Crisis cabinet agrees to bring school start date forward

Children will go back to the classroom a week earlier than planned, with Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 12 students to return from October 18.

Children will go back to the classroom a week earlier than planned, with Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 12 students to return from October 18.

Years 2, 6, and 11 will resume in-school learning on October 25, and remaining grades will go back on November 1.

The new timetable brings forward the back-to-school plan by a week.

State government crisis cabinet signed off on the acceleration on Wednesday night.

All teachers will need to be vaccinated.

It’s understood that senior ministers considered bringing schools back from the 11th but decided to wait until the 18th to allow teachers more time to get the jab.

PREMIER HINTS AT POSSIBLE EARLY RETURN TO SCHOOL

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hinted at a possible early return to school for students saying: “we are looking at options if we can bring things forward.”

It comes on the day the Daily Telegraph revealed an overwhelming majority of people want children to return to their classes at the same time pubs reopen.

“Parents should assume it is October 25 and if there is better news than that, we will convey it. I want to stress we are carefully considering the options we have to get kids to school earlier if we can,” Ms Berejklian said today.

“We didn’t expect to have hit 70 per cent double dose on October 11 so we are considering what that does for the school system.

“Our school system in New South Wales is huge. We have to look at the teachers that are vaccinated and the staged return. There is a lot to consider but I want to openly and transparently say we have been looking at this issue.

“If there is anything we can do in that regard, we will announce it. At this stage, parents should plan for the 25th but we are looking at options if we can bring things forward.”

‘Parents should plan for the 25th” … Premier Gladys Berejiklian gives her daily Covid-19 update in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

An overwhelming majority of people want children to return to their classes at the same time pubs reopen.

A current Daily Telegraph poll reveals 77 per cent of readers say schools should return to coincide with the reopening of hotels and shoppings centres.

A leading epidemiologist has backed the call from beleaguered parents worn down by homeschooling who just want kids back in classrooms alongside their friends.

Under the current NSW road map to reopening, pubs and shopping centres will open on October 11 to the fully vaccinated but schools will remain closed for two further weeks before a staggered return starts on October 25.

University of Sydney infectious diseases paediatrician Professor Robert Booy urged the state government to reopen schools sooner than October 25.

“I am keen to see kids back having effective schooling as soon as it is safe … I would like to see them back at school ­before the 25th of October,” he said.

“In schools where there are very high vaccine uptake rates, (like) secondary schools, there will be scope for earlier opening, particularly if other protective measures are continued like good social distancing and mask wearing.

“Students in particular classes should not mix with students in other classes and that is achievable with some organisation on the part of the school.”

He said statistics from the UK and US showed the vast majority of students of primary school age, who were not yet eligible to be vaccinated, suffered only minor cold-like symptoms if they contracted Covid.

Maroubra mum Gaye Xenos said she wanted her 10-year-old daughter Olivia and 15-year-old daughter Natalia back at school sooner than the October 25 date outlined by the government, because three months of learning from home was not going well.

Gaye Xenos with her daughters Olivia, 10 and Natalia 15. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“With the 15-year-old, I can’t really help her with any work … towards the end of the term if the younger one couldn’t understand something, she was stressed and just wasn’t getting the work done,” Ms Xenos said.

In the end, Ms Xenos just had to wave the white flag, telling her children not to bother with anything they couldn’t understand.

She now wants them to ­return to school sooner than October 25 if it is safe.

“They are only going back for a few weeks (before ­summer holidays). I think they could have gone back a bit sooner,” she said.

Meanwhile, psychologist and president of the NSW Parents’ Council Rose Cantali said when students do finally return, teachers would have more social and academic problems to deal with.

“A lot of the kids are going to be floundering,” she said. “What we’ve noticed now is that these children are more addicted to video games … the parents are busy and it is the only way they’re getting some peace and quiet.”

Dad Harry Tran with his son Bach, 10, and daughter Isabella, 6, said he wants his kids to return to Rosehill Public School as soon as possible. Picture: Toby Zerna

Central Coast father Craig Kettle said he believed there had been a learning loss for his two daughters who attend local public schools, in part due to the increase in screen time. “At some point the children are going to have to repeat a year because there is no way they can catch up on the schoolwork they will need to do to complete the year,” he said.

According to University of Western Sydney’s children’s technology expert Professor Joanne Orlando, while some children have flourished in the online learning scenario, others have suffered.

“Teachers may have to adapt their teaching once children return to classrooms,” she said.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says the safety of students is the priority.

“I recognise that there are a mix of views across the community on when the right time is for children to return to school,” she said.

“It’s fantastic that we will meet vaccination targets in NSW earlier than originally anticipated. I want students back in the classroom as soon as possible, but we also need to ensure that it is done in a safe and sensible way.

“We continue to review our school settings and plans, as we have done throughout the pandemic, in line with the latest health advice.”

Labor’s education spokeswoman Prue Car blamed the delay in going back to school on the government’s failure to prepare for in-person learning by purchasing air purifiers which would bolster airflow in classrooms.

“We could have been going back to school sooner if the government had acted faster to make classrooms safe,” she said.