Victorian private schools to learn from home early next week
Melbourne’s elite schools have broken rank and will return to remote learning next week, instead of following the state government’s move to extend holidays. But some year levels will be able to learn onsite.
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Private schools are breaking ranks and returning to remote learning next week, instead of having extra holidays like public pupils.
Thousands of pupils will go back to home schooling from next week as parents have been notified of changes for term 3.
It comes after Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday announced extended holidays for students in greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire if they were in Prep to Year 10, but a return on-site for VCE and specialist school students on Monday.
Students in regional areas will return to schools as usual.
In private school letters seen by the Herald Sun, campuses have issued different dates for their return next week.
Carey, Scotch and Ivanhoe are returning VCE students to campuses on Tuesday — the day after term 3 was due to begin before the return was thrown into turmoil with a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
Ivanhoe will include all Year 10 pupils in its on-site plans, while other students at those three schools were switching to remote learning on different dates.
At Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School, and Lowther Hall, Year 11 and 12 students were heading back to campus on Wednesday, July 15, while other students were beginning remote learning the following day.
Scotch has committed to six weeks of remote learning — unless otherwise directed — for its Prep to Year 10 students, while senior pupils return on-site, with all children going back on Tuesday.
Melbourne Grammar headmaster Philip Grutzner said onsite learning for Year 11 and 12 would begin Tuesday, while remote learning for other year levels will commence next Wednesday.
“While the premier announced that government schools would have an extended period of school holidays, Melbourne Grammar students will begin their term 3 classes as outlined,” he said.
The Melbourne Grammar school boarding house will reopen for Year 11 and 12 student from Monday.
“At this stage, it is unclear precisely how long these arrangements will need to be in place,” he said.
“There is a range of issues to be considered, including the chief health officer’s advice, occupational health and safety legislation, and relevant education and training acts and regulations.
“The school council heads will provide updates about any significant developments.”
A private school insider said the high fee paying schools had to move early to look decisive and to be seen to be providing a service to quell concerns about their $30,000 a year plus fees.
Haileybury told parents there would be no extension of school holidays for its nearly 2000 students.
The school’s vice principal of community engagement and advancement Scott Doran said more information would be sent to families in coming days.
Early learning and daycare will operate as normal.
Haileybury, with a campus in China, felt its experience indicated benefits to some aspects of remote learning.
The motivation behind the private schools’ pre-emptive move to remote learning is that many had three weeks’ holiday during the mid-year, and therefore do not want to bump the school holidays out to a month, losing learning time.
Parents at Caulfield Grammar School have been told prep to Year 9 students will be remote learning from next Wednesday to Friday.
INCORRECT TESTING RESULTS
Testing mix-ups led a staff member from Camberwell Grammar to be incorrectly identified last week as having the coronavirus.
Members of the elite school community have also been frustrated by delays at a pathology laboratory which led to parents, staff and students not receiving notification of negative tests.
A letter to parents from principal Paul Hicks said teachers and year 11 and 12 students on campus from next Tuesday will wear masks to school, while students from prep to year 10 would resume online classes from Thursday.
The letter says the school had just been identified by DHHS that “one of the cases identified last week as a positive in our community, was in fact incorrectly identified, and that the member of staff concerned was indeed negative”.
“It would appear that error was made in data entry. His ‘close contacts’ have been notified that they are free to leave quarantine and are no longer considered at risk”.
This leaves the Canterbury boys’ school with four positive cases so far – two staff members and two students. In addition, community testing picked up one more case which originated outside the school.
The letter said families had difficulties accessing test results from 4Cyte Pathology in Box Hill, with the lab only notifying DHHS with positive test results, but not letting families know they had tested negative.
“If you have not heard anything by now, you can safely assume that your results were negative,” Dr Hicks told parents.
“I understand the anxiety that this has caused some families, and I have expressed our disappointment in the process clearly to the DHHS and to the clinic concerned,” he wrote. The school and the laboratory have been contacted for comment.
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