Catholic schools lead return to full time attendance
Catholic schools across the Broken Bay Diocese will return to full time attendance from next week, while an announcement on when public schools will follow suit is imminent.
Central Coast
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In what will trigger a collective sigh of relief for thousands of homeschooling parents, Diocese of Broken Bay schools will be among the first to return to full time attendance for all students.
The Catholic Schools Office confirmed at the weekend that all 36 primary schools and eight high schools from Willoughby on Sydney’s north shore to Lake Munmorah on the Central Coast would return to normal attendance from the beginning of Week 5, which begins next Monday, May 26.
A spokeswoman said the plan was to return all schools to normal hours — providing there were no further outbreaks of COVID-19 — with the possible exception of MacKillop Catholic College at Warnervale.
She said the K-12 school was the largest Catholic school on the Central Coast by enrolments and the plan was to have it return to full time attendance by Week 6.
However schools have told parents safety measures would remain a priority.
“While we will be returning to full time teaching for the children, we will continue all the procedures we have in place regarding hygiene for the students and social distancing in regards to adults,” one Principal wrote to parents.
Meanwhile an announcement on the return to normal attendance for public schools is expected within days.
NewsLocal understands the decision hinges on how large numbers of students will affect the state government’s COVID-19 public transport plan announced this morning.
Under the plan, strict social distancing guidelines will be enforced, seeing passenger numbers on public transport severely restricted.
Green dots will be rolled out across the public transport system to tell people where to sit and stand.
It is anticipated parents will be encouraged to walk or ride their children to school while other bigger schools work out the logistics of having large numbers of students dropped off by their parents in cars.
Central Coast Parents & Citizens (P&C) Association president Sharryn Brownlee said the issue for some parents was the lack of social distancing on dedicated school buses.
She said it could trigger a “huge amount of traffic” if they all decide to drive their children.
Ms Brownlee said many high schools were caught a little off guard last week when large numbers of students started going on days they were not rostered because they were simply bored at home and craved the social interaction with their peers.
She said other measures schools were putting in place to prepared for a full return included having a very “minimalist” canteen and bringing in casual teachers so classes of 30 could be split into smaller groups to ensure distancing.
However she said teachers were worried about trying to enforce social distancing in the playground, particularly with younger primary school students who simply don’t understand the concept.
Ms Brownlee said one thing was certain and that was parents, students and most teachers longed for the “normality” that returning to full time attendance would provide.
“Principals are telling me they’re really focused on returning full time,” she said.