Safety plans in place for local schools
Students across the province will be going back to school on September 8, and it will undoubtedly look a lot different than in previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Student Return to School Plans are organized into eight categories: Safe Attendance, Safe Classrooms, Safe Transportation, Safe Supports, Safe Access, Safe Activities, Safe Facilities and Safe Alternatives. With each school being unique, local details must be added to the plan as deemed necessary.
Under the Saskatchewan Safe Schools plan, there are four phases of education delivery in the province:
Level 1 – Full in-class learning with some additional measures to ensure student and staff safety.
Level 2 – Full in-class learning – Mask usage for students and staff, as per the guidance provided to school divisions by Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer.
Level 3 – Reduced in-class learning.
Level 4 – Transition to alternative learning opportunities offered by divisions.
The Sunwest School Division released school-specific plans last Wednesday. While most of the schools in the Division will be at Level 1 or 2, students at Kindersley Composite School and Elizabeth Middle School will begin the year at Level 3 of the back to school plan.
Attendance on alternating days at Elizabeth Middle School has been put in place to provide safety for the students and staff. Due to space restrictions within the classrooms, hallways and common spaces, social distancing is unattainable. Attendance on alternating days allows students to have a more normal learning experience in a less restrictive environment while they are at school.
Students at KCS will spend the first two days of school with each grade having a half-day in the school on their own. Students will be organized into groups of 10 to 12 people and assigned a teacher to work with them. During this time, staff will have the opportunity to work with small grade alike groups and will go through the re-entry plan, review expectations, update schedules, locker assignments, learn their cohort, and which days they will be attending classes. There will also be specific expectations reviewed on hygiene, traffic flow in the hallways, use of exits and entrances, extracurricular expectations, and opportunities to ask questions.
KCS usually holds a Grade 9 Orientation prior to the first day of class, and this staggered start will allow that to continue. This is meant to help anxious students and give them confidence entering KCS for the first time as a student. It also provides time to review expectations, tour the school, practice using locks, find their classrooms, meet the staff, and ask any questions.
The Ministries of Health and Education have worked together to create a comprehensive parent package to help families prepare for the beginning of school on September 8, 2020.
To access local plans, please visit your school division’s website for individual school information.
PHOTO BY KATE WINQUIST
School is set to resume on Tuesday, September 8. The Government of Saskatchewan and School Divisions across the province have been working diligently to put a Safe Schools Plan in place.
