[Design and Technology] destech Digest, Vol 180, Issue 21 - Working safely during COVID-19

Sat May 16 04:04:00 UTC 2020

Hi all,

Just a bit of insight into what we are planning to do at my large
government school.

We have considered options of cleaning tools / equipment and lack of school
PPE (that would normally be shared by students) and the lack of PPE in
stores for our students to buy themselves. Hand washing upon workshop entry
will also not be enough as it will not prevent sneezing etc.

We have decided it is not possible to operate safely with practical
activities in Design and Technology due to these issues including the
unrealistic increase in workload for ourselves and our technician (we have
3 workshops to maintain). Some of our teaching staff and their family
members are also immunocompromised which is another serious factor we have
taken into consideration.

The only making that will occur is in Year 12 VCE Product Design and
Technology as it has been mandated by VCAA. We will take all steps we can
to ensure the safety of these students and teachers - but it may be an
impossible challenge, especially for one teacher whose husband keeps very
poor health.

Our school is also in consultation with the AEU about a range of
issues including how teachers should handle mandated practical tasks during
the current pandemic.

Instead we will continue to run our "online curriculum" of coding and
digital design tasks in class and limit the movement and interaction of
students wherever possible. We will do this until the end of Term 2 and
reassess the situation next semester, but we are prepared to continue with
non-practical task for the remainder of the year if required. This will
obviously not be as fun or engaging for our students as making would be but
our responsibility is to keep our staff and students safe above all else.

Good luck everyone - stay safe!

Peter Murphy

*Peter Murphy*

Leading Teacher - STEM

Northcote High School

*T  *+61 3 9488 2300

*E  **murphy.peter.l at edumail.vic.gov.au
<murphy.peter.l at edumail.vic.gov.au> *

*nhs.vic.edu.au* <http://nhs.vic.edu.au/>

[image: cid:image001.png at 01D35FBE.967150F0]

*President*
*Design and Technology Teachers' Association Australia*

*dattaaustralia.com* <http://dattaaustralia.com/>

On Sat, May 16, 2020 at 1:28 PM <destech-request at edulists.com.au> wrote:

