Royal Christian Academy

COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Most infected people will develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization. This webpage serves as a platform for more general Covid-19 related infromation for our school to ensure ease of access. Please see the latest Operational Covid-19 Guidelines for Parents which apply to the full campus. The more specific details relating to our school will be communicated direclty to parents through thier chosen communications mediums. The unpredictable behaviour of the COVID-19 virus has brought about challenges of formulating wise and informed responses to it. This has made our short and long term planning complex. However, we believe we have managed to respond with a plan that is achievable and maintains the standard of excellence. Most importantly, we want to ensure that the demands of providing a rigorous learning environment are met and we remain COVID-19 compliant to the set safety regulations by the Deparment of Education and the Department of Health respectively.

Readiness

We would like to inform you that have taken and continuoesly take all prescribed precautions and we are open. We have done the following in preparation to re- open.

• We had the school campus deep cleaned and sanitised.
• Arranged desks in the classrooms following the physical distancing guidelines, each student to be at 1.5m from the other. 
• Each classroom can accommodate an average of 20 learners which is more than the average number of learners in most of our classes.
• Installed a 20 000 litre water tank to ensure that water never runs out. 
• Each block has a water tap which enables easy access to hand washing water. 
• Had all the toilets fixed and good working order. 
• In addition to materials provided by the department of education we bought 100litres of sanitiser, deep cleaning sanitiser gun, plastic shields for educators, step on sanitiser dispensers. 
• Created a quarantine room for both learners and members of staff. 
• Put up informative signs on Covid – 19. 
• We had an orientation meeting for the SMT on the 23^rd of May and all members of staff (Teaching and ancillary) on the 26^th of May.
• A return to school plan has been drawn up and given to every staff member to familiarise themselves with it. 
• A plan to phase in different grades in the following manner has been drafted:

Sports Events and Social Gatherings

In line with the national lockdown regulations, these are cancelled and or postponed until indications from government permit otherwise. All sports facilities remain closed.

Calendar Adjustments

No final decisions have been made as yet around adjustments to the 2020 School Calendar.  There are many internal and external factors that need to be taken into account in this decision-making process.  As soon as these decisions have been made, this will be communicated to One and All.

Finance 

We are aware that many businesses face severe challenges while we deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We greatly appreciate our parents’ efforts to settle their accounts in full. In situations where parents experience cash flow constraints, we request that you inform us in writing to  admin@royalchristianacademy.co.za of the specific circumstances and proposals. We will try and assist those hardest hit as best we can for as long as we can. Our staff is working flexibly and remotely while ensuring that core business continuity is achieved.

Campus Access & School Arrival Procedure

If any staff member, student or parent is sick (with any symptoms - not just COVID-19 related symptoms), they are not to come to school. In the interest of being better able to control access during this restricted / phased schooling time, the following is in place:

•  On arrival all learners will use one entrance. The leaners will be expected to queue maintaining a physical distance of 2m. Transporters and parents/guardians will be asked to drop off all learners at that entrance. 
• All gates are open from 06h45 to 09h00 to allow for students with staggered hours to enter. The gates will then be locked until collection time.
• Any other entry to school will be on pre-arranged access.
• Learner’s temperature will be recorded and a questionnaire on symptoms completed. Any persons with temperature above 38^oc will not be allowed into the school and will be asked to go back home or escorted to the quarantine room where they will be kept until the parents or guardians collect them. Also anyone having the following symptoms will not be allowed into the school or quarantined, having a cough, having difficulty in breathing, feeling tired, not able to smell or taste. 
• Learners will be provided with a mask if they do not have one and ushered directly to their class. Parents are advised to purchase at least 2 cloth masks for their children that are safer and durable. This also enables the learners to wash the mask with soap every day when they get home. 
• On the first day, learners will have an orientation session at 0800hrs before lessons commence. 
• Learners will put on their masks at all times, stay at their places/desks at all times. They will not be allowed to be in groups and will maintain a social distance of 2m at all times. 
• Learners will not be allowed to share any item. They are advised to bring a water bottle for drinking water. 
• The tuck shop will not be operational and learners are expected to bring their own food. They will not be allowed to go outside the school to buy anything or to order food from outside. 
• A second temperature recording will be done between 1000hrs and 1130hrs. Learners displaying symptoms of covid-19 will be put in the quarantine room and parents asked to come and collect them. 
• A third Temperature recording will be done as learners leave classrooms through a temperature check point after school. 
• Immediately after school learners are expected to leave the school campus for home as soon as possible. Parents are expected to ensure that learners use safe transport that will collect them timeously from school. After care is not going to be offered.
• Transporters have been given guidelines on how to sanitise their vehicles, the number of people they are supposed to carry in their vehicles and ensuring safety in their vehicles including wearing of masks. 

NOTE#: It will be a parent’s/Guardians prerogative to allow the child to attend school. However, we will endeavour to take the utmost precautions to keep children safe and avoid any Covid-19 infections taking place in the school. You are welcome to request for any other information regarding our preparedness to re-open the school or to come and inspect our facilities.