Dear Students and Parents/Carers

Term 3 commences tomorrow and I have three pieces of information to share.

Important dates
Because of COVID our June calendar of events was interrupted and two key activities will now occur in Term 3.

  • The GAT will take place on Thursday July 29 for all students completing a Unit 3&4 VCE subject. Other students are not required at school on that day.
  • College staff will be taking part in a combined curriculum day with staff from the Year 7-10 Colleges on Wednesday September 8 and students will not be required at school on that day.

COVID measures
As you will be aware the Victorian Government has announced new arrangements for schools in Victoria. The key changes relate to the use of face masks:

  • Students must still carry a face mask at all times.
  • Students and staff are not required to wear a face mask while at school when interacting exclusively with staff and students from their own school.
  • Students and staff should wear a face mask indoors at school when interacting with external visitors, including parents/carers and staff/students from other schools.
  • Face masks remain mandatory on public transport and school buses.
  • Students should, where practical, check-in via a QR code service when travelling to and from school on public transport.
  • Parents and visitors to schools must use QR codes and wear face masks when entering school buildings.
  • Face masks continue to be recommended outdoors when 1.5m physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Other advice:

  • Camps and overnight stays can take place across Victoria with no travel restrictions. Multiple schools can attend camps providing school groups remain separated and do not share common facilities at the same time.
  • There are currently no restrictions on travel between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
  • Interschool sport can proceed but is limited to those people required for the activity to occur.
  • As per my message earlier this week, if you are returning to Victoria from a designated COVID red or orange zone you are subject to relevant testing and isolation requirements. Please contact the college if you will be absent for these reasons and we will arrange for work to be provided to you.

Communication with families
I also wish to inform you of some changes to the way in which we communicate with you via email and SMS messages.  As of the start of this term all notifications regarding student absences from school and notifications regarding student’s academic progress will change.  This means that starting from July 12:

  • Email notifications will be sent to all Parent/Carers in each household associated with the student.
  • SMS notifications will be sent to first adult listed in each household associated with the student.

This means that where a student has more than one family listed on our system we will be communicating with each household when a student has an unexplained absence from school or when we need to communicate in regards to a student’s academic progress.

If you have any queries regarding this please contact Jan Tilburn via email tilburn.jan@bssc.edu.au or via phone on (03) 4408 6329

I look forward to seeing everyone back at the college tomorrow.

Yours faithfully

Dale Pearce
Principal