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Welcome to Term 4!
It was wonderful starting the term off with the Year 12s back in the classroom. We are looking forward to welcoming back the rest of our students in a staggered return to school over the next few weeks.
Below is the chart showing when each year level will be at school. Please check it carefully to ensure you bring your children to school on the right days! All students will be back at school full time from Friday, 5 November.
Vaccination
On Monday a letter was sent home to all families explaining the new mandatory vaccination requirements in schools. In summary:
- all staff and service providers who come into the school are required to be vaccinated, or
- have a booking to have their first dose by 25 October and their second dose by 29 November, or
- have a medical exemption.
We are continuing to request parents do not enter the school during Term 4. We will not be collecting evidence of vaccination from parents at this time. Students are not required to provide evidence of vaccination status to attend school.
We are re-introducing the staggered start and finish times for the younger year levels in Junior School. More detailed information will be sent to families this week in preparation for the staggered return of Junior School students.
According to the Department of Health, the best form of protection against the virus is vaccination. Students from the age of 12 years are encouraged to get vaccinated, however, students are not required to have a vaccination to attend school.
City of Casey's Planned Immunisation Visit - Year 7
City of Casey’s planned secondary school immunisation visit for year 7’s will be held at Casey Grammar on Tuesday, 26 of October.
Please be aware there needs to be a minimum of 7 days interval between administration of a COVID-19 vaccine and any other vaccine. Council will check the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) to see if your child has been administered the COVID-19 vaccine prior to their immunisation visit.
It is still the responsibility of the parent/guardian to inform City of Casey if their child has had the COVID-19 vaccine within 7 days of their visit by phone (03) 9705 5200 or email vaccination@casey.vic.gov.au.
If you don’t want your child vaccinated at school or your child will be having a COVID-19 vaccine within 7 days after their visit, please inform the school or City of Casey to remove your child’s Immunisation card prior to their visit.
Please find the booking link for City of Casey immunisation sessions if your child has missed the school immunisation visit: Immunisation dates and times | City of Casey
Ventilation Audit
During the break, we conducted an audit of the ventilation in the school. All staff have been informed of the importance of good air flow and students and staff are encouraged to open windows and doors in all rooms, weather permitting. Outdoor classes are encouraged where practicable.
The ventilation systems in the school use air from outside ie the air is not recycled around the building and all air conditioners have been set to draw air from outside. For those areas where there is poor air flow, such as corridors, we will be installing air purifiers as soon as they become available.
COVID-Safe Practices
We continue to teach and role model COVID-safe practices. I remind all parents that people showing any COVID symptoms should not come to school. Students at school who develop symptoms will be sent to the School Nurse and must be collected within the hour of parents being notified.
Face Masks
A reminder that Senior School students aged 12 and over must wear masks indoors and outdoors unless an exception applies. Masks are also required for students in Years 3 to 6 when they are indoors on school premises, unless an exception applies.
If your child has a face mask exemption from a doctor, please ensure you submit the exemption to their House Head or Head of Year 7 (Senior School), or their classroom teacher (Junior School).
ADays
ADays commence this week for Senior School and Junior School on Friday, 15 October. Please note, ADays do not apply to students who have returned to face-to-face learning.
Pleasing NAPLAN Results
We received our student’s NAPLAN results late last term. Across the year levels tested, the students have performed very well. The school is above the state mean in every year level and in every domain tested.
These pleasing results are a testimony to the hard work of our students, teachers and parents throughout the many months of remote learning over the last two years. The data provided by the NAPLAN tests have given the school and teachers of individual students some areas to focus on to develop further growth in the future.
NAPLAN Certificates
This year ACARA recognised outstanding student achievement in the NAPLAN test by awarding certificates to students in Year 9. The two certificates recognised:
- Excellence (students in the top band for reading or numeracy)
- Learning Growth (students who improved by two or more bands between year 7 and year 9 Reading and Numeracy).
At Casey Grammar, one third of our Year 9 students received a certificate. As a school that values growth, it is wonderful to see student growth being recognised and rewarded in this way by ACARA.
Uniform Survey
As part of our review of the School’s Uniform policy, all parents and guardians will receive an email containing a short survey about the current School uniform. I encourage you to have your say about possible changes to the School uniform by completing the survey.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out for help. The helplines displayed in this document offer 24/7 Mental Health support.
Stay safe, stay well.
Fiona Williams
Principal
