feel safe and confident with their arrival/departure from school.

  • In order to reduce adult to adult contact, all parents are respectfully requested to NOT ENTER the school grounds.
  • Parents can only enter the school grounds in exceptional circumstances and after contacting the school by phone or email as required to organise. An example might be an early pick up for a doctor’s appointment
  • Families will need to plan for and adapt to altered arrangements to arrive at times specified.
  • Teachers will help and support children to change their readers / put their bags away and help them settle into their classrooms and routines.
  • Non-contact greetings are strongly encouraged.

Staggered start and end to the day:

  • We will have a staggered start and end to each day – organised by year levels, while also enabling siblings to arrive/leave together at the same time (and through the same gate) and be safely supervised while on the school site.
  • Students in Years 3 – 6 will commence and finish their days 15 minutes earlier, starting at 8:45am and finishing at 3:15pm. This will come in to effect from 9 June. Recess will be between 10:15am and 10:45am and lunch between 12:45pm and 1:45pm.
  • Staff will be on-site to meet our Year 3-6 students from 8:30am to support students to transition back to face-to-face teaching safely and successfully.
  • For families with more than one child attending school at different staggered start and finish times, we encourage siblings to arrive together as close to 8:45am as possible and leave together as close to 3:30pm as practical.
  • We are keen to make the end of the day successful and safe for families with more than one child at school who we have asked to be collected from different gates. We do not expect parents to move from gate to gate and we encourage families to drop off and collect your children from only ONE of their designated entry/exit points.
  • Lunch and Recess times will be staggered to reduce mixing of year levels where possible and reducing possible congestion in our staff rooms.

Picking up students in the afternoon is a busy time around the school: usually more-so than the morning drop off period.

Please note the pick-up time and place for your child.

Teachers will be present to assist with the collection of students at the end of the day

 

Year 3

  • All Year 3s, please enter and depart through the gate located on French Avenue.
  • The bike shelter will be open for students riding and scooting to school and the closest access point is via Haig Avenue.
  • Year 3 map of entry/exit points for return to school Year 3 map of entry/exit points for return to school (437 KB) – 03-Jun-2020

Year 4

  • Year 4B and C, please enter and depart through the gates located at on Edithvale Road near the Hall closest to Munro Avenue
  • Year 4A, please enter and depart through the gates located on Edithvale Road closest to the school crossing
  • The bike shelter will be open for students riding and scooting to school and the closest access point is via Haig Avenue.
  • Year 4 map of entry/exit points for return to school Year 4 map of entry/exit points for return to school (438 KB) – 03-Jun-2020

 

Year 5/6

  • Year 5/6A and 5/6B, please enter and depart through the gate located on French Avenue.
  • Year 5/6C and 5/6D, please enter and depart through the gates located on French Avenue near the Staff carpark.
  • The bike shelter will be open for students riding and scooting to school and the closest access point is via Haig Avenue.
  • Year 5/6 map of entry/exit points for return to school Year 5/6 map of entry/exit points for return to school (439 KB) – 03-Jun-2020

Together we will get this right.

Take care and stay safe

Regards

James Whitla

Additional Information:

VolunteerLetter2019  COVID-19 Return to School Policy (534 KB) – 19-May-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Important Information for a Return to School (680 KB) – 19-May-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Return to School Information (168 KB) – 12-May-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Acceptable Use Agreement – ICT (372 KB) – 10-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  DET Secretary Open Letter to Parents (851 KB) – 15-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Digital Technologies Policy (484 KB) – 14-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Edithvale Remote Learning – for parents (263 KB) – 13-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Information about EPS Home Learning with SEESAW (121 KB) – 25-Mar-2020
VolunteerLetter2019   Information Collection Notice (247 KB) – 10-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019   Learning from Home: Information for parents and carers (208 KB) – 10-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Loan of Assets Agreement (444 KB) – 10-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019   On site attendance form (629 KB) – 10-Apr-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  Online Learning Handbook Student Edition (218 KB)
VolunteerLetter2019  Physical Distancing Guidance for Schools (142 KB)
VolunteerLetter2019  WebEx Instructions for Families (509 KB) – 01-May-2020
VolunteerLetter2019  WebEx Meeting Update (359 KB) – 06-May-2020

Resources for all year levels