IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Lockdown is ending:

Students are due to return to school …

Monday, 25 October – Preschool, Kindergarten, Years 1, 2, 6, 9 & 10

Please return furniture to each child’s own classroom on Friday, 22 October from 2-5pm.
Please use QR codes on classroom doors to sign furniture in.
Cromebooks to be returned to the Year 7 return (Room 112, yellow door).

Monday, 1 November – Years 3, 4, 5, 7 & 8

Please return furniture to each child’s own classroom on Friday, 29 October from 2-5pm.
Please use QR codes on classroom doors to sign furniture in.
Cromebooks to be returned to the Year 7 return (Room 112, yellow door).

Uniform Shop
book an appointment or Pre-order.

 

COVID Safety

ACT Health mandates mask wearing for all staff and all students aged 12 and over.

Students should have their own masks. We recommend the use of re-usable masks.

Primary students may wear masks at parent discretion. Secondary students may request a disposable mask from their teacher if they have forgotten to bring their own.

 

Other Information:

COVID-19 exposure locations in the ACT – COVID-19

FAQs for schools – COVID-19 (act.gov.au)

Lockdown in the ACT – COVID-19

Transport Services During Lockdown in the ACT

**Transport Services Update: From 23 August, all school bus services will cease for the duration of lockdown. Transport Canberra is offering a mini-bus direct to your address if you are an essential worker and require transport for your children to attend school. Please register your transport requirements via Covenant’s Google form My School Transport Needs

Parents needing to send their children each day must register their intent to do so using the Google form at Daily School Attendance Register

LOCKDOWN UPDATE #2 [15 September 2021]

We have now been advised by the ACT Government that the local lockdown will be extended until midnight Friday, 15 October (another 4 weeks). However, there are some details which affect schools:

• The ACT government has advised that primary and secondary students up to and including Year 10 will not return to face-to-face learning until after at least the first four (4) weeks of Term 4.

• Students in Years 11-12 are returning earlier.

• Year 12 students as well as teachers and school staff have been prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination.

• Mask wearing will be required for students in Years 7-12 and all teaching and school staff onsite.

• Schools must continue to maintain measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 including: promoting good hand and respiratory hygiene; physical distancing where possible; frequent cleaning and disinfecting of common use surfaces; ensuring indoor air quality; and requiring students and staff to stay home if unwell.

What that means is that Covenant will continue to provide remote learning through to the end of Term 3 (Friday, 17 September). After the term break, remote learning will resume on Tuesday, 5 October and continue until Monday, 1 November which is the earliest anticipated time we will be able to resume face-to-face instruction onsite. Covenant Christian School will remain open for children of parents and carers who cannot reasonably learn from home, including vulnerable children. Those students will be able to access the same remote learning as their peers.

Assuming that the lockdown is not extended even into further into Term 4, we will send out information to families about when loaned furniture and equipment can be returned in the week prior to face-to-face classes resuming, once we are assured that we will be able to resume as planned on Monday, 1 November. It is possible we may be required to implement a phased return but discussion among ACT Health and other officials is not finished on this point – we will advise parents when we know with more certainty what is required to comply with health directives.

Our staff are reviewing how this extended period of lockdown will affect our ability to assess student progress and what that means in terms of providing meaningful and valid reports at the end of the year. Parents will be advised of the outcome of this review and what that means for the end year reports nearer the end of the year.

Our staff will continue to hold morning devotions on each school day, and we regularly pray for all our school community. We are mindful that families must be under enormous stress, particularly in cases with a number of young children at home. Please consider using the supervised on-site space we have here for some of your children if it is getting difficult to support their learning at home.

If families are concerned about the financial aspects of being part of our school while dealing with a reduction in income through the lockdown period, please contact Mrs Elizabeth Coleman, our Finance Officer. We would be happy to have a confidential discussion with you about what the school can do to help you through a difficult time.

If you need assistance with anything, our reception is staffed each day between 8:30am – 4:00pm and we will respond to emails/telephone messages as soon as we can – you can contact us at admin@covenant.act.edu.au or by telephone 6294 2455. If you prefer, we can arrange a videoconference.

