The New ‘Normal’
Victoria is in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and much has been written and said about the frightening nature of coronavirus, however De La Salle Staff and the Health Centre tackled the reopening of the College with vigour.
The Victorian Chief Medical Officer briefed all Victorians on the restrictions required to reopen and gave two weeks’ notice to implement them.
We were lucky, our College COVID19 Response Team had anticipated most of the brief and our Maintenance Team had already tasked our reliable plumbers to replace all drinking fountains with bottle refill nozzles. A checklist was written and one by one we ticked off the restrictions to meet the strict guidelines mandated by our Government.
There was much to be accomplished in a short timeframe. Policies and procedures were ratified, classrooms and staff rooms were addressed, desks removed and campus libraries reconfigured to accommodate the new “normal”.
Hand sanitiser bottles were ordered and whilst there was a slight delay in rolling out the corridor hand sanitisation stations, exact locations were identified to capture high volume traffic areas and maximise usage of the hand hygiene protocols.
Our College community members will be forgiven if they step inside our gates and think they are entering their local supermarket or shopping centre. They will recognise the now familiar distinctive coloured floor decals reminding us to social distance 1.5 metres and will not have to glance very far to view a series of hand sanitisation posters plastered on our internal and external walls and sign posts.
The uncertainty surrounding this coronavirus is one of the hardest things to handle. We don’t know exactly how we will be impacted, but the College Executive and the Health Centre can assure you, we have taken every step to minimise the risk and will do our utmost to help slow down the spread of the virus. Staff, parents and students alike can assist our capabilities to tackle this coronavirus by doing their bit to “slow the spread”.
The Health Centre makes no apology if you receive a telephone call requesting you to pick up your son. We all have the responsibility to look after each other according to the message, “If your child is feeling ill or unwell, you must not attend school. You must remain home and seek medical advice”. This instruction will be strictly complied with to protect our entire Community. Please email kupton@delasalle.vic.edu.au or telephone 0427 503 774 if your son has been tested and awaiting results and Kylie Upton will discuss processes to follow.
See: Royal Children’s Hospital informative fact sheets: RCH & Coronavirus and Supporting your child to cope with the COVID19 pandemic.
Kylie Upton
Health Centre, De La Salle