This morning the NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian announced that schools will reopen (including Lake Macquarie schools). All children will attend one day a week from the beginning of Term 2 Week 3 on Monday 11th May. This came as a shock for many parents who had been expecting to homeschool their children 5 days a week for the whole of the term. With 2968 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in NSW to date, an increase of 6 in the last 24 hours, the state government is preparing to slowly bring children back into their school environment.
Education is important
The Premier stated that NSW has a goal of children returning to school full time by the beginning of Term 3. “We know that nothing is more important than a child’s education, and we must begin to return our students to their classrooms in a considered way.”
Staggering the return
Allowing children to return to school one day a week means there will be less than a quarter of the total number of students at school at any one time. Schools have been told it will be up to them to decide how this is managed. The Premier did state that there would be a consideration for families with more than one child at school.
‘We are asking (schools) to certainly consider family groupings, like keeping siblings together. This will make it a lot easier for parents as we transition back to normal schooling.’ Sarah Mitchell, Minister for NSW Education said.
Maintaining social distancing
Staggering the children across the week will give students and teachers the ability to still maintain social distancing measures. Sarah Mitchell said that careful consideration had been given to support the whole school community. Their aim was to provide clarity and certainty on the way forward.
“Hand sanitiser will be available in all classrooms and provisions are in place for at-risk teachers to work from home. Drop off, pick up, recess and lunchtimes will also be staggered to ensure social distancing.” Teachers will be given priority access to COVID-19 testing.
No child turned away
Parents will be encouraged to keep their children home except on their allocated day of face-to-face learning. However, schools will still be open for children who need to be there. No child will be turned away from school.
The Premier also thanked Catholic and Independent schools for working with the government at this time. She thanked staff including principals, teachers, cleaners and parents.
We also want to thank all the parents of Lake Macquarie. We think all parents appreciate Lake Macquarie schools more than ever right now and the staff who guide and support our children every single day. Thank you so much!
References:
NSW students to transition back to the classroom in Term 2. {Accessed 21/4/20} https://education.nsw.gov.au/news/latest-news/nsw-students-to-transition-back-to-the-classroom-in-term-2
Teachers given priority coronavirus testing as NSW school return date confirmed. {Accessed 21/4/20} https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/teachers-given-priority-coronavirus-testing-as-nsw-school-return-date-confirmed/ar-BB12WyQ2?ocid=spartanntp
