As I communicated to all families on Tuesday morning via Compass, Year 7 students in metropolitan Melbourne will resume face-to-face learning from Monday 12 October, along with our Year 11 and 12 students and Year 10 students studying a VCE subject or VCAL. Students in Years 8 to 10 will return to onsite learning from Monday 26 October.

This staggered return is based on the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer and is designed to manage the increased movement across the community with the return of staff and students to school. A return of Years 8 to 10 students from 26 October will provide enough time to enable monitoring of the impact of the first stage of students returning to school. The staggered approach to getting all students in all year levels back to on-site schooling will also support a more gradual increase of community mobility across metropolitan Melbourne, while providing a full 14 days between stages to account for a full incubation period of the virus.

We will be emailing out via Compass this week our updated Return to School guide for parents and students. Please note, temperature checking of students is no longer required, however, all students will be required to wear a mask and social distancing requirements will be followed as is practically possible. Hand sanitising stations remain in key locations across the school.

Schools across Victoria – three collective priorities for this term are clear:

1. supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing
2. identifying those who need help catching up and extending those who have progressed
3. preparing for successful transitions.

However, a pre-condition is that we ensure all our schools continue to remain safe environments based on four key pillars:

1. reinforcing COVIDSafe behaviours, such as staying at home and getting tested when unwell, physical distancing where possible and wearing masks
2. creating COVIDSafe spaces, including ensuring ventilation and regular cleaning
3. promoting COVIDSafe activities, such as limiting visitors to schools, and reducing mixing between groups
4. responding to any coronavirus (COVID-19) risk

We look forward to welcoming three year levels back onsite next week (along with Year 10 VCAL and any Year 10 student studying a VCE subject) and we will continue to provide a quality remote learning program for our students in Years 8-10 until their return date on 26th October. The most important action parents and carers can take for these students is to continue to provide comfort, support, and encouragement for your child, in addition to a suitable learning space at home. Arrangements will be put in place for any vulnerable, at risk or PSD students in Years 8-10 who require onsite supervision as outlined in our guide. We will continue to do our best to support our Year 8-10 families to navigate through this final stretch of remote learning. Please don’t hesitate to call or email a member of the College leadership team, IT or wellbeing team if you need our assistance in any way.

Ms. Michelle Roberts

Principal