From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have had a lovely holiday with your children after the unique period that was Term 2! As I reflect on the many changes that occurred in relation to how we interacted with each other both professionally and socially while we totally re-structured teaching and learning processes to learn from home and then return to school, it is no wonder that we all felt in need of a break. I am enormously proud of the way Yass High School’s community rose to these challenges and maintained our focus on teaching, learning and community connectedness.
Term 3 begins with a Staff Development Day on Monday 20th July with students returning to classes on Tuesday 21st July. Schools continue to be safe and operations are in line with AHPPC and NSW Health guidelines and, as such, are continuing with full-time on-campus learning. All students should be learning at school unless they are unwell or have a medical certificate to support their absence.
To ensure the safety of everyone at Yass High School, certain procedures from last term remain in place:
- Physical distancing is not required for students but remains for all adults (1.5m).
- Good personal hygiene is a continued focus and the school is well supplied with hand sanitisers, soap, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).
- Infection control processes are still in place with the additional cleaning of high touch areas continuing throughout the day.
- Non-essential adults are still not permitted on school grounds or at school events. This includes parents and carers except for face-to-face parent/teacher meetings that are essential (e.g. to discuss disciplinary or other welfare matters).
- Adults who need to be on site for approved purposes (such as canteen, uniform shop, construction/maintenance providers, SRE providers, delivery of special programs or to discuss student welfare/discipline concerns) will be required to complete a Visitor Acknowledgement Form. This collects contact information if contact tracing is required and has reminders on safe hygiene behaviours.
- School camps and excursions are still not permitted, although field trips to outdoor locations where physical distancing can occur are allowed.
- School-based activities that involve large gatherings of adults are banned. This affects cultural and celebration events. Further clarification around NAIDOC Day celebrations and Year 12 Graduation events will be provided during the term.
- Parents/carers of students who become unwell during the school day will be called and asked to take their child home, as is our usual practice.
As the focus on the containment of COVID-19 continues across NSW, there is a current concern around transmission from Victoria. Students who have visited Victoria over the holidays and have returned after the closure of the Victoria-NSW border at 12.01am on July 8 are required to self-isolate for 14 days after their return before commencing school. Please notify the Front Office staff if your children are in this category. NSW Health has requested anyone who has been in Victoria and is unwell or has flu-like symptoms to arrange to be tested for COVID-19.
Several previously excluded activities can re-commence this term:
- School sporting activities including all contact sports and inter-school competitions
- Choirs and performing arts activities
- School assemblies (but limited to 15 minutes)
- White card training
- Face-to-face TAFE attendance
- SBATs (School Base Apprenticeships and Traineeships), work experience, VET work placements
- Transition activities (with additional care to reduce the mixing of students from different schools)
- SRE (‘Scripture’) will re-commence for Years 7 and 8 this term. Only students who have signed permission from parents/carers are able to attend these classes. All other students will be supervised with private study. The permission for a student to attend or not attend SRE can be changed at any time throughout the year by sending a signed note to the Front Office.
With the return of all students to school next week, I ask for your support with preparing your children for our usual school structures and expectations:
- School uniform is expected to be worn (which includes the school jumper in this colder weather) – as always, Year Advisors and Deputy Principals are here to help if needed;
- Personal equipment for learning (pens, pencils, rulers, etc) is essential as sharing of resources is not permitted in the health guidelines;
- Normal expectations regarding learning and behaviour continue with in line with the school’s Student Management System.
We will continue with the school timetable that was in place at the end of last term. The changes made to the Wednesday timetable will remain with Year groups have separate sport times.
Thank you for your continued support of the school as we work together to provide your children with a quality education in a safe and happy learning environment. I am hopeful of better times ahead with further relaxing of restrictions as the year progresses. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school next Tuesday for a busy and productive term.
Warm regards,
Linda Langton
Principal
