GPCC Return to School Plan Term 3 2020

2019 ANNUAL REPORT | MESSAGES FROM KEY SCHOOL BODIES WWW.GPCC.NSW.EDU.AU

GREEN POINT CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Return to School Plan Term 3, 2020 _________ GPCC has the following plan for the on-going operation of the School for Term 3.

We continue to ground our decisions in certain principles and to take into account official medical and social regulations and advice coming from the NSW and Australian Governments.

Our Pandemic Response Plan sees us continuing at Level 4 as we begin to return to normal. (See GPCC website for the PRP). We acknowledge that to remain at Level 4 will require on-going attention to health guidelines for the pandemic.

Principles: 1. “The health advice consistently provided by AHPPC is that attendance at a school campus for education represents a very low risk to students.” (CSA guidance April 2020, AAHPPC 25 April) “In terms of schools, I’ll just reiterate my position which I am absolutely certain of on the basis of evidence, and we look at this continually, about the risk to children. So the risk to children of this virus is much less than in adults and that is very clear right around the world in terms of the severity of the illness.“ (Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical officer at PM Press Briefing Friday 10 July 2020) 2. “Our schools must be healthy and safe environments for students and staff”. (CSA guidance April 2020) 3. “All students must be supported by their school to ensure participation in quality education during the COVID-19 crisis.” (CSA guidance April 2020) 4. “Education staff who identify as high risk, vulnerable or are caring for vulnerable family members, must be supported to work from home.” (National Cabinet Statement) 5. “Schools will remain open for students who need them and no child will be turned away from school.” (Premier’s media release 1 April 2020) 6. GPCC has developed a sound approach to home learning that can be delivered to students at home or at school should we need to revert back to home learning due to a spike in COVID19 infections.

7. Independent schools are not required to comply with public school regulations; however, we watch them closely and only deviate from them for valid reasons.

8. Parents should make the call about when they are comfortable for their child to return to school.

Plan: A. Students will return to school as normal from Monday 27 July 2020.

2 B. No home learning will be taking place.

C. Any teachers who are at risk themselves, will continue to work from home until cleared to return to work – we currently have none in that category.

D. All children are now back at school or are being marked as absent.

E. We continue increased cleaning of classrooms and other surfaces students are in regular contact with, and continue providing hand sanitiser in all Primary classrooms and other high traffic accessible areas around the Secondary school blocks. Soap is available in all toilet blocks.

F. We will re-enforce social distancing for adults in particular, as they remain at a higher risk level than students. Social distancing is not as vital for students, so numbers of students in classrooms will only be limited to the normal classroom capacity.

G. We will hold larger group gatherings such as Year assemblies, staff meetings, devotions etc but will not hold total Primary or Secondary assemblies or Chapel due to the numbers of adults required to be present.

H. The Canteen and Uniform Shops are open for business full time, with some restrictions.

I. We continue to communicate regularly with families via email and our social media sites to ensure everyone is well informed.

J. These measures will be adjusted as the Government relaxes or tightens social distancing and other requirements.

K. Sport and other Co-curricular Activities: a. Sports practices will recommence. b. PE classes and lunchtime play are continuing. c. Band, Choir etc will continue in line with sports practices. d. The School Executive will review these restrictions each week.

L. The suspected COVID-19 case which caused the closure of the school on Friday 3 July has prepared us well should such an incident happen again. The student is cleared of any possible infection and there is no risk to the school community in them returning.

M. Any student or staff member who visited Victoria over the term break is required by order of the Chief Health Officer for NSW to self-isolate for 14 days from the date of their return to NSW. Due to the constantly changing nature of this pandemic situation, this plan will be subject to modification as and when required.

Phillip Nash Principal