Week 4 sees our schools open to all students across NSW. Many of our schools are well into the rhythm of Term 3 as they commenced at the start of the term with Level 3 restrictions. For a number of our communities, they have recently become hotspots.

Community transmission is concerning, and this is impacting on students and staff being close and casual contacts. Please be reminded if this impacts on your staff and they are deemed close contacts, they are to access specific leave related to COVID as per SITREP guidelines. Colleagues have also expressed the problems arising in staffing their schools and adhering to the guidelines. We are encouraged to work to the guidelines as close as feasibly possible.

NSW Health and the DoE are working in collaboration LGA’s across the state to improve the second dosage rate in order to supress transmission of the virus. Likewise, the communication out to our communities in certain LGA’s will be strengthened so that not only the school is minimising transmission the community will have recommendations to follow also. The DoE are consulting with NSW Health, exploring ideas including the possibility of using at home antigen testing kits for Primary aged students’ families. This is currently in the consideration stage only. The DoE are being proactive in a suite of strategies to minimise transmission and ramp up the safety and wellbeing of our staff, students, and the wider community. We all have a part to play.

Across the state we are seeing champion partnerships between DoE, H&S, DEL’s, ED’s and Principals. Frustration arises when there is a lag in timing of the communication. Often community and staff hear about the positive case before Principals are informed. Principals at all times need to wait for the advice from NSW Health and the DoE BEFORE they communicate out or close their schools. Murat Dizdar has communicated that there has been a recent increase in false positive cases in communities causing unnecessary angst.

In terms of COVID communications sent to our communities by NSW Health and the DoE when a positive case has been identified, we have raised the turn-around time with the Deputy Secretaries. Some communication is being sent out late into the evening. It was explained that the workload and time taken to speak personally with the person testing positive can extend the timing of the wider community being notified.