School year delay throws teachers, parents into turmoil
Many teachers are outraged about plans to add an extra week of work at the end of term 4, when some would still be expected to be at school from January 24 to care for students.
QLD News
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Queensland students will resume classes two weeks later than scheduled in a desperate bid to manage an expected peak of Omicron cases.
But parents have been left exasperated as back-to-school plans were thrown into turmoil, while many teachers were irate at the prospect of another disrupted school year.
After first flagging a potential delay on Friday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced school would now resume for prep to year 10 students on February 7th, two weeks after the planned January 24th term one start date.
Year 11 and 12 students would begin remote learning from January 31, while term 4 would be extended by a week to December 16.
Describing the decision as a “common sense move” the Premier said the goal was to avoid students to head back to school just as the Queensland Covid case numbers were expected to hit its peak.
Serious staff shortages were also expected to hit schools hard as teachers and school employees inevitably contract Covid.
“As the Chief Health Officer has said, there is no way to completely stop this virus from spreading. But we can take steps to protect the community – including our children – as much as possible,” she said.
Under the plan, teachers would be expected to return to work on their scheduled dates for planning and supervision.
Vulnerable children or those of essential workers would be permitted to attend school, with “skeleton staff” on site for supervision.
The date would apply to all Queensland public and private primary and secondary schools, as well as state-delivered and sessional kindies.
With children aged 5 to 11 years-old also eligible to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccination today, Ms Palaszczuk said the term 1 push-back would give parents more time to get their kids vaccinated.
“I know parents are concerned about sending children back to school at a time like this, so I want to assure them that delaying the start of the school year by just two weeks is a sensible solution.”
But many school teachers were left outraged by the unveiled plans, questioning why they were being slugged with an extra week of work at the end of term 4, and why some would still be expected to be at school to care for students.
Queensland’s education unions said they did not support the week extension in December, with the Queensland Teachers’ Union executive expected to urgently meet this week to discuss the issue.
“While the QTU supports the decision of the government to delay the start of the student academic year, we do not support the announcement of the Premier to extend the school year until 16 December 2022,” a union statement read.
“The decision to extend the school year does not recognise the impact of the pandemic on the workload and wellbeing of school leaders and teachers and acts to reduce member working conditions and leave entitlements.”
Independent Education Union Queensland secretary Terry Burke said the notion of an extended length of the school year would clearly be rejected by teachers in schools.
“IEU-QNT are dedicated professional who have put the safety and continued quality education of their students and school communities front and centre for the last two years and an extension of the school year would be poor recognition of that commitment,” Mr Burke said.
Mr Burke said a number of questions on the return-to-school remained, including how remote learning would be conducted for Year 11 and 12 students from January 31.
“The plan to manage the attendance at schools for vulnerable children and the children of essential workers also needs to be confirmed by employers as soon as possible,” he said.
Education Minister Grace Grace said principals would implement staffing arrangements to ensure only minimal staff were on site, while establishing enough support for vulnerable children and those of essential works to be cared for.
But she said with the school staff workforce expected to be significantly impacted by Covid in the coming weeks, remote learning would not be offered.
“Parents and carers can decide what their children do over these two weeks.
“Staff who are able to work will be carrying out a range of duties, just as they would on other student free days.”
Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Dr Lee-Anne Perry welcomed the announcement, describing it as a “sensible decision”.
“We had all hoped for a smooth start to the 2022 school year, but our priority always must be the wellbeing of students and staff in our schools,” Dr Perry said.
“By moving the start of school back two weeks for most students, we can play our part in keeping our communities safe.”
Dr Perry said the extra student free days would be used by schools to refine their plans on how to keep students engaged in a range of Covid-related scenarios.
“As the pandemic continues to unfold, Catholic schools are working hard to ensure students will be able to keep learning and families will be supported,” she said.
Originally published as School year delay throws teachers, parents into turmoil
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