An important COVID update & reminder

COVID Update/Reminder 

RAT Kit Delivery & Distribution

At the end of last term, or for some early this term, students should have received some more RAT kits from the school that were sent through by Catholic Schools NSW. The RAT kits are to help ease isolation requirements for close contacts. This will enable students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms to continue to attend school if they follow guidelines agreed with NSW Health. Thank you to our families and staff that have been following the guidelines. This has assisted us in minimising the impact on the school so far this term.

A reminder that staff and students who have had confirmed COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks do not have to comply with the following guidelines if they become a household or close contact and are not required to self-isolate or test unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms.

Close contacts attending school will need to ensure:

• They notify the school  (including their outside of school hours care provider) if they intend to return under this provision.
• They should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for five school days.
• They (if in secondary school) must wear a mask indoors except when eating or exercising. Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors (except when eating or exercising).
• No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to participate in overnight excursions, including school camps.
• Any visitor to a school site who is a close contact must advise the school that they are a close contact before they come on site. These visitors should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times. Any meeting that can occur virtually in this case will be facilitated.
• If symptoms occur, students and staff should not attend school and should undertake a rapid antigen test (RAT).

If the test comes back negative for COVID-19, the student/staff member should still not return to school until either:

The student/staff no longer has any symptoms, or

A medical certificate is provided to the school confirming that symptoms are explained by another diagnosis (such as hay fever)

Note: Students/staff must not attend school if they are unwell, even if they have tested negative for COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests can produce false-negative results, and symptoms of other illnesses can also be similar to COVID-19, including flu, the common cold and stomach bugs. Health advice is that students/staff who are sick should always stay home to rest and recover and avoid putting other students and staff at risk of getting sick.