St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

It was a wonderful day at St John the Baptist yesterday with the return of our Prep children. The excitement on their faces was like reliving their first day of school once more. On Thursday and Friday we look forward to seeing our Year 1/2s. With the change in our roadmap we now also welcome our Year 5/6s on Friday. We understand that whilst this is an exciting time it can also be mixed with feelings of worry and anxiety. Our children will respond to the way we respond. It is really important that we speak positively about our return to school and reassure our children that they are safe. Our children have had a huge disruption over the past 2 years of their school life. As parents you have done an amazing job in supporting the education that our staff have delivered. One of the biggest challenges for us all has been the opportunity to mix socially. Many children have had limited opportunities to develop their social and emotional competencies. Please be reassured we will give the children multiple opportunities to converse and socialise with their class groups. Our learning will be designed to ensure the children are collaborating with each other, taking turns, seeing things from other people’s perspectives, interacting with respect and of course having fun!

As part of our Sunsmart Policy all children and staff are required to wear a hat during playtime. To keep our children and staff safe from the damage of the sun our no hat no play policy will be in place for all of Term 4. 

Our Transition Program for our Preps of 2022 is currently on hold. We are awaiting directions as to when we will have permission to host our transition program onsite. 

The government has updated their health guidelines regarding face masks for Victorian students. Face masks  are required for students in Year 3 to Year 6, only when indoors on school premises, unless an exception applies.  

All adults must be in a face mask both indoors and outdoors according to the current guidelines. 

If you are entering any school buildings it is a Victorian Government mandate that you check in via our QR code. We are limiting access to buildings for our families until we have further easing of restrictions. We are also asking families not to gather before or after school. Whilst this is hard as we enjoy being together hopefully our caution will keep everyone in our community safe and hopefully able to gather once more in the not too distant future. Thankyou for supporting us to implement our COVID safe plan by observing these protocols. 

Stay home when unwell 

The most important action our school community can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms. 

Students with underlying conditions (such as hay fever or asthma)

If a student has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the student should still be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms. Students whose symptoms are clearly typical for their underlying condition can continue to attend school. Parents/carers should also consider getting a medical certificate from the child’s treating GP to confirm that it is safe for them to attend school with persistent symptoms that may overlap with some of the symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough or runny nose. 

Young children with persistent mild symptoms

For younger children (in Prep to Year 2) who have had a negative COVID-19 test that was taken after they developed symptoms, the decision about return to school should be made in conjunction with the child’s treating GP. If the GP is satisfied the child has recovered from their acute illness, is otherwise well and does not need a repeat COVID-19 test, the child can return even if they are not completely free of symptoms. Any worsening of symptoms will require review and repeat COVID-19 testing, if considered appropriate by the doctor. Students with a negative COVID-19 test whose symptoms have completely resolved do not need a medical certificate to return to school.