Return to School Plan
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,
Like all of us, I imagine all of you are keen for a return to school and with it the opportunity to regain some sense of normalcy in our lives. With a global pandemic still prevalent we undertake the return to school with cautious optimism, paying the utmost attention to the health and safety of our students and staff, coupled with maximising face-to-face teaching and learning time.
From Sept 16th we will begin a gradual phased return of students to school according to the schedule below and in line with EDB requirements. These plans are not yet finalised and we are currently working with EDB. To enable families to make the necessary arrangements we wanted to share these plans with you in advance. Of course the proposed plan may need to change depending on further conversations with our EDB colleagues.
As you can see from the schedule above, from Sept 29th 100% of students will be in school five days a week. In line with EDB requirements, and given the heightened infection risk that mealtime creates however, students in Years 7-10 will leave school at 12.35. Period 5 will then be taught online later in the afternoon.
Students in Years 11, 12 & 13 will remain on campus for period 5, with Years 11 & 13 likely remaining on campus after lunch until 15.20 as needed, to catch up on assessments and practical work requirements.
To accommodate these requirements the Daily Schedule below will come into effect from Monday Sept 14th for all students for both face-to-face and online lessons.
Students arrive from 7.45am – temperatures are checked, they go to their tutor room.
Going forward please note the following:
1) Please sign up for the ESF App. Prior to coming back into school families will need to complete the Travel & Health Declaration for each child.
2) Families will need to take their children’s temperature every morning and record it using the ESF App. Temperatures will be taken a second time upon entry to the campus. Students and staff cannot come on campus with a temperature above 37.5.
3) To maximise the capacity of our classrooms to enable 100% of our students to be on campus every day, we will be providing perspex screens on every classroom desk.
4) Due to the size of the campus we cannot provide eating space for all students. A wellbeing morning break is provided for all students for their comfort. The timing of the break is staggered to allow for social distancing of students. This morning break is not intended for sit-down eating or food requiring utensils. Students can bring a snack to school which they can eat at this time. However this should be a snack that is easy to manage. Lunch space and time is provided for students in Years 11-13 who may be on campus all day. All students are asked to eat a hearty breakfast before arriving at school as neither the cafe or cafeteria will be open.
5) For families who have signed up for the ESF Kong Shing bus service, students will be collected at 12.35pm. Students in Years 11, 12, & 13 will need to make their own way home when their classes conclude.
6) Students in Years 7-10 will have their period 5 lesson online, except for Wednesdays which is a four period day. It remains to be seen what challenges this two-hour travel and lunch break present. There will be flexibility for students who cannot make their period 5 lesson due to travel delays, etc. We will deal with these issues as they emerge and provide further guidance then.
7) The Heads of Section and/or Heads of Year for new students and Year 7 students will be in touch separately about specific arrangements.
As you will appreciate we will be using the time between now and the resumption of classes on campus to deep-clean learning spaces and set them up ready to welcome our students from Sept 16th. We hope to finalise our work with EDB in the coming days and look forward to seeing all our students on campus soon! I will keep you posted in the coming days as to our progress.
Kind regards.
Carol Larkin
Principal
