Dear Parents and Families

Naturally my first message this week is around the Coronovirus (COVID-19) pandemic that we are all dealing with across the world. As I said in my address last week to our school (and the link to a video recording of this can be found on our Facebook site) this is a serious situation that we are all facing; an extraordinary unprecedented situation that requires extraordinary measures. It is ALL our responsibility to ensure we are doing all we can to mitigate the risks of contracting the virus and/or passing it on to others. 

As a school we acted swiftly last week to put in place several measures to support good hygiene practices and social distancing requirements. My senior team spent hours after work preparing rosters and allocating wash areas for EVERY class before break times. We also have implemented a system where students are staggered in their access to their lockers and the canteen, as these are areas of high congestion.  Classroom seating arrangements have changed, and students are reminded about social distancing in the playground. Your child may have informed you about these new arrangements and whilst they may have seemed novel at first, I can sincerely say that everyone in our community is aware about the importance of adhering to these procedures. Other measures in place have included access to soap and hand sanitiser across the school in all areas, cleaning procedures around equipment, for example cooking aprons, protective eye wear, computer keyboards and hard surface areas. We have mobile cleaning kits in every classroom to access and visual reminders across the school about safe practices.

I would like to send a massive thank you to everyone in our school (staff and our amazing students) for the mature and sensible way they have adopted what will be “our new normal” around everything related to COVID-19 and what we have to do in our environment. The students have been amazing and certainly epitomising our values and ROCKS every day in their conduct and behaviour. All our staff have been equally amazing in ensuring we are as safe and as clean as we can be. Our EFAs (cleaning & grounds staff) have been working overtime as have the Admin Team in preparing communications, posters, fielding calls from families etc.   Thank you for your professionalism and commitment.

There is certainly an avalanche of information that we all can access or are exposed to every day and I know we have and will continue to push out to families regular updates from the Department of Education as they come in. I apologise in advance for this overload but it is vital that we keep communication channels very open and inform our community as much as possible. You can access information on the DoE website, and we have also uploaded all the information we receive and send out to families on our school webpage. This is also accessible via Schoolzine.

Some very hot topics at present are around school attendance and school closures and there are some information sheets around both on these sites. We are informed daily by our Secretary of Education around any new information and they access their information from the State and Federal Public Health Authorities, with whom they are in daily contact with around all information. At this point in time we have not been informed about school closures. As a school and as a DoE we are preparing for the possibility that this may occur in the future. We sent out a Google Form survey around technology access at home for all our families. If you have not responded to this survey can I ask that you do please as we want to have a very clear audit of who will be able to access on-line learning at home and who will need alternative provisions. As a school we are in an extremely good position to deliver on-line learning for all our students across most learning areas as we are well advanced with our on-line platform Canvas.

Advice on sending children to school has also been sent out from the DoE and it is certainly parents’ choice as to quarantine your child(ren) at home. No sanctions will apply. Can I please stress if students are presenting unwell in any condition, it is in the best interest of everyone in our school community that they remain at home.

We are very mindful of the anxiety and concerns that this epidemic can trigger in many and have avenues for students and staff to access support. Students have a question box in all grade areas and can access on-line check in’s through their Canvas Home Room site. Our support staff team are always available to assist as are all staff so please let your Grade Teams know if you think your child needs more support.

As I said to the students last week, it is a time to think about what we CAN do to assist and protect the health and wellbeing of ourselves and those around us. It is important to remain calm, well-informed and proactive in our conduct. It is also important to remember to be kind and respect and care for each other. Our Prefects have compiled a fabulous video with some important messages, please take the time to have a look.

In other news:

A change of focus now to some more celebratory news:

Red Sprites Racers F1 in Schools success

They also were awarded the Best Verbal Presentation in Professional Class. Outstanding work. A big thank you to Mr Richardson and all his work in supporting, coaching and mentoring the team. Also, to Jen Copeland for accompanying the team and to all businesses and companies who have supported our team to be able to attend and compete. It is a wonderful example of a flexible STEM program in our school.

Swimming Carnival

Reports

All student interim reports have been sent home and detail progress to date particularly around work habits in the classroom. Please take the time to discuss these with your child and each report had accompanying emails to contact teachers if you wish to discuss anything further. We will not be conducting face to face parent teacher interviews at this time. Thank you to Mrs Lovitt for all her work in coordinating our reporting process.

Debating Teams

I am absolutely thrilled that KMHS has joined the Northern School Debating roster and we have junior and senior teams preparing to participate when the restrictions on such events are lifted (post Coronavirus). Thank you to Mr Walker-Bowd and Mrs Ritchie for co-ordinating and supporting these teams. They have been meeting and preparing whilst competition is on hold.

Literacy Leaders

Another exciting literacy innovation from Ms Furley and Mrs Dobson this year has been the introduction of Literacy Leaders. These selected students have undergone some training modules and have begun working with junior students around reading to assist in their progress. Another wonderful leadership opportunity for our students and also a way to provide extra support to the younger students around reading.

Excursions and Visits:

• Senior Art students had a recent excursion to view the Glover Art pieces and also Art Rage giving them some insight into contemporary artwork and motivate them for future ideas. Thanks to Mrs Wightman for co-ordinating.
• North Melbourne footballers visited the school two weeks ago to do a Q & A session and mini clinic with some students and was really enjoyed by those who participated. 

Congratulations to :

Lachlan Oliver for making the Tasmanian Track team.