Update 16 on Coronavirus

27 April 2020 Dear Parents and Caregivers, I am writing to update you on changes related to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Please be aware that there are still currently no confirmed cases connected to our school. Conflicting and inaccurate information Over the weekend, there has been quite a bit of conflicting and inaccurate information being reported in the media about schools. I would not normally respond to this but as I am receiving a number of questions I thought it best to clarify some of this for families:

State Schools are operated by the Queensland Government not the Commonwealth and are therefore at this time subject only to the directives of Queensland Health and the Queensland Education Department – consequently where possible children are still to be learning at home.

Our school is still open and other than for a small number of vulnerable staff working from home, all staff are at school working – Teachers are either: undertaking Face to Face teaching or delivering lessons (Pre-recorded or via teleconference); supporting students through live daily Q&A check-ins; or contacting and following up with parents/children to stay connected or to answer learning or technical questions.

Our school continues and will continue to strive to implement strict hygiene practices and social

distancing for both adults and children who are at school. That is the direction of the Queensland Government.

No teacher or staff member in our school resents being at work to care for the children of nurses, doctors,

paramedics, shop workers, drivers and any of the other professions associated with essential services. We understand the important public service that schools are required to undertake at this time, not only to support our children’s learning and our community’s health but also to maintain employment and economic vibrancy.

As a school we understand how stressful and difficult managing learning at home is - please remember

we are all in this together and we here to help, so please reach out.

Whitfield Learning@Home As a school we will continue to offer 3 types of learning - Online, Offline and Face to Face. With the announcement of further relaxation of restrictions, we hope that more parents will be required to return to work. We will be contacting families later in the week to identify students that will be needing face to face learning, so that we can prepare ourselves. In preparation for families who will need to change their learning mode I have provided some quick information about the learning modes below. Remember that what’s most important at this time is to create routine for your children more than how much they learn. We will work very hard on our return to normal to catch children up and ensure that nobody is disadvantaged by this current situation. For further questions, we have a dedicated web page where all information and relevant links are available. You can find it as a link from the main website - Coronavirus - Principal's Updates and Information.

Thank you Thank you again for the support you are providing both your child/ren and the school during these difficult times. Our dedicated staff are here to teach and support your child/ren and will maintain close contact with you over the next few weeks. I am sure that together we will all do what we can to help our children in this new mode of home-based learning. Again, thank you for your understanding and attention to this important matter.

Yours sincerely

Mr MATT THOMPSON Principal