Dear
We pray that you are turning to Him during these most difficult of times.
These are uniquely challenging circumstances and our membership are feeling the impact of this unprecedented global pandemic.
While the status of school camps varies throughout the country. At the time of writing, a number of State Departments of Education (or its equivalent) have issued a notice that all excursions and camps should be cancelled until further notice. They are:
No time frame has been provided for when this decision will be reviewed, as far as I can gather.
Further to this, some Catholic Education Commissions have also implemented a similar decision. Other denominational and private schools operate outside of these bodies and will no doubt make their own pronouncements.
I note with interest, the wording from the Victorian Department of Education and Training media release, which in part reads:
‘All camps scheduled to commence from and including Tuesday 17 March must be postponed and rescheduled, or
, if there is no other option, cancelled.’
Whilst in
Western Australia
the Department of Education has written:
‘Each school will inform parents/carers about events and activities that will need to be
cancelled or postponed
.’
(
emphasis
added)
Both infer that the notion of camps is still supported, just the timing needs to be readjusted. We will, of course, continue to update you as more relevant information comes to hand.
There are two further matters of note for the coming days, with updates to follow:
1.
School Holiday Camps
- We are planning to host a webinar later this week for member sites who have Holiday camps scheduled for the upcoming school holiday period;
2.
CVA Membership Fees
- We acknowledge that the timing of membership fees is most inopportune. I am currently working on a strategy regarding these which I plan to present to our Board later this week. Naturally, our Board members, of whom most are primarily camp managers, are today fully consumed with managing the fallout from the change in school camping policy.
And finally, you will have discovered that there is a lot of information being shared about COVID-19; can I encourage you to check the sources of anything you read, watch or hear. If in doubt, go to the primary source. Of particular note is Australian Government Department of Health website
with daily updates
. You can also access the information from last week's webinar previously sent to members via the link button below.
Blessings,
Graeme Janes
CEO
