Dear Families

As you are aware from the letters we have been sending home this week, we have a number of people within our school community who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who are close contacts due to family members testing positive.

The situation is shifting and changing quite rapidly and we are working to communicate these changes and updates with families as effectively as possible.

We will continue to alert families if there has been a positive COVID-19 test result directly related to your child’s class, however it is not sustainable for us to continue sending out a blanket letter to the whole school with each notification of a new COVID-19 positive case.

We now know that we have COVID-19 within our school community and therefore it is essential and expected that each and every one of us is vigilant around monitoring for symptoms.

As stated in the letters we sent home this week, if your child develops symptoms, stay away from school and do a RAT (Rapid Antigen Test).  Additional RAT tests are available on request from the school office, however please note that if you or anyone in your household is displaying symptoms, RAT tests must be sourced through Public Health, NOT by coming to the school.

If the RAT returns a positive result, please:

• Keep your child at home and follow the instructions on the Tasmanian Government COVID-19 website.
• Register the RAT result with Public Health using their online declaration form or phone the Public Health Hotline 1800 671 738
• Let the school know for attendance records and learning support

There may be instances when we are advised of a positive COVID test result or Close Contact after school hours. If this is the case, we will notify families the following day.

If you have any questions or concerns, please phone the Department of Education’s COVID-19 Support Hotline on 1800 816 057 or email COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au

What We Are Doing To Be COVID Safe

We are doing a range of things to keep everyone within our school as safe as possible.

These include:

• Staying home if unwell
• Regular hand washing/sanitising
• Additional cleaning of high-touch surfaces
• Adults keeping 1.5m physical distance
• Adults wearing face masks on site (including outdoors for visitors)
• Increased ventilation with open windows and doors
• Making use of outdoor learning spaces
• Air purifiers to help remove particulates in the air
• All staff, volunteers and contractors fully vaccinated

As much as possible, we encourage families to engage in Stop, Drop and Go and Pick-Up and Go. This helps us to minimise the number of people we have on site, as well as the amount of time spent on site.

Communicating with Families

Being able to communicate quickly and efficiently with families has become increasingly important as information regarding COVID-19 in our community changes and evolves.

We are intending to use Schoolzine more consistently for sending communication and information to families.

Please, if you are not already accessing our school newsletter via Schoolzine, contact the office so that we can ensure you have access.

Returning to school after recovering from COVID-19

It is important for everyone to be aware of the rules and expectations for members of our school community who have recovered from COVID-19. These rules have been set by the Department of Education in consultation with Public Health.

Members of our school community who have recovered from COVID-19 and who have completed the required isolation period are not required to provide evidence of a negative test when returning to school. Public Health advice is that individuals can leave isolation seven days after the date of their positive test result, unless they are still experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

Anyone who has tested positive and registered this (as required) with Public Health will receive a ‘release from isolation’ message from Public Health upon completion of the required isolation period. They do not need to provide evidence of this message to return to school. As long as they are well, members of our school community can return to school seven days after their positive case regardless of whether they have other household members isolating.

If someone continues to display symptoms of COVID-19 beyond their required isolation period, they should isolate for a further three days and seek medical advice if symptoms continue. Those who have recovered from COVID-19, and are not immunocompromised, do not have to undergo a rapid antigen test if there is a group or school outbreak for 28 days following their positive case. They also do not have to isolate if they are deemed a close contact (i.e. from a household member) within those 28 days.

Upon return to school, people must continue to follow other COVID-safe measures.

If there are any changes to the rules and expectations surrounding the return to school after recovering from COVID-19, we will let families know.

Weekly Wondering – Being curious and creative thinkers

Last Thursday was quite windy and a twig with lots and lots and lots of gumnuts was blown down from one of our trees.

I wonder how many seeds are inside each gumnut?

I wonder what would happen to the world we live in if every seed off every plant germinated and grew?

I wonder if anything uses gum tree seeds as food?

What do you and your family wonder about these gumnuts and seeds?