Coronavirus: Trial run for home schooling systems

State and territory leaders are downplaying the need for pro­active closures, but many are already trialling learn-at-home procedures.

Year 9 student Lara Winsbury from St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney works remotely from her home in Caringbah. Picture: Britta Campion

Schools are already trialling learn-at-home procedures in anticipation of widespread shuttering because of COVID-19, although state and territory leaders are downplaying the need for pro­active closures, at least for the time being.

School closures remained an agenda item in the lead-up to ­Friday’s Council of Australian Governments meeting in Sydney, on advice from some chief health officers, although for now it will not being enacted on a widespread basis as a method of enforced ­social isolation.

A drastic measure, proactive closures seek to shut schools before infections are detected. It has been deemed by some health officials as one of the most effective non-pharmaceutical methods of flattening transmission rates in communities, in part because children — while less likely to be impacted by the virus — are considered potential sources of transmission to their parents, siblings and older relatives.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday with other state and territory leaders, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was “no reason” for schools to be proactively shut, though the situation would be monitored and subject to review over coming weeks. A small number of NSW schools have been closed after infections emerged. “What we decided today might be different next week and the week after,” Ms Berejiklian said, pointing to the rapidly evolving nature of the crisis.

A spokesman for NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said she had already directed the Department of Education to prepare for “more school closures as a precaution”, signalling contingency plans were being prepared to teach students remotely for prolonged periods.

“This includes digital learning and professional development to ensure teachers can continue to provide lessons if some schools shut for extended periods,” the spokesman said.

Some schools in NSW are already trialling methods of remote teaching in order to pre-empt what many health professionals are predicting will be an endemic spread of the virus.

St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s city directed its Year 9 students to stay home on Friday to prepare for an anticipated shutdown ordered by the department.

The students wore their school uniforms to get into the right mindset, even though it was not technically necessary.

Year 9 student Lara Winsbury had her exercise books and pencil case at the ready and connected to her classes using her school Microsoft Surface Pro device.

She said it was exciting to be working from home, like an adult, and she had found it as effective as her regular classes.

“I think it’s a fantastic way to keep learning in times of crisis,” she said. Her mother, Sally Johnstone, said as a stay-at-home parent it was easy for her to supervise her daughter and she was glad the school had the foresight to plan ahead in case it was forced to close.

She said she believed online learning was the way of the future, and once the school had the processes in place, it could potentially be used in future if children were sick or needed to learn remotely.

Brad Swibel, the school’s deputy head, said it had been following what was unfolding in other countries. “One of the learnings from overseas was that (educators) wished they had prepared for this rather than suddenly being told their school was shut,” he said.

This was an opportunity for the school to test its systems, and so far they were running smoothly.