Lockdown letter 2

Good day to all parents

Hope and trust that all of you are still safe at home.  We have put measures in place to help fight the spread of the Covid 19, but we can’t do it alone.

We need all parents to take hands and to help us in this regard.

We will need to do the following if we want to prevent the spread of this disease:

• The school was fully sanitized on the 9^th of May 2020 by a registered company.
• The school property, all areas will be sanitized every 2^nd week by a registered company.
• The classes will be cleaned every day with a disinfectant/sanitizer.
• All toilets will be disinfected/sanitized a few times a day.  A strong, but safe, non-allergenic approved chemical will be used to do that.
• All parents will have to follow the protocol when visiting the school for emergencies only.  Only one parent at a time will be allowed on the premises.
• We will not allow any parent or visitors at school for safety reasons.  Please phone the school or send an email to avoid coming to school like stipulated by the department of Education.
• We will use one gate for entrance and another for exit.
• When learners are dropped off at the main gate, their hands will be sanitized by one of the designated persons in control of COVID-19 at school.  He/she will make sure the learner has a mask on before they enter the premises.  The same rule will apply when learners get off the buses in the morning.
• All learners, teachers, other staff and parents will be wearing a mask when entering the premises.  Learners must have the mask on when they arrive at school or embark the bus and it can only be taken of once they are at home again.  President Cyril Ramaphosa has shown SA how to make your own mask.  Please do so if you can’t buy a mask.  It is better to buy a washable mask, because it will be for a long time that we all will be wearing the masks.  No mask, no school, we can’t take a chance at all with COVID 19.  This is to keep our learners, teachers, bus drivers and other staff safe.
• According to the Department of Basic Education’s document:  “Standard Operating for the prevention containment and management of Covid-19 in schools and school communities”, dated May 020 the following:
• Learner transport

Loading capacity of learner transport:  Regulation 11C as amended

The Department of Transport is responsible for all legislation, regulations, licencing, and enforcement thereof, of all matters of transport including vehicles transporting learners to school and back.  All commuter transport services including passenger bus services, taxi services, and private cars transporting learners to school must adhere to the regulations issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002(Act no 57 of 2002), and the amendments thereto, as well as all the directives set out in the schedule to address and contain the spread of COVID-19 according to the lockdown level provided that:

1.  Bus services, taxi services and eh-hailing services and private vehicles shall not carry more than the licensed capacity; and
2. All directives regarding hygienic conditions and the limitation of exposure to COVID-19 are adhered to.

• Buses will be sanitize before a route and again after the learners have been dropped off, every day.
• All learners’ hands will be sanitize before they enter the bus and have a mask on.
• All learners will wash hands before entering the class and once again after break, as well as every time they leave the class.  Sanitizer will also be available.
• The tuck shop will be closed, but we will have a tuck shop trolley going around that will sell, cold drinks, sweets and chips.  You are responsible for your child’s lunch box and need to please put in some sandwiches and or other healthy food.  This is to avoid the learners standing in line at the tuck shop and to help with social distancing.
• You have to teach your child to keep a metre between him/her and the other person. 
• Teach them not to touch or hug or kiss other learners until this disease is under control.  We know children love hugging, but for now it is out.
• Teach them to wash their hands regularly and to sneeze or cough into their elbow or a tissue.  Teach them not to through the tissue on the floor but in the nearest dustbin like all other paper or bottles they have used. 
• Make sure your child know what the disease is like they have explained on the television, radio and newspapers. 
• If a learner is ill please keep them at home.  If they fall ill at school, parents will be contacted immediately and such learners will be put in isolation until the parents arrive.  Such learner need to be fetch within half an hour for the safety of the rest of the learners and staff of CVC.  Isolation unit will be at the back gate of the school.  Parents will fetch learner using the back gate of the school in Boundary road.
• If you have been in contact with a person that tested positive for COVID 19 or you have been tested positive please notify the school immediately.  Remember that it is winter time and many people can also just have a cold and flu.  Not everybody that cough will have COVID 19.  If you are ill, please take the necessary precautions immediately.
• The school will do everything in its power to help prevent the spread of COVID 19, but it is also the learners and parents responsibility to be safe to avoid the spread.
• We will have the finalized contingency plan handed out and posted as soon as the school has re-opened.  We need to finalize it and for that we need the input of the HOD’s after the work done during the lockdown period.  This will be communicated to you through sms and website.
• Make sure you and your family are taking the necessary vitamins to stay healthy throughout the winter.
• We also ask that each learner must bring their own water bottle to school for personal use only.
• Parents must please remember to sanitize your child’s bag on a regular basis.
• Grade 7 and 12 will return on the 1^st of June 2020.  They must use own transport.  The buses will only run again after most the grades are back at school.
• As soon as the learners returned to school we will determine how many learners will be in the class, should there be too many learners we will make alternative arrangements to accommodate the 1,5 metre social distance.

