This update is intended to provide information about school operations for Parents, Caregivers and Students for the start of term 2 in light of recent announcements by the Premier of Western Australia, the Honourable Mr Mark McGowan on Friday 17th April 2020.

In summary, I offer the following information about the ‘soft start’ planned for weeks 1 – 4 in term 2.

  • Parents may choose to send students to attend face to face classes at school from Wednesday 29th April. This decision must be made by each family.
  • Year 11 and 12 students in particular, are encouraged to attend school.
  • Parents who elect not to send their children to school will be able to continue to access the ‘distance education’ platforms provided by the school, these being online learning programs and printed work packages. At Pinjarra Senior High School, these are operational and ready to go for all classes. Detailed information about access to these resources was included in the previous FACT SHEET published on Friday 27th March. This is available via this link.
  • Given that we will need to accommodate teaching and learning for students both onsite and at home, there will be modifications to the normal timetable to enable teachers to cover both delivery modes. We will endeavour to keep these changes to a minimum. However, students attending the school for face to face teaching may work in multi-aged classes, with teachers who are not their regular subject teacher. This flexible timetabling will depend on the number of students in attendance.
  • Strict social distancing guidelines will be in place on the school site. Students who attend will not be permitted to form large groups during recess and lunch breaks. Access to sporting activities may also be restricted to enable social distancing to be maintained. Depending on numbers of students attending, staggered break times for different groups of students may be Implemented.
  • Students attending will need to bring a drink bottle to school, which can be filled with water from the drink fountains. Students will not be allowed to drink directly from fountains to support personal hygiene measures in place.
  • Parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds to drop off and pick up students. However, if parents need to collect or deliver completed printed work packages, they should go to the Administration office and follow directions about social distancing provided by our support staff.
  • Bus services are currently being negotiated between the Department of Education and the PTA. Once agreement is reached about school buses, we will communicate this to all parents and caregivers.
  • Should parents have concerns about any aspect of educational provision during weeks 1 – 4, please direct your enquiries to the Associate Principals as follows:
    • Years 7, 9, 11 – Ms Fiona Davidson
    • Years 8, 10, 12 – Ms Caroline Green.
    • For Year 11 and 12 students, specific program or pathway enquiries can also be directed to Mrs Julie Gray, Senior School Coordinator.
  • For students and parents/caregivers with concerns about general health and well-being, support is available through our Student Services team, led by Mr Anthony Pittman. Year Coordinators, School Psychologist and Chaplain services are available to all students. In particular, this team will continue to check in with students under case management or who may otherwise be at educational/social risk. Online resources to support student well-being have also been added to our school website. Links are on the landing page.
  • The Learning at home website provides advice and resources for parents and carers, educators and students. This includes a wide range of resources and information related to the impact of COVID-19 on students’ health and wellbeing and the impact on families.
  • Parents are advised that, if they need urgent mental health advice and support for themselves or their child, there is a 24 hour crisis support line 1800 048 636
  • Additionally, all families will receive a weekly phone call from our friendly staff to ensure that we stay in touch as a school community.
  • Breakfast Club will not be available during term 2. Students who attend school will need to make alternative arrangements.
  • The School Canteen will not be open until 4th May 2020 at the earliest and operation will be dependent upon the number of students on site.  If we open, services (EFPOS) and available food will be limited. Students who attend school are encouraged to bring their lunch from home. They will not be permitted to leave the school site during the day to purchase food.
  • Homework Club will not be available for students to attend after school during term 2.  They will be able to access existing resources for courses via their CONNECT classes, through Education Perfect and the Learning at Home website accessible via the PSHS website.  
  • AIME Tutors are not attending the school site to deliver programs on Wednesday afternoons from now on, but have put in place a Youtube channel for students to access to support cultural learning. The link for this is channel will be placed on our website when available.

We anticipate that these measures will be in place for weeks 1 – 4 of term 2, after which a review will inform future directions for schools. As we cannot pre-empt what this will look like, we encourage parents to continue to support your children to engage in their learning – whether at school or at home – as best you can.

We are here to support students and families to maintain connection to our school community and more broadly to education, although a little differently to ‘business as usual’. Please contact us for help and advice as necessary and we will do our best to assist. Updates will be provided whenever new information or direction is available.

Stay safe and well.

Kind regards

Jan Stone
PRINCIPAL