Coronavirus: Subdued, uncertain fun … Year 12s party like it’s 2020

Year 12 students are having to temper their expectations around graduation celebrations COVID-19 continues to impact their final months of schooling.

Year 12 students Jessica Guerrera, left, Julia Favotto, Claudia Tyree and Solange Shina at Sydney’s Santa Sabina College on Friday, will now have a formal. Picture: Britta Campion

Members of the Class of 2020 are being forced to reinvent how they celebrate the end of their school careers, as the pandemic puts the kybosh on many rites of passage.

Across the nation, school formals­, graduation ceremonies, muck-up days and Schoolies Week have been cancelled, restric­t­ed or scaled back in the name of halting the spread of COVID-19.

And while there is now some light at the end of the tunnel for NSW HSC students, with the governmen­t updating health and safety protocols that will enable some events to go ahead, Victoria’s VCE students will likely have to make do with virtual graduation ceremonies.

On Monday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian acknowledged how hard Year 12 students had worked under challenging circumstances. “Students are currently­ preparing for the HSC and deserve to have events to look forward­ to after their exams,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“We will always rely on the health advice, which recommends COVID-safe formals and gradua­tion ceremonies take place … after the final HSC exam.”

Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman, one of a cohort of independent school leaders who met with NSW Chief Health Offic­er Kerry Chant recently to discuss a COVID-safe plan for Year 12 graduation events, said the pandemic had encouraged the school community to think creat­ively about celebrating students’ achievements. But after the latest health advice, planning is under way for a Year 12 formal to which students can invite a partner.

“They’re incredibly excited,” Ms Skerman said. “We do have to temper their excitement because we are still living in very challenging times. It’s a global pandemic and the girls understand that certain­ things take priority, such as health and getting through their HSC and IB. The bonus is having a party to look forward to.”

Santa Sabina student Solange Shina said although it had been “heartbreaking” that her Year 12 experience had not turned out as she had imagined, the “ resilience that we have adapted is an immeasu­rable skill that will guide us beyond our school years’’.

In Victoria, senior students at McKinnon Secondary College were lucky to have their school formal before a second wave of the virus sent the state into lockdown.

School principal Pitsa Binnion said the Year 12 valedictory dinner had been called off but other events would go ahead, such as the annual uniform signing day, “just in a socially distanced way”.

“These are special milestones and we feel we must acknowledge what this group has achieved,” Ms Binnion said. “They’ve been so resilient and an incredible example for everyone in how they’ve been able to continue with their study despite all the adversity.’’

Griffith University resident adjunct­ Ben Green said Year 12 celebrations, while fun, were far from frivolous as they were a ­“mark­er of adulthood” when many trad­itional rites of passage such as starting work, buying property or marrying were occurring later.