For social distancing during school time:

• Where necessary, the grade will have an extra class, to make the learner numbers smaller in each class.
• The learners will remain in the classes and teachers will be changing classes to avoid the spread of the virus and to help keep the social distancing.
• Grade R to grade 3, we will have an extra teacher in each grade, if necessary,  it will be teachers that relief and they know the learners.
• Grade 4 to 10, we will work out a new time table to accommodate the extra class in each grade if necessary. 
• Grade 11 and 12 learners are not many and they also know to keep social distancing.  There will not be a need to make and extra class for these 2 grades.  They are already small classes.
• Teachers will make sure that learners adhere to the rules to help fight the virus and that CVC can stay safe.
• The break as we know it, will fall away.  During break time, each teacher will take his/her learners out and make sure they obey by the social distancing rules.  Teachers can also take them out to stretch legs and then they can have break in class.  This rule will apply until the President declares SA safe from the spread of the virus.
• The learners will have time to exercise during the Physical Training and Life Skills period. 
• We do ask that you educate your child about all the rules and regulations as set out by die government and school.  It is new for all of us and we learn everyday a thing or 2 about the virus.  But we know that the Lord will not leave us.  He will protect us from all evil and keep us safe in His hand.  Pray, believe and have faith.

We as CVC are very serious about fighting the COVID 19 and therefore we will have ZERO TOELRANCE for anyone who is not going to keep to the rules set out.  We can stop this, we just need to work together.  It is also the responsibility of the parent/s to make sure your child understand the seriousness of this virus and also knows what is expected from them at all times.  The learners also need to know to go home immediately when the get off the bus and make sure they obey all rules until they are home.  Stay safe.

We will get through this if we stand together and help each other.  It is a new and uncertain time for all of us.  We all need to get back to work and in a specific routine to be able to make ends meet at the end.

We would also want to make use of this opportunity and say thank you for your hard work at home with our learners.  We know that you are not teachers, you had other chores and work to do, but still you helped your child to keep on learning.  Our teachers worked endlessly during the lockdown to make sure that your child stayed up to date.  For those kids that did not do all the work, we will be doing revision.

Thank you for paying your school fees, like our President has asked.  Your child still got the education during the lockdown period, just in another way and at home.  We also know that home schooling is not something that many would like to do, but unfortunately we all had to jump in and make it work. And you as parents made is work, even though it was difficult.  We really appreciate it very much.  Once again we showed the world that CVC is the cream of the crop. 

We also ask those that didn’t pay the school fees, to do so promptly. AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO THOSE THAT DID PAY THE FEES.  We also know there were parents that did only get 50% of their salaries or had to claim from UIF, but still their children’s school fees were paid.  We SALUTE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

We would like to thank our parents for the beautiful photos and videos they have send of their children where they were busy with homework or experiments.  It makes us so proud to know that our parents and learners are so dedicated.  We will be posting these photos and videos on the website soon.  All we can say, is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

We hope that you know that we as CVC staff have the best interest of our learners at heart and will keep on doing what we do to make sure they reach the highest sport in life.  We will also work hard to make sure that all our learners will pass at the end of the year.  This time that we have missed will not have an influence on what we will achieve.  There is enough time to do all the work thorough in each grade.  We ask the parents to take our hands and strengthen them so we can SERVE AND SUCCEED!

We thank you and salute you!