Executive Director's Update to Principals #58: COVID Update - 24 Aug 2021
God of the good news that spreads faster than fear,
God of the courage that comes from the heart:
Be with us as anxieties rise and with us as uncertainty grows.
Be with us when children ask difficult questions,
And with us when parents seem farther away.
Remind us that to be a community does not always mean
to be physically present beside those we know well.
It also can mean being spiritually present
with those who feel very alone;
and that you as our God, the God made flesh,
are also the God who calls us from the tumult
and tells us to be still and know that you are God with us.
Amen
© 2021 The Corrymeela Community
Staff Vaccinations
DOBCEL strongly encourages all eligible staff to receive their COVID vaccinations as soon as practicable.
Operating hours have been extended for some vaccination centres to better meet demand and access. While aiming to minimise impact on student learning, we want to ensure that staff have the opportunity to receive a COVID vaccination.
We recognise that some staff may have difficulty booking a vaccination appointment out of school hours. Where this is the case, principals may approve special leave to facilitate attendance at a vaccination appointment without impact to an employee’s personal leave balance. This leave would be recorded as ‘other leave’ in the Personnel Record System (PRS) and should be notated in the comments box on the PRS as Vaccination leave.
Any leave required subsequent to a vaccination for an adverse reaction is to be taken as paid personal leave. When booking a vaccination appointment, staff should liaise with their principal to minimise the impact of any leave on the school’s operations. In some instances, with a coordinated approach, groups of staff may be able to coordinate their vaccinations so that they minimise the staff required to cover their classes while they are off-site or unavailable to facilite remote learning.
Essential School Visits for Vulnerable Students
In accordance with Chief Health Officer directives, CEB staff will minimise school contact during this lockdown period, supporting schools remotely where needed.
Work deemed as ‘essential’ on-site work will be that which supports directly the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students, whether this be through direct contact with vulnerable students or direct contact with staff who are supporting the learning of vulnerable students which cannot be sufficiently conducted using online forums.
In some exceptional cases, it may be ‘essential’ for a CEB staff member to visit more than one school site on a given day. In this instance, staff will seek consent from each Principal prior to the visit.
For any on-site visit, staff will take precautionary measures such as carrying an Authorised Worker Permit, checking COVID exposure sites beforehand, and completing all necessary hygiene and check-in practices.
Accessing Childcare
Childcare, kindergarten and early childhood services are open only for vulnerable children, or the children of authorised workers if they cannot work from home or if no supervision is available at home.
From 11:59pm last night, Monday 23 August, authorised workers are able to access childcare, kindergarten and early childhood services (and take a child to a centre) if:
- at least one parent/guardian is authorised to work and has a valid authorised worker permit, and is working either at home or on-site, and
- they cannot make alternative supervision arrangements
An authorised worker who is required to work shift work (e.g. overnight shift at a hospital) can send a child to childcare or an early childhood service outside their working hours so they can rest.
If you have staff whose circumstances require them to access childcare, visit the Coronavirus Victoria website for further details on Authorised Worker Permits.
Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct
It may be timely to revisit the Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct with your school community. The Code of Conduct addresses acceptable and non-acceptable behaviours regardless of location or environment. It applies to all circumstances and locations in which we are working with children, including remote learning.
Please contact Tim O’Farrell via email or on 5337 7175 with any queries.
Staff wellbeing support through Converge International
Catholic Education Ballarat, on behalf of the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL), has contracted services with Converge International to support staff wellbeing.
The contract provides a range of services under an Employee Assist Program, commonly referred to as the EAP. For information about these services and how to access them, please review Staff Wellbeing Converge International Services.
For school leadership, there are options to support you in your leadership and caring for the wellbeing of your staff. These services may be beneficial in addition to the other services and support available in partnership with Catholic Education Ballarat. We encourage you to access the services as they may be helpful. For information about these services, costs and how to access them, please review Converge International additional services.
If you would like to access additional EAP brochures or wallet/business cards, please submit your request by the end of Term 3, via this form. Note you can also provide an email address for digital resources.
For more information about the EAP or Converge International, contact Ange Jones via email or on 0400 831 040.
Next COVID Update
We will continue to monitor the situation and advise principals of any updates. Please liaise with the COVID Support team (see left hand column) or your Education Consultant with any questions or concerns.
Stay safe and continue to look after each other…
Every blessing.
Andrew Watson
Deputy Director of Catholic Education (Interim)