Yours in Christ,

Martin Keast – Principal

 

[updated 16 August 2021]

MOVING TO ONLINE INSTRUCTION FROM TUESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2021

Thank you for your patience as we make plans for moving to online instruction starting tomorrow. We have just heard that the ACT government has decided to extend the lockdown to Friday, 3 September which means we are facing at least three weeks of on-line learning.

Students requiring supervision at school: As previously advised, there will be supervision provided at school for children of essential workers and those who need to be in a school environment from Tuesday, 17 August. These children will be doing the same on-line learning activities whilst being supervised at school. 

• Staff and students in Years 7-10 will be required to wear masks while at school due to the new requirements issued by ACT Health. 
• Supervision will commence at 8:30am and we would like all students here at school by 8:45am. They are to report to the school Library initially. Parents are requested to stay in vehicles and not to come into school buildings unless absolutely necessary. Those that do will need to record their presence at school using the Check-in CBR app. 
• Students are to be dressed in school uniform whilst at school. 
• There will be no lunch orders available during the lockdown period so students will need to bring their own morning tea and lunch each day, as well as a drink bottle.

Equipment and Furniture Loans: Those families that have requested to loan Chromebooks and/or furniture will be able to collect these items from school between 1:00pm and 4pm from Monday, 16 August or during the day Tuesday, 17 August. Primary students are to collect items from their classroom. Secondary students can collect loan equipment or furniture from the Purple Room (Room 116). There will be a rush so we request people be patient and ensure they socially distance, wear masks and check-in using the Check-In CBR app. We have provided a QR code for parents to record a furniture loan – these will be on display in the classrooms.

Students in Kindergarten – Year 2: Teachers have prepared packs to go home and these can be collected from the respective classrooms between 1- 4 pm Monday, 16 August or the following day between 9am and 4pm.

Students in Years 3 – 10: Google Classroom is the primary platform for on-line instruction. Please follow teacher directions for what is required.

Video Conferencing Protocol: Further below is a copy of the CCS Video Conferencing Protocol which will be followed for all school video conferences during lockdown. Please ensure you and your children are aware of these expectations.

We hope this period of uncertainty will soon be over. May the Lord preserve and bless us all through this period. Please contact the school with any questions you may have.

VIDEO CONFERENCING PROTOCOL VERSION 1.0 AUGUST 2021 FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS

These protocols apply for all school-based conferencing involving staff and students.

STUDENT CONDUCT

1. School standards: Students must be appropriately attired (as for a school casual clothes day) or may wear school or sport uniform. Language and behaviour during video conferencing is to be the same as that expected whilst at school.

2. For video conferencing the student workstation must be in a family area of the house e.g. not a bedroom.

3. If possible, a parent or other member of the family should be present or nearby; but may not intrude upon the conference.

4. Students are to engage fully and only use the chat functions for appropriate and edifying interactions with other members of the class.

We assume that your child has your consent to participate in video conferencing with their teacher. If that is not the case, please communicate this to your child’s teacher and discuss with them how home-based learning can take place.

Teachers will be recording all video conferencing sessions and retaining these in a secure location. These will be retained for reference by our staff until the end of the year and then deleted.

 

PREVIOUS NEWS

LOCKDOWN UPDATE  [31 August 2021]

We have now been advised by the ACT Government that the local lockdown will be extended until midnight Friday, 17 September. What that means is that Covenant will continue to provide remote learning through to the end of Term 3 (Friday, 17 September). We hope to resume face-to-face instruction at the beginning of Term 4 (Tuesday, 5 October). Covenant Christian School will remain open for children of parents and carers who cannot work from home and for vulnerable children. Those students will be able to access the same remote learning as their peers.

Assuming that the lockdown is not extended into Term 4, we will send out information to families about when loaned furniture and equipment can be returned in the week prior to Term 4 commencing, once we are assured that we will be able to resume on-site instruction.

