Covid-19 Update

MC COVID-19 Guidelines (Term 1 2022) General Summary 

As MC reopens for the scheduled start of the 2022 school year, the guidelines published below are intended to provide staff, parents and carers, and students with a quick reference guide to support their safe attendance on the MC site. 

It is important to note that the various expectations, aside from nuanced adjustments to reflect specific site needs at MC, have been prepared to reflect the full expectations of current NSW Health advice. 

Hence, in line with MC’s COVID-Safe Plan, these guidelines are underpinned by the expectation that parents and carers, together with any visitors to the MC site are: 

• QR coding into and out of the MC site. 
• Wearing a mask which fully covers both their nose and mouth while indoors.
• Social distancing by at least 1.5 metres. 
• Not attending the MC site if they have any cold, flu or COVID-like symptoms. 

MC appreciates that these guidelines add complexity to the lives of parents and carers; however, we also understand that such measures will play a significant part in keeping our community safe and well. 

It is anticipated that these guidelines will be updated over the coming weeks and months as the circumstances relating to the COVID-19 pandemic change within our broader community. 

Thank you in advance for your support of these guidelines. 

Staff/Volunteer Vaccination 

• All MC staff are required to be fully vaccinated to access the school site. (The definition of staff extends to permanent, part me, volunteer, contractor, consultant etc.). 

Student Vaccination 

• There is no requirement for students to be vaccinated to attend school; however, families are strongly encouraged to follow the advice provided by NSW Health in regards to the vaccination of their young people. 

COVID Testing 

Rapid antigen tests (RATs) will be provided to all students and staff by MC. 

Before the start of Term 1, it is recommended all students undertake a RAT and confirm a negative result before attending school. 

For the first 4 weeks of Term 1, it is recommended that students take a RAT twice a week on Monday and Wednesday mornings before attending school.

If a positive COVID-19 case occurs 

If there is a positive case in your child’s class, year or homeroom grouping, your child can continue to attend school in line with NSW Health advice. 

If a student or staff member receives a positive RAT test, they need to: 

• record the positive RAT result through the Service NSW website or Service NSW app
• notify the school of the positive RAT or PCR test result as soon as possible
• follow NSW Health advice to isolate for 7 days

MC will inform appropriate groups within our school community when there is a positive case in the school and guide families on NSW Health advice, including monitoring for symptoms. 

MC parents can anticipate regular communication with details of any impacted year groups or cohorts. 

Negative results do not need to be reported to Service NSW or to MC. 

Learning From Home 

NSW Health advises that schools remain safe places for students to learn, while relevant health advice, such as is set out in this document, is followed. 

That being the case, at this me it is intended to provide learning from home support for MC students who are unable to attend school due to isolation requirements following a positive PCR or RAT result. 

Such support will be managed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that each child is supported to maintain the continuity of their learning and allow for their seamless return to onsite learning following the completion of any isolation period. 

Masks 

All MC staff are required to wear masks indoors. 

All Senior School students are required to also wear masks while indoors. 

Masks are also strongly encouraged in outdoor settings where physically distancing is not possible. 

Junior School students are strongly recommended to wear well-fitted masks indoors and in outdoor settings where they cannot physically distance. 

Masks can be removed when: 

• eating or drinking
• exercising
• playing a musical instrument.

Parents and Carers Attending the MC Site 

No parents, carers or visitors are currently permitted on the MC site, except in the following circumstances: 

• To attend in the designated pick-up/drop-off areas at the start and end of the school day.
• To attend directly at the main MC office area for the purposes of picking up and dropping off students outside of the regular pick-up/drop off times.
• To attend at the main MC office area where an appointment has been made to visit the uniform store or for a scheduled appointment with a MC staff member.
• Two parents or carers are allowed to accompany their young person into school on their first day of Kindergarten or Year 7 or where a young person is new to MC.
• To attend an Orientation or associated enrolment program.
• *To attend an approved MC event. (Current NSW Health advice in regards to such programs will be applied and published on a case-by-case basis ahead of any such event).
• All parents, carers or other visitors attending the MC site must follow the expectations outlined in the MC Covid-Safe Plan outlined below.

*Specific advice in regards parent/carer attendance at upcoming events such as Swimming Carnivals etc. will be provided on a case-by-case basis ahead of each event dependent upon relevant COVID guidelines at that me. In each circumstance where it is deemed safe to do so based upon NSW Health advice, MC will priortise the attendance of parents/carers at events involving their own young people. 

MC’s COVID-Safe Plan 

MC’s COVID-Safe Plan requires all adult visitors (this includes parents, carers, contractors, consultants) to: 

• QR code into and out of the MC site. 
• Wear a mask which fully covers both their nose and mouth while indoors.
• Social distance by at least 1.5 metres. 
• Not attend the school site if they have any cold, flu or COVID-like symptoms.

