Rachel Winter

Ex-TC Alfred Update #5

Dear Canterbury community,What a tumultuous 72 hours it has been for many Canterbury families. I continue to send out positive messages and good wishes to our entire community.

Across our 1100 families, which span across and between Beaudesert to the south-west, Greenbank and New Beith to the north-west, Coomera to the south, Parkinson to the north and Mt Cotton and Shailer Park to the east, we have well and truly seen combinations of every weather-related hardship and complexity.

On the basis of the mix of issues still confronting our community, I advise that we cannot re-open the College on Tuesday.

Flood waters are still rising and we still have no power connected to the eastern half of the campus.  Dozens of our staff currently remain cut off from the College as well.  Major flood warnings for the Logan River remain in place.  Major bus routes to Canterbury will not be navigable based on flood maps and cameras that we have access to.  Many of you will be getting your own household back into action in the next 24 hours, with all that this entails. I'm sorry to say that many have had good practice at this task over the past three years!

However, there are definitely some Canterbury families who are in a relatively good situation at the moment and whose children are ready to be doing some learning at home. For this reason, I have asked as many teachers from Years 4-12 as possible to be in contact with their classes to advise what they could be working on over the next day or so from home. I know many teachers have already done this.

If there are assessment deadlines approaching, these will be reshaped by curriculum leaders and you will be advised through MyCC of any new dates.

If they are able, teachers of Prep to Year 3 will be emailing parents with activities or tasks that can be completed from home tomorrow.

In all cases though, because a reasonable percentage of our families may not have power or internet, these learning resources are provided for consideration only, rather than compulsory completion.

Canterbury will be commencing NAPLAN next week (week beg Monday 17 March). There will be no NAPLAN completed this week.

We are making arrangements at present for re-opening of the campus on Wednesday. This is contingent on two factors however: our local major arterial roads being clear from flood waters and power being reconnected to the eastern half of the campus. A thorough risk assessment will be completed before we can advise the circumstances of the College's reopening.

I know this is not necessarily the news that every family will be welcoming. Many schools will be able to re-open on Tuesday and we would of course much prefer for this to be the case for us. However, we need a viable workforce and multiple safe routes to Canterbury to be a reality in order to do so.

Best wishes to all and thank you for your understanding.

Regards

Dan Walker
Principal

by Rachel Winter

Pre-planning for TC Alfred (Update #3)

Pre-planning for TC Alfred (Update #3)

Dear parents, carers and students,

We have made the decision today that Canterbury College will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

This includes the ELC, OSHC and all administration functions.

As we will not be able to staff the ELC or OSHC, we have concluded that we cannot operate these services in any capacity.

In line with the Premier's advice from today, we do not want anybody on the roads over the next two days.

I am acutely aware that our staff and families are dispersed, to the west, south, north and east of Canterbury.

Even though the cyclone is not projected to cross the coast until Friday morning, Thursday will be critical for most families (and indeed the school itself) to prepare for the wind, rain and flooding that we will all be confronting over the next few days.

Although teachers will be making lesson materials for Years 4-12 available through OneNote and MyCC, there will be no expectation that this work can be completed.

There are also some hard copy learning resources that will be emailed or come home with students in Prep to Year 3.

Your number one priority will of course however, be protecting your house, businesses and possessions from the wild weather over the next few days.

It must be said that if the forecasts are correct, there is a high likelihood that our College will be cut off from the parts of the community by Monday and Tuesday and there may be power and internet outages that persist into next week.

If this is the case, we will not be reopening until it is safe for travel on the major roads leading to Canterbury and the campus is hazard-free.

Above all else, I hope and pray that all of our 1100 families, 300 staff, 1650 students and the City of Logan in its entirety, is able to navigate its way safely through the next few days.

I will remain in contact with the you through MyCC, Facebook and Instagram as more information needs to be shared.

Regards
Dan Walker
Principal

by Rachel Winter