Trinity to reopen on Monday

Trinity College Colac has tonight released a statement that it has received the all-clear to reopen on Monday.

The school has been closed for two weeks after a single student tested positive to COVID-19. All that student’s close contacts have been in isolation and have now tested negative for the virus.

School can now resume in person, after a week and a half of remote learning since last Thursday.

Masks will also be mandatory for all students, as per rules coming into effect on Monday across country Victoria.

 

See the school’s full statement below:

 

Dear parents and carers,

We have been advised by the Catholic Education Office Ballarat (CEOB), Barwon Health, the contact tracing team appointed by DHHS, and the DHHS Covid Regional Response Team that we are now in a position where it is safe to reopen our school on Monday, August 3.
CEOB directed that we return to the classrooms given the steps we have taken to prepare for this and the fact we do not currently have any further positive cases in the school community.
Our close contacts to the original positive case here have served their quarantine periods and have returned negative tests.
The school has undergone a deep clean and has been inspected by the DHHS. We have implemented further safety measures and increased our ability to sanitise regularly. It will be 17 days between closing and the time our students walk back into school.
Given the State Government has mandated face masks from Midnight on August 2, we ask that families access face masks over the weekend because they will be compulsory. Students using bus services will not be able to board buses without some form of face covering for the trip to school.
Face masks will be required in the school setting also. Teachers will generally remove masks to provide instructions from a safe distance. If they are moving around the class and doing one-on-one instruction in close proximity to students, they will have their masks on.
We have a supply of single use masks at school, and we have ordered fabric reusable masks which we will distribute to students and staff when the shipment arrives next week, but we do encourage you to access a supply for personal use.
Bulla Dairy Foods has also generously donated individual hand sanitiser packs for all students.
I understand many families will have reservations about returning to school at this time and it is your personal choice whether or not you send your child to school. You need to make the best decision for your circumstances and I fully appreciate that. While we are confident there are no current positive cases in our school community, it is impossible to ensure this will remain the case into the future – we can only assure you that we will be doing everything possible here at school to keep our staff and your children safe.
From Monday students that do not attend school can access their work via their Class Notebooks.
The situation is constantly changing and a change to on-site learning can happen very quickly. We will be reviewing the situation constantly and I am in regular contact with the health experts in Colac. If large numbers of families choose to keep their children at home then we will once again review on-site learning with the best wellbeing and educational outcomes of our students in mind.
Please see the attached instructions for our return to school procedures and expectations for students. We look forward to welcoming our students and staff back on to campus on Monday.
Please contact us should you have any queries or concerns.

 

Kind Regards

Mr Clohesy, Principal