29 Aug 2021
Advice upon current Learning From Home and Returning to School
Dear students, parents and community members.
I want to begin by thanking you for the support you have shown us whilst we navigate once again learning from home.
It’s quite likely that you have by now heard about the NSW roadmap to return students to schools which was announced by the Premier and Minister of Health Friday last week. The return to school plan has been designed in conjunction with NSW Health, taking into consideration the health and safety of parents, students and staff alike.
There are many things that can change in this plan, particularly in terms of local cases of covid-19 detection. Some of the widely discussed aspects of returning to school in the media differ between Sydney and regional NSW. For your peace of mind and understanding, we have outlined the two most likely scenarios that will impact our school from now until the end of term. As we get closer to term 4 we will review the advice and keep you up to date with that which we can provide certainty around.
Please keep in contact with us if you have any questions or concerns. For now, we ask that most questions be emailed through to Bombala-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au, which will allow us to send the email to the most appropriate member of staff.
Kind Regards,
Jai Lester
Relieving Principal
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Learning From Home – Until at least the 10th September
Learning from Home will continue until at least the 10th of September. There is also the possibility it will continue beyond this point, depending on whether stay-at-home orders remain or are lifted for the Snowy Monaro LGA. We ask that students remain at home wherever possible as per the health orders.
Lessons online
Lessons will continue as they have in the past two weeks with teachers being available for their students during any normal timetabled lesson. During this time students can send messages to their teachers via teams and expect a very quick response. Classroom teachers can also use this time to call home to those students who need help but don’t necessarily have easy access to internet.
Face-to-face teams lessons
In addition to following the timetable, years 7-10 will have access to two hours of face-to-face teams lessons per day. This has been limited to two hours to avoid excess data and bandwidth pressures on families. From Monday the 30th of August we will be following a consistent timetable until lockdown ends - this timetable has been emailed to parents and is available from the Learning From Home section of our website.
Learning From Home Packs
Learning From Home Packs are still being created for every student in years 7-10 and on request for students in years 11-12.
For students who are online and can submit their work through teams the use of hardcopy packs is not mandatory. We ask that if you can submit work online that you please do this as the scanning and distribution of returned work to teachers is a difficult one.
Parents can pick up packs from the following places and following times:
Bombala High School – Packs will be available for pick up from 10am every Monday. They will be available at the front of the hall between Monday-Wednesday, 8:30am to 3:30pm daily. Weekly packs not picked up by Wednesday afternoon will be archived.
Returning completed packs – Packs can be returned 24/7 in the filling cabinet outside the front of the school hall.
Delegate Public School – Delegate and Victorian families can pick up their packs from approximately 9:30am Tuesdays (this date might vary slightly and we will notify you of any changes) from the Delegate Public School Bus Bay. Packs will remain available until the DPS return pick up on Wednesday afternoons.
Returning completed packs – Packs can be returned at the same venue and will be collected during the weekly return run.
Calls Home
Our wellbeing team are organising phone calls in priority of those who we are not seeing engaging either through packs or learning online. Our support staff are also prioritising phone calls to students who teachers are indicating may be struggling with learning support needs whilst at home.
Most calls will occur Wednesday and Friday afternoons. If you need a teacher or any member of staff to provide additional support, please don’t hesitate in contacting us and we will arrange for someone to call you as soon as possible.
Assessment Schedule
All timetabled assessment tasks for years 7-10 have been postponed whilst in lockdown. Teachers will be working on alternative assessments for when we return. We are currently working through an alternative assessment plan for Year 11 and students will be told more about this in the coming week.
Year 12 students onsite
Year 12’s are allowed minimal onsite attendance and this at the moment is being prioritised for subjects with major projects. Compassionate grounds and additional study support are not accepted reasons for Year 12’s to be onsite at this time.
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Returning to School – After the September 10th but before October 25th
Schools will be able to return if their Local Government Area is released from the stay-at-home order. Tight restrictions will remain to keep schools safe. For Bombala High School, the earliest this date will be is Monday the 13th of September (Week 10). This is not a guaranteed return date.
If the stay-at-home orders are still in place by October the 25th, schools will begin a staggered return to school, with Year 11 and 12 returning first. We will provide more information if this situation affects us nearer the time.
Mandatory Mask Wearing
Masks will be mandatory for all students and staff both indoors and outdoors. The only exemption to this rule will be when eating or if there are extenuating medical circumstances. Any exemption to mask wearing will require planning with the Relieving Principal.
Limited Movement/No Sport
Student movement will be limited as much as possible to with their year groups. This includes reducing the mingling of year groups during sport and lunch time.
Only essential visitors permitted
Only service providers who deliver specialist learning support to some of our students will be permitted onsite during this stage of return. All assemblies, parent meetings and community events will not be permitted to run.
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Other advice – additional services
Financial Support for families running high internet costs
We know quite a few families on expensive satellite plans have been hit hard with the data demands of learning at home. We now have approval from the DoE to be able to provide financial subsidy for those families in need through our own school funds.
We will provide more information about how you can apply for financial support during the week.
School Counsellor Support
Our school counsellor, Jean Morreau, remains available to touch base with students who may need some support. Please reach out to us if this is the case – it is an exceptionally challenging time for our students particularly our seniors.
Term 4 Camps and Excursions
Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, all our major camps and excursions for term 4 have been cancelled. Whilst an exceptionally difficult decision to make, the likelihood of these events being able to occur was very low and the risk of not being able to return deposits already paid by families too high.
As term 4 commences we will look at what restrictions are in place and examine creative ways to provide wellbeing opportunities for our students.