Boneo Buzz:13th March

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you may be aware, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic reflecting widespread increasing transmission of the virus globally. Travel bans have also been extended to include Italy, in addition to the existing bans to the Republic of Korea, Iran and mainland China.

The Department of Education and Training (DET) continues to work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to plan for and respond to the likely impact on schools.

You will be aware of some schools closing for a week in response to confirmed COVID-19 cases. These actions are taken on the recommendation of DHHS to allow time for contact tracing and with the health and safety of staff and students in the school community front of mind.

Directions on what to do

As specified if a staff member or student at our school is in one of the categories below, our school must contact DHHS for advice on what to do next.

Categories for contacting DHHS:

the person is a confirmed case of COVID-19
the person is a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.Close contact’ is defined by DHHS as someone who has had at least 15 minutes of face-to-face contact with a confirmed case, or shared a closed space with someone for more than two hours with a confirmed case. Unless we have a student or staff member in one of the two above categories, we do not need to take further action.

School closures

Based on advice from DHHS, when there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 among a student or staff member, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer will recommend an affected school’s closure for 24 hours. If this occurs, DHHS will work with DET and staff and students will be advised to stay home and self-isolate for 24 hours. This closure will support school and health officials to work through a contact and containment strategy, including decisions about extending the closure period.

Schools will be advised by DET which will also provide template letters and communication materials to help you communicate advice and instructions to your students, staff and the communities in the event of a school closure.

Maintaining Learning Continuity

Teachers will be expected to carry out duties related to teaching and learning during normal school hours. We have several options to support learning continuity for our students if we need to close. Staff have discussed using our digital learning resources; Mathletics, Reading Eggs and COMPASS.

Please remember that good hygiene practices are the most effective means of minimising the spread of COVID-19, and we continue to encourage these practices. Additionally, we have installed new hand sanitiser units throughout the school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ten ways to reduce your risk of coronavirus

Wash hands often with soap and running water, for at least 20 seconds. Dry with paper towel or a hand dryer.
Try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow.
Isolate yourself at home if you feel sick. If you take medication ensure you have adequate supplies.
Phone your GP first if you need medical attention. They will tell you what to do.
Continue healthy habits: exercise, drink water and get plenty of sleep
Don’t wear a face mask if you are well.
Buy an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with over 60 per cent alcohol.
Get the flu shot (available April).
Shaking hands is optional! Family Food and Fun Night Update
The safety of our community is paramount so we have decided to postpone the Family Food and Fun night and will reschedule this event to coincide with our end of year school concert. This will be a fabulous way to conclude the 2020 year.

House Event for all Students

On Wednesday 18 March we will be having a House event to celebrate Harmony Week. All children are asked to wear House colours, with a touch of orange.

Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it.

Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.

Prep Enrolment 2021

In 2021, we intend to offer two Prep classes and ask all current families who intend to enrol a child in Prep, to contact the office in the coming week to secure an enrolment. On Wednesday, over 30 families toured but I would like to ensure current families are prioritised.

Family Food & Fun Night

As noted above, we have postponed this year’s event until Term 4.

To our wonderful team of volunteers who have been involved in the planning and coordination of the FFFN, we are incredibly thankful for your support.

Raffle Donations and Lucky Jars

Thank you to all who have donated lucky jars and to our raffle hampers. We will hold on to all donations to be used later in the year.

Wristbands

If you have already purchased a wristband, please see the office on Monday to arrange return of these.

We truly appreciate your ongoing support of this major fundraising event. It is a wonderful celebration of the Boneo community and we look forward to celebrating with all later in the year.

Community support for our event continues to grow each year, with donations arriving daily for auctions, raffles and food stalls. We wish to acknowledge the generosity of the following businesses for their support of our 2020 Family Food & Fun Night. We will be holding all donations to be used at the rescheduled event.

Project Green Schools

Rosebud Plaza have partnered with local primary schools, to create a greener future for the Rosebud and surrounding communities, launching Project: Green Schools.
The pragmatic program will grow on school’s current sustainability goals, enabling students to interact and understand their local environment and how they fit into the bigger picture, doing their bit.
Commencing Monday 9 March 2020, ’Project: Green Schools’ will be introduced across 18 participating Charter Hall shopping centres, including Rosebud Plaza.
Shoppers simply spend $20 in specialty stores or $60 at Coles, Target and Kmart to receive a biodegradable token with a QR code. Shoppers scan the QR code on their token and follow the below steps to vote for their favourite school to win the main prize – a sustainable garden pack.
Rosebud Plaza will work in partnership with the winning school to ensure the prize pack supports the schools existing sustainable goals.

Hannah Kuhlmann, Marketing Manager at Rosebud Plaza said, “We want to work with school’s existing sustainability programs to allow children to be curious and think about how they can change simple things in their daily routines to be make a positive environmental impact. We also want to add value to their learning by exposing children to innovative Chatbot technology to automate the entry process. This enables us to implement an eco-friendly solution to printing, with the biodegradable token paper provided for shoppers to scan, earn points for their school and then be compostable.”
To further educate children on the importance of recycling, they will be encouraged to dispose of the biodegradable token at their school’s compost bin located in-centre outside Target. To ensure an end to end sustainable campaign, all products at the in-centre display, will be repurposed by donating to the runner-up school in the campaign. Each participating school will be rewarded with their compost bin to provide the school with the chance to further educate kids on composting.
For further information visit www.rosebudplaza.com.au