> Send destech mailing list submissions to
>         destech at edulists.com.au
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>         http://edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/destech
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>         destech-request at edulists.com.au
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>         destech-owner at edulists.com.au
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of destech digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Return to school (Foster, David B)
>    2. Re: Return to school (Lorraine Tran)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 15 May 2020 12:45:48 +0000
> From: "Foster, David B" <foster.david.b at edumail.vic.gov.au>
> To: "destech at edulists.com.au" <destech at edulists.com.au>
> Subject: [Design and Technology] Return to school
> Message-ID: <4b5bdd7908f94a8c8c7ec037cb7e7f95 at edumail.vic.gov.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hello everyone,
>
>
> I am just curious to find out what sort of processes have been put in
> place or are going to be put in place for  lessons in your Technology
> rooms. The department has provided money for a cleaner at state schools but
> it is only for the high use areas (well that's what I was told) like door
> handles, toilets and benches.
>
> I am a little concerned that my tools won't be wiped down after a lesson
> or even at the end of the day. I run woodwork, metals and systems by myself
> not to mention VCAL classes. Our students are very active as a rule and I
> want to make sure they are safe and so am I.
>
> I am also the OH&S rep at our school and I have a vested interest in
> making sure everybody is safe. I know there is no golden rule for dealing
> with this situation and solutions might sometimes work and on other
> occasions might not. As a designing community I feel we are in the best
> position to come up with some plans. So I would like to encourage a
> discussion on this matter.
>
>
> Regards, David Foster
>
> IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
> received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening
> or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any
> loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender
> or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files
> our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any
> representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender,
> and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Training.
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://edulists.com.au/pipermail/destech/attachments/20200515/ff5e23e3/attachment-0001.html
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 16 May 2020 13:27:28 +1000
> From: Lorraine Tran <tranlorraine at gmail.com>
> To: "Design and Technology Teachers' Mailing List"
>         <destech at edulists.com.au>,  "Compton, Leanne L"
>         <compton.leanne.l at edumail.vic.gov.au>
> Subject: Re: [Design and Technology] Return to school
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAPsWVPD8wWB-hkKBi4hDrop8ODqTZ-3_tWM2iprMdcd32HOVpQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi David
>
> You've started a very important discussion here.
>
> A few things I've been thinking about are:
> 1. What information is the Department of Education, Catholic Education or
> Independent Schools (as the employer) supplying teachers?
> There doesn't seem to be anything too specific about prac classes in terms
> of what the Department has on its website at
>
> https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/Pages/coronavirus-advice-schools.aspx#link59
> However, you could send an email with your specific concerns to
> health.advice at edumail.vic.gov.au
>
> 2. What PPE do you and your students need in additional to what you
> normally do? Will this need to be cleaned or disposed of, and will your
> employer provide this? We are told that masks do not need to be worn (in
> general) but what about the possibility of coming into contact with an
> asymptomatic student or a student who sneezes out of the blue?
>
> 3. In a work situation, to assess the OHS risk of activities, we need to
> assess the LEVEL of risk. On what basis can we do this? We are told that
> students are low-risk, but many of our senior students have part-time jobs,
> such as at McDonalds. How about the level of risk of transmission of
> Covid-19 to teachers, technicians etc?
>
> 4. At the VCAA webinar held this week for VCE Product Design and Technology
> teachers, we were informed that students are to do the mandated production
> work in Units 3 and 4 because it's an important part of the curriculum and
> what students enjoy. VCAA explained that they had done extensive
> consultation with the 3 sectors (Department of Education, Catholic
> Education and Independent schools). So can the VCAA inform us of what that
> extensive consultation told them in terms of shared use of tools and
> equipment needed for safe delivery of the practical component of the
> curriculum they mandate must be delivered to VCE PDT students, beyond
> trying to maintain a safe distance, handwashing and personal hygiene (which
> are difficult to implement in any class of students anyway)?
>
> 5. David - as the OHS rep at your school, are you being provided with
> professional learning by your employer in response to the coronavirus
> environment and is it specific to the different learning areas within the
> school? It's your employer's responsibility to do that.
>
> Just a few thoughts and more questions.
>
> Clearly, David, you have pointed out the lack of information/advice
> available to allow you to safely carry out your work and to keep you and
> your students safe whilst delivering the curriculum. Let's hope the
> information, processes and procedures are forthcoming for the return of
> teachers and students to schools.
>
> Let's keep the discussion going.
>
> Stay safe everyone.
> Lorraine Tran
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 15 May 2020, 10:46 pm Foster, David B, <
> foster.david.b at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> >
> > I am just curious to find out what sort of processes have been put in
> > place or are going to be put in place for  lessons in your Technology
> > rooms. The department has provided money for a cleaner at state schools
> but
> > it is only for the high use areas (well that's what I was told) like door
> > handles, toilets and benches.
> >
> > I am a little concerned that my tools won't be wiped down after a lesson
> > or even at the end of the day. I run woodwork, metals and systems by
> myself
> > not to mention VCAL classes. Our students are very active as a rule and I
> > want to make sure they are safe and so am I.
> >
> > I am also the OH&S rep at our school and I have a vested interest in
> > making sure everybody is safe. I know there is no golden rule for dealing
> > with this situation and solutions might sometimes work and on other
> > occasions might not. As a designing community I feel we are in the best
> > position to come up with some plans. So I would like to encourage a
> > discussion on this matter.
> >
> >
> > Regards, David Foster
> > IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
> > received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before
> opening
> > or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of
> any
> > loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the
> sender
> > or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached
> files
> > our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any
> > representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender,
> > and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Training.
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> > Design and Technology Mailing List kindly supported by
> > http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/designtech/destechindex.html  -
> > Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
> > DATTA Vic - Design and Technology Teachers' Association of Victoria
> >
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://edulists.com.au/pipermail/destech/attachments/20200516/31b7e5fa/attachment.html
> >
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: Screenshot_20200516-105749_Word.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 424261 bytes
> Desc: not available
> URL: <
> http://edulists.com.au/pipermail/destech/attachments/20200516/31b7e5fa/attachment.jpg
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Digest Footer
>
> _______________________________________________
> destech mailing list
> destech at edulists.com.au
> http://edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/destech
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of destech Digest, Vol 180, Issue 21
> ****************************************
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://edulists.com.au/pipermail/destech/attachments/20200516/775693f8/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12824 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://edulists.com.au/pipermail/destech/attachments/20200516/775693f8/attachment-0001.png>