10 March 2022
Dear parents/carers
I wish to begin by thanking you all for the wonderful effort in working with the school to keep our students as safe as possible. Since the beginning of the school year, there have been a number of changes to how we can live in our community, and I know this has caused challenges for families.
All staff at Balga SHS are making every effort to ensure student learning remains our primary focus, whilst also being very mindful of the health and well-being of our students. I encourage families to make contact with me should you have any concerns or questions regarding the changes to the operating rules outlined in this letter.
As you may be aware, the State Government has announced that Western Australia will move to very high caseload settings from 12.01am Thursday 10 March.
We continue to follow the latest WA Health advice.
Under very high caseload setting, students who are asymptomatic close contacts (other than those who are household close contacts) may now:
- continue attending school;
- attend before school care or after school care;
- attend school-based sporting or cultural training, practice, or events organised through the school and held immediately before or after school at their school; and
- travel between the student’s usual place of residence and their school.
At all other times, asymptomatic close contacts should quarantine for seven days and get tested. As with other close contacts, children who are identified as close contacts should be tested on Day 1 and Day 6 (if a PCR test) or 7 (if a RAT).
These arrangements will not apply to children who are ‘household close contacts’ or who are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms.
Students are considered close contacts if they are:
- A household member or intimate partner of a person with COVID-19 who has had contact with them during their infectious period; or
- Someone who has had close personal interaction with a person with COVID-19 during their infectious period, including:
- At least 15 minutes face to face contact where a mask was not worn by the exposed person and the person with COVID-19; or
- Greater than two hours within a small room or a classroom environment with a person with COVID-19 during their infectious period, where masks have been removed for this period by the exposed person and the person with COVID-19 (note: others wearing masks in this scenario would not be a contact); or
- Someone who is directed by WA Health that they are a close contact.
An asymptomatic person means they have no COVID-19 symptoms.
If a member of your household is COVID-19 positive, then the whole household are deemed household close contacts and the testing and isolation protocols apply. If your child is unwell, they should stay at home and get tested.
As always, our priority is to continue face-to-face learning. If your child is required to isolate, we will provide them with learning to do at home. If your child’s teacher is required to isolate, your child may have a different teacher for periods of time. In some cases, we may need to rearrange extra-curricular school activities to ensure our teachers are in classrooms teaching.
For more information on very high caseload protocols, visit wa.gov.au.
Thank you for your understanding as we take the necessary steps to keep our school safe and open for learning.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school on 92470222.
Kind Regards
Mr Mark Carton
Principal