August 3 – College update on COVID-19

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians of St Patrick’s College,

Today, the Catholic Education Office (Ballarat) has offered schools in the Diocese the opportunity to access a second student-free day this week to enable staff to fully plan and prepare for a transition to remote and flexible learning.

In the interests of making this transition as smooth as possible, St Patrick’s College has accepted this offer.

As such, both Tuesday, August 4 and Wednesday, August 5, will be regarded as staff planning days with remote and flexible learning commencing for the full school on Thursday, August 6.

The College will make an exception however for VCE Unit 3 and 4 students whose classes on Wednesday will proceed as scheduled in a remote and flexible learning environment via Microsoft Teams.

There will be no on-site supervision at the College on either Tuesday or Wednesday. We apologise if this causes inconvenience however the College believes students will benefit more in the long run if we take the time to plan and prepare properly now.

Once remote and flexible learning commences, and as occurred in Term 2, the College will provide on-site supervision to students who meet one of the following criteria as outlined by the DET.

• Children on days when they are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made. This will be available for children of parents who cannot work from home, and vulnerable children, including:
• children in out-of-home care;
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm;
• children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service and children with a disability).

Should your son meet the above criteria and needs to attend school on-site from Thursday, August 6 you MUST fill out the form at this link by 10am on Wednesday, August 5.

St Patrick’s College appreciates that this is a difficult period for staff, students and parents alike and that we need to show great understanding and patience as we negotiate each new challenge.

We will continue to provide updates as the days and weeks unfold and more information comes to hand.

We pray that you all keep safe and well during this time.