St Cyprian's School

20 May 2020

Dear Parents and Members of the St Cyprian’s School Family

It is with a sense of profound relief that I write you today following on from Minister Angie Motshekga’s briefing last night. Unexpectedly, all schools in South Africa have been given the green light to open on 1 June and, although the minister specified that this was to be a phased reopening beginning with Grades 7 & 12, she also hinted at independent schools and smaller schools being permitted to operate outside those parameters. We hope to hear within the next day or two what this means.

We plan to publish a SCS COVID Mission Statement soon but for now, in addition to our original mission, we aim to meet the following objectives:

To create an environment through the establishment of protocols which govern screening, hygiene, cleaning, social distancing, educational and informational programs, the wearing of PPEs and every safety precaution possible, that ensures that SCS does not become a place where the virus is allowed to spread.
To create a learning environment best suited to the learning style and needs of the individual student. We know that some girls are thriving on the distance-learning platform while others are floundering. We aim to deliver an equitable educational offering regardless as to whether the student is at home or at school. To this end, lessons taught at school will be live streamed to girls at home, and some lessons at school will be taught online in instances where a teacher is considered high-risk.
Given the above, a student will only be recorded as absent if she is neither online at the required time nor physically at school. There will be no pressure exerted on students to come to school and staff and students will be strongly encouraged to stay at home if they feel unwell in any way.

Our re-opening is subject to us meeting certain standards and behaviours as determined by the Department of Health and the Department of Basic Education (DBE). We have sought the advice of epidemiologists and been guided by ISASA so that we do not merely comply but in fact go beyond the basic requirements. We have also hired a specialist services company in the field of Health and Safety certification to advise us on compliance and assist us with additional safety measures. I appeal to parents to trust that we have all the documentation and protocols in place; we are extremely risk-averse to putting our girls or staff in harm’s way. I refer you to my last Principal’s Perspective which also addressed some of this. All previous communications are on our website: https://www.stcyprians.co.za/media-hub/

In preparation for your daughter’s return to school, please note the following:

Students will be required to have two masks at school every day as they will be required to change these during the course of the day. Wearing of masks is mandatory, except during mealtimes. You are welcome to supply your own if they meet the requirement of a minimum of three layers, or the girls can purchase these on account at school. We have made these in several colours and patterns and they can be bought at R30 per mask. Our masks include a removable filter.
Visors are optional and will be on sale at school at R45.
You will be required to fill in a health form online every morning prior to bringing your child to school. If her temperature is above 38 or she answers yes to any of the questions on the form, she will need to stay home. The link to these forms will be sent to you closer to the time.
At school, each student’s temperature will be taken once more.
Students may wear either winter uniform (no blazer), or tracksuits or sports kit. This is to allow sufficient variety for clean clothes to be worn every day. Evidence strongly points to a clean set of clothes being worn daily as an important aspect of prevention of virus spread.
Given that some lessons at school will be taught online, each student is required to bring her own set of earphones to school.
There will be no tuckshop or lunch offered at school. Students are requested to bring their lunch in clearly marked plastic containers.
Bags will not be permitted in the classrooms and the girls will make use of their lockers between lessons.
All staff and students will be required to go through education and training on understanding how COVID-19 spreads and how to avoid infecting others or being infected. This training will be done online at home prior to return and once again on the first day that a grade returns per the phasing-in recommendations that are yet to be confirmed. There will be daily reminders of protocols to be followed at the start of the first lesson, supported by a poster campaign throughout the school.

I will inform you of which grades are to return as soon as I have confirmation that we are permitted to be independent in this decision. For now, I can confirm that Grade 7 and Grade 12 will be taught at school from 1 June, as well as online for parents who, for whatever reason, elect to keep their daughters at home. Boarders will return to Katherine House as and when their grade returns to school. Please note that we will revert to normal school hours from 1 June. I hope, within a few days, to inform you that other grades will be able to return and even further grades a week later.

Teachers are exhausted as are many of the students; this is because online teaching is incredibly intense and takes considerably more preparation. As a result, we will be building in a ‘St Catch-Up’s Day’ on Friday 29 May to create a long weekend. Girls can use that time to rest or to catch up on assignments and projects outstanding or, particularly in the case of Matrics, to study for tests. There will be no online teaching on 29 May. We will be running a test week for Matrics from 8 – 12 June.

St Cyprian’s School will also be taking a June break from 13 – 29 June inclusive, after which we hope to welcome back all our girls and will continue to offer the distance-learning alternative for students not physically at school. Term 3 will start on Tuesday 30 June.

We are excited to be emerging from this strict lockdown period and we look forward to welcoming our girls back. We approach this time however, mindful that there are risks and that each family will have unique circumstances added into the mix. We commit to taking every possible precaution to ensure the safety of your daughters and to respecting the decision and right of individual parents to choose what they feel is best for their own children.

Warm regards
Shelley Frayne

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Gorge Road, Oranjezicht, Cape Town 8001 Tel: +27 (0)21 461 1090 www.stcyprians.co.za