Every day our staff join via Google Meet for our devotion time. We regularly pray for all our families in the current lockdown as well as praying specifically for 1-2 families each morning – we aim to work through the entire list of families at least twice each year. We also pray for each other every morning and give thanks to the Lord for His continued mercies. Our teachers are working very hard to support the students during this period of remote learning and we appreciate very much the messages of encouragement that we have been receiving.

This is a stressful time and it is particularly hard on young people who really miss the social contact of their friends at school. Recent studies have shown that there is a significant increase of mental health related concerns among children (particularly teenagers) during periods under lockdown. Teachers are aware of this and will contact families whose children are struggling with the remote learning mode. We would urge you to also keep a close eye on the wellbeing of your children. I think a key thing to assure the children of is that it is very unlikely that they will end up in hospital should they catch COVID compared to adults, even with these new variants. However, we acknowledge that some children with underlying health issues are more susceptible to complications.

If you need assistance with anything, our reception is staffed each day between 8:30am – 4:00pm and we will respond to emails/telephone messages as soon as we can – you can contact us at admin@covenant.act.edu.au or by telephone 6294 2455.

Our prayer is that this lockdown will soon be over as we are really missing the activity and liveliness the students generate each day!

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Snap Lockdown starting 5pm today (12 August)

The ACT government has announced that due to a confirmed case of COVID that has been detected in the ACT, they have decided to implement a 7 day lockdown effective from 5:00pm today (ie normal face to face classes will resume on Friday 20 August). I note that due to the particular variant of COVID now common, some restrictions are more stringent even for young people. We have been preparing for this eventuality and now, sadly, it is here.

We have made the following decisions in order to comply:

Covenant Christian School will be closed for instruction and supervision (i.e. pupil free) for students in Kindergarten – Year 10 for Friday 13 August and Monday 16 August. The Preschool will be open for these days and staff will wear masks.

The working bee scheduled for Saturday 14 August has been postponed until a suitable date to be determined. Cleaning bookings are cancelled until further notice. 

All students are not to attend school for the 7 day lockdown period except for those children who cannot safely work at home and those whose parents are ‘essential workers’, that is, parents or carers who are unable to provide supervision at home due to the nature of their work. We will be providing supervision for children unable to be cared for at home here at school between the hours of 8:30am and 3:30pm each school day for the duration of the lockdown (starting from Tuesday 17 August) but please note that anyone aged over 12 years must wear a mask at all times upon leaving home (that includes whilst on site here at Covenant).

o The definition of essential worker is found on the ACT Health website at https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/travel/entering-the-act/travel-directions-in-the-act/essential-work

o Parents wishing to send their children each day must register their intent to do so using the Google form at https://forms.gle/WJ5VJcZHd3UFuYtQA

Students will be separated into groups throughout the school and supervision and internet access will be provided. No instruction will be provided except via remote learning means.

o Parents are to remain in their vehicles and not enter the classroom areas of the school.

o You will need to contact Camp Australia if you need care before 8:30am and/or after 3:30pm.

We will commence on-line learning delivery via Google Classroom on Tuesday next week – information will be posted on your child’s Google Classroom about the timetable whilst in lockdown. Our focus will be on the core curriculum subjects.

For children in the grades Kindergarten – Year 2, the teachers will prepare a pack which will be able to be collected from the school on Monday 16 August after 1pm. The teachers will also give information about how they will provide support to students via on-line means as the younger children will need assistance.

As some families may have limited access to devices at home, especially if you have a number of school-age children, we will set up a loan scheme for our Chromebooks to those families who need an extra device. We will email out a request form in the next few days.

This is the first letter we are sending out as we come to grips with the lockdown. We have been advised that it is likely it may be extended beyond 7 days.

Updates:

Please check your email regularly as we will be sending out further information as decisions are made and clarifications are needed. Please telephone (ph 6294 2455) or email the school (secretary@covenant.act.edu.au) if you have questions that need answering urgently.

We will also post updated information on our school website at http://www.covenant.act.edu.au/alerts-emergency-notices/ as it comes through – please check this from time to time.