Covid-19 Update: Mask Wearing @ School
Information provided by DET Victoria: July 31 2020
We have just received the following information to support us in understanding our roles and responsibilities around wearing face masks as of August 3rd, 2020 Please read this information in its entirety. 

Wearing face coverings will be mandatory throughout Victoria from 11.59pm on Sunday August 2nd.

Primary students: Students who attend primary school for on-site supervision will not be required to wear a face covering. Students who are aged 12 or over by Year 6 will not be required to wear face coverings. The Victorian Chief Health Officer has advised that it is not practical to require some primary school students to wear face coverings while others are not required to.

Teachers and Education Support Staff: Teachers and education support staff will not be required to wear face coverings while teaching, but those who wish to do so, can. Teachers and education support staff are required to wear a mask while not teaching. 

Exemptions: Some students and staff are exempt from these requirements. This includes students or staff who have a medical condition - including problems with their breathing, a serious skin condition on the face, a disability or a mental health condition. This includes students who attend specialist schools.
Read about specific exemptions from these requirements.

Parents and Carers: Parents and carers will be required to wear face coverings whenever they leave the house, including for school drop off and pick up. If they are travelling in a car alone, or only with members of their household, they do not need to wear a mask.

Please note that staff, and students who choose to wear a mask, are expected to provide their own face coverings or masks
Attached is a document that parents and caregivers can use to talk with their children about wearing a mask.  
I trust this information helps everyone and we can move into the next stage of the pandemic knowing our responsibilities. 
Be safe everyone! 
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WPS Leadership Team 

RETURN TO SCHOOL: Restrictions on school entry / access

NOTICE TO PARENTS REGARDING SOCIAL DISTANCING
As the main risk of introducing coronavirus (COVID-19) to the school environment is from adults, close proximity between adult members of the school community should be avoided, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up times.

• Visitors to school grounds should be limited to those delivering or supporting essential school services and operations (e.g. student health and wellbeing services, specialist curriculum programs, maintenance workers). Parent drop-offs are to occur outside the school ground between 8:45am and 9:00am at specific gates (see map). If parents need to communicate with their child’s teacher or the school, please call or email. In special circumstances, the school can make arrangements for a social distancing meeting . 
• End of day pick-ups commence from 3.00pm to 3:30pm in order to limit congestion around the school perimeter by families. Once again, parents do not come on-site. Your child/ren will meet you at the same gate as the drop-off in the morning. 
• Students who walk to and from school independently are free to do so as normal. 

• We encourage parents to observe physical distancing measures by not congregating in areas around the school. Please keep 1.5 metres from each other while at the school gates and fence lines. 
• We encourage non-contact greetings, a wave or a head nod will keep you safe!
• Our school is large enough to avoid staggered drop-off and pick-up times, but to avoid families coming into contact with each other, we have tried to simplify the pick-up and drop-off process for families. We are asking parents to use the usual drop-off times of 8:45am to 9:00am and pick-up times of 3:00pm to 3:30pm, however families are being directed to use a specific gate in order to disperse the flow of adults around our school. If you can, please drop your child/ren off curb-side at one of the following gates. Staff will be on duty at all gates to ensure students are dropped off and picked up successfully. 

  
For essential worker’s students in Years 3-6 who are learning onsite from May 26th to June 8th, the entrance and exit for these students is through the Wilson Street gate. Registration will be at the PLC building. Families are to continue with the same sign-in process they have been following over the last six weeks. Parents must sign their child in and nominate the pick-up time. If you are signing-in a Year 3-6 student at the PLC and you have children in Foundation to Year 2, then the F-2 student can enter the school with you through the Wilson Street gate and then go straight to their classroom on their own.
Please refer to the map at the end of this newsletter to locate your pick-up/drop-off point.
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Click the above image to enlarge the map.

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Enter via Wilson Street gate. Registration will be at the PLC building. Families are to continue with the same sign-in process they have been following over the last six weeks. Parents must sign their child in 

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Enter the school via Cherry Tree Lane – pedestrian gate

Enter the school via Mitchell Street - main OFFICE entry gate

Enter the school via Mitchell Street -  Gym / Their Care entrance 

Enter the school via Brockley Street - double gates (near tennis courts)

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Department of Education

May 15, 2020 Update
Following advice from the Victorian Government on Tuesday 12 May, some students will be returning to school from Tuesday 26 May.
The Victorian Chief Health Officer has advised that it is safe for Victorian school students and teachers to return to on-site schooling in a two-staged approach:

Stage 1 – from Tuesday 26 May
Early Years students (Foundation to Grade 2) and senior secondary students (Year 11 and 12) undertaking the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), and all specialist school students will return to on-site schooling. All staff will attend on-site. 
 
Stage 2 - from Tuesday 9 June
Year 3 to Year 6 (and Year 7-10) students will return to on-site schooling, subject to health advice.
The Department’s latest advice on can be found at www.education.vic.gov.au/coronavirus