Executive Director’s Update to Principals #98: COVID Update - 15 Oct 2021
God of the earth,
God of each day:
we pray that fifty years from now,
this crucial moment we are in will be seen as the turning point when the world began to work not just to flatten the curve but to address the growing crisis that affects us all.
May this day
be the first day of a new era when the only enemy we meet
is our apathy.
Amen.
~The Corrymeela Community
COVID Update
Today’s Victorian Press Conference
In today’s Victorian Press Conference the following topics of interest were discussed:
- The current lockdown in the Mildura Rural City Council has been extended for a further 7 days to midnight, Friday 22 October
- *Note that schools in the Mildura Rural City Council need to follow the Return to School Plan for restricted areas as detailed on page 7 of the School Operations Guide ie. from Monday 18 October:
- Foundation students return to on-site learning on Monday-Wednesday
- Year 1-2 students return to on-site learning on Thursday-Friday
- Year 12 and Units 3 and 4 to on-site learning students return full time
- *Note that schools in the Mildura Rural City Council need to follow the Return to School Plan for restricted areas as detailed on page 7 of the School Operations Guide ie. from Monday 18 October:
- Significant permit system changes between Victoria and NSW have been announced, to come into effect on Tuesday 19 October. See further details in the press release issued today by Minister for Health, Martin Foley.
- COVID Response Commander, Jeroen Weimar, has commended and thanked schools and families for their efforts in preparing for Year 11 and 12 students to be able to undertake their VCE safely and effectively on-site.
- As of today:
- 70% of Victorian 12 to 15 year olds have had at least one vaccination dose
- 88% of Victorians over 16 years of age have had at least one vaccination dose
- 63% of Victorians over 16 years of age have had two vaccination doses
Updated COVID-19 Safe Plans
As part of our commitment to providing a safe workplace for all DOBCEL employees, all schools must have in place a current and contextualised COVID-19 Safe plan. Given the large amount of change in obligations since these plans were originally implemented in early 2021, an updated Plan template has been developed for review, implementation and sharing with all school staff. These plans are crucial pieces of evidence to demonstrate our adherence to DHHS and Worksafe regulations and more recently the Mandatory Vaccination Directions. These plans should be known and accessible to all staff and must be provided to Worksafe Inspectors should your school receive a visit.
To ensure that each plan accurately reflects your school’s local context, all Principals are asked to review the attached Plan template in consultation with your local Compliance and Risk Support Officer, make any necessary adjustments and ensure that the plan is known and available to all staff.
Over the past few days some Principals have received requests from external bodies or individual staff members requesting a specific COVID-19 risk assessments for schools and classrooms. At this stage, we believe that the school COVID-19 Safe Plan provides an adequate response to meeting our obligations and can be shared in that spirit with any individual who requests it.
If you have any questions about the COVID-19 Safe Plan please call Michael Trainor, Manager: HR on 5337 7109 or Grant Victor-Gordon, OHS Coordinator on 5337 7183.
*Please note – the template was updated at 4.55pm on Friday 15 October, see Executive Director’s COVID Update #100 for details.
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.