Student Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

Choosing the Most Suitable Pick-up Time for You 

Many parents/carers arrive at MC and join a line of traffic hoping to pick-up their young people soon after school finishes at 2:40pm (JS) or 2:50pm (SS). While we await the pending redesign of the school entry road and pick-up areas, this crush at the end of the day continues to create traffic delays and frustrations for many of you. 

Where possible, parents/carers are encouraged to avoid the peak period and choose to pick-up their young people between 3:10 and 3:25pm per the outline below. 

Student Drop-off 

Student drop-off procedures for the start of each school day will continue to take place in the designated Junior School pick-up area (the covered area opposite the Preschool).

Student Pick-up 

All parents/carers are encouraged to remain in their cars throughout the pick-up process with students being dispersed between the regular pick-up bay and around the le side of the campus ring road. 

K-2 students: 

• The regular Junior School pick-up area (the covered area opposite the Preschool) will now be used for K-2 students only. Parents/carers picking a child up from this area are asked to remain in their car throughout the pick-up process. MC staff will be present to assist students into cars as required. 

Years 3-6 students* 

• Parents/carers picking up students from these year levels will need to turn le at the roundabout onto the campus ring road. MC staff will be present to assist in the pick-up process. Parents/carers picking a child up from this area are asked to remain in their car throughout the pick-up process. 

Senior School Students* 

• Parents/carers picking up Senior School students will also need to turn le at the roundabout onto the campus ring road. Senior School (SS) student pick-up will be located outside the Senior School office. MC staff will also present also to assist in this process. Parents/carers picking a child up from this area are asked to remain in their car throughout the pick-up process. 

*Please ensure when driving on the ring road that careful observance of the campus speed limit of 10 km/h, the movement of pedestrians and common road rules and courtesy is maintained. 

K-12 Bus Drop-off and Pick-up 

• Students using the ongoing bus services to and from school will be grouped according to the bus service they are travelling on. 

Camps, Excursions, Performing Arts, Sport etc. 

Camps, excursions, performing arts, sport etc. are able to occur in line with MC’s (or a relevant venue’s) Covid-Safe Plan. As there is a significant variance of programs across such activities, specific advice, in line with the MC COVID-Safe Plan, will be published ahead of each program. 

As the nature of the COVID pandemic continues to evolve, so MC’s coordination of such programs will also need to evolve. As such, parents/carers are requested to exercise patience as there may need to be changes to previously published scheduling and program access dependent upon changes to advice and venue availability. 

Student Density Limits at MC 

While density and cohort specific limits are no longer required in NSW, MC will take into account appropriate COVID safe measures such as, but not limited to, physical distancing, ventilation, hygiene, mask wearing, over sized venues, outdoor spaces, online and small group meetings. (E.g. The new homeroom structure in our Senior School is limited to a grouping of 18 students or less, and, where appropriate, will be conducted in an oversized space).

Canteen 

The canteen will be open for online orders only (via Munch Monitor which can be accessed via the MC website). No walk-up service will be provided for students by the canteen. Pre-ordered lunches will be collected from the canteen by designated class representatives. 

Uniform Store 

The Uniform Store is open to parents/carers as per the opening hours published on the MC website. Parents/carers wishing to access the Uniform Shop must follow the expectations set out in the Parents and Carers Attending the MC Site and MC COVID-Safe Plan sections outlined above. 

Hygiene, Cleaning and Ventilation Measures 

MC will continue to provide touch-free hand sanitizer dispensers in all learning areas, together with regular fogging of all indoor spaces to limit the risk of transmission from surfaces. Staff will continue to encourage students to regularly sanitise their hands, particularly when entering a space or prior to eating. 

Where appropriate, lessons will be conducted outdoors, with the thorough daily cleaning of learning spaces on an ongoing occurrence. 

The use of air conditioning and fans to move indoor air, when combined with open windows, has also been shown to provide significant ventilation within MC’s indoor areas. 

Junior and Senior School Learning 

Despite the complexity of the past two years and the ongoing need for high levels of additional vigilance and care, MC is committed to beginning the 2022 school year with as close as is possible to a regular school-day program in place for your young people. 

While there may need to be adjustments to published programs as we adapt to the broad range of anticipated complexity over the coming months, we will seek at all times to keep your young people safe and well, while at the same me providing them with a learning program that encapsulates MC’s core valuing of People, Growth and Fun. 

Finally, as always, please feel welcome to contact me at [email protected] if you would like clarification on any of the matters outlined above. 

Kind regards 

Rohan Deanshaw 

Principal