Now in our third week of schooling, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the vast majority of students on their level of engagement, sense of enthusiasm and overall commitment to the school’s core values of safe, respectful and responsible. It is terrific having students back at school undertaking their education and from all reports, they are really trying to achieve their best in a respectful manner.

Provision of Education

· As a result of the delay to the commencement of the school year, staff have adjusted programs of work so as to provide students with the very best opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do.

· If students are at home in isolation for a period of time or if a parent/carer decides to delay their child’s start to school, learning can continue via Learning@Home online resource.

· Teachers will only be operating in Face to Face education delivery at this time.

Workforce Planning – Combining Classes https://alt-qed.qed.qld.gov.au/covid-19/Documents/back-to-school-plan.pdf

In line with the Back to School 2022 plan, we have a plan in place to ensure the continuity of learning for all students and to minimise the disruption to student learning as much as possible. There will be times that we will need to combine same year level classes. We will try to limit this as much as possible; however, there will be circumstances where this will have to occur. We appreciate your understanding and support during these times.

Stop, Drop and Go

Please do not park in our Stop, Drop and Go to wait for children from other schools. We have a number of parents who are using our Stop, Drop and Go to sit and wait to collect their children from the local high school. Please ensure that you move off, away from Stop, Drop and Go as soon as you have collected your primary aged child/ren from our school. If you have a child/ren attending the local high school, I encourage you to collect them first from their Stop, Drop and Go and then move to the primary school. The high school has an earlier finishing time.

https://www.facebook.com/CalliopeStateSchool/videos/464651811146265

The safety of our students is a priority at Calliope State School; please be patient when using Stop, Drop and Go. Do not park in the Stop, Drop & Go zones at any time as this congests the flow of traffic and blocks access to the kerb. Some key points to remember:

· Stay in your car and leave the car running so that you can move forward (this maintains a steady flow of traffic).

· Keep left while queuing for Stop, Drop & Go.

· Children must enter and exit cars from the kerb side only.

· Give way when exiting the drop zone.

· In the afternoon, delay your arrival to minimise traffic congestion.

· If your child is not yet at Stop, Drop & Go, drive slowly through the carpark and turn right just before the exit to re-join the queue.

If you are unable to use Stop, Drop & Go area in this manner, please park your vehicle to drop or collect your child.

Scooters and Bikes

We have had some issue with students riding their scooters and bikes through the Stop, Drop and Go area. This is unsafe behaviour as there are adults and children as well as the movement of cars in close proximity to them. Please talk to your children if they ride bikes or scooters and remind them how to walk safely in this area. Our staff will also be speaking to them when they see these unsafe behaviours.

Provision of RAT and Process for Students and Staff who are unwell:

· There will be priority access to Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) at Queensland Health testing clinics for students and staff who have COVID-19 symptoms.

· RATs will be available at school for students and staff who develop symptoms while on site. Staff will not be administering RATs with children. The parent/carer will be required to collect the student. Upon collection the parent/carer will be given a RAT to administer once off site.

The school should then be notified of the result. If an administered test is positive then home isolation must commence. The same process will be followed by staff if they become symptomatic whilst on site.

You can access the Back to School plan here, and further information and FAQs on the Department of Education COVID-19 website.

Unwell children Essential to the success of these measures is that if your child is unwell or displaying any COVID-19 symptoms, they must not attend school. I cannot emphasise this message strongly enough – it is critical to keeping our school community safe. Your child, if they have COVID-19 symptoms, can visit your local Queensland health testing clinic and will be given priority access to a free RAT.

Communication

If you would like to talk through an issue that you or your child is having at school, please ensure that you contact the classroom teacher as your first point of call. If you need further support after talking to the classroom teacher, please do not hesitate to organise a time, through the Administration Team in the office, to meet with a Deputy Principal (Raelene Norris P-3 and Bec Crapp Years 4-6). Please contact Administration on the following details between 8am and 4pm:

Phone: 49 758 333 Email: admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au

Staff of the Week Leadership Award - Paige McQuillan (Year 3 Teacher)

For her fantastic approach to implementing Positive Behaviour for Learning. Paige is proactively implementing Good News Letters, Positive communication with parents and building positive relationships with her students. We can see you’ve been reading Say What!

Staff Member of the Week Peer Award – Desiree Philip (Year 6 Teacher)

For following the Calliope Behaviour Support Process and following the procedure to record classroom incidents correctly to be actioned by support staff. Desiree communicates positively with others.

FINAL THOUGHT