Hale and hearty: parents urged to send their boys back to class at prestigious state school

One of Australia’s most prestigious boys schools wants children back at their desks from Wednesday.

Hercules (6) and his father George Kakulas at Junior School, Hale School. Picture: Colin Murty the Australian

One of Australia’s most prestigious boys schools is asking ­parents not to worry about the risk of coronavirus and to send their children back to school from next Wednesday.

Perth’s Hale School, established in 1858, was one of the first to shift to online learning when COVID-19 cases were trending upwards in Western Australia in March. Now headmaster Dean Dell’Oro is leading a staggered ­return to classroom learning that contrasts sharply with the approach of some of the state’s prominent independent schools.

At Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies College, all but a handful of students will continue to learn from home.

“I have had many conver­sations with nervous parents over the past month,” Dr Dell’Oro told The Australian. “In March, people stopped listening to the medical opinion (about schools) because they were worried and emotional. Now we have to talk about facts.”

WA’s Chief Health Officer, ­Andrew Robertson, sought to reassure parents and carers of all the state’s school-aged children in a letter on Wednesday, telling them he had weighed up the pros and cons of children attending school.

“With the very low levels of COVID-19 in WA, along with the public health strategies in place, I strongly believe there is no need for school closures in this state currently,” Dr Robertson wrote.

“Even when we had higher rates of disease in our state, only 1.5 per cent of cases were school students, all of whom had mild ­illness and have fully recovered.

“There also was no spread between students to teachers. I encourage families to feel comfortable and safe about sending their children to school.”

There will be a “soft” reopening of government schools in WA from Wednesday, when Years 11 and 12 students are strongly encouraged to attend, and classes are optional for everyone else.

Dr Dell’Oro said there was overwhelming support from both teachers and parents for a considered resumption of classes. He has called back all 150 of Hale’s teachers for next Tuesday. The following day, some 450 students from pre-primary to Year 2 and in Years 11 and 12 are expected to attend class. And in the second and third week of the school term, students in Years 3 to 10 will resume classroom lessons on alternative days.

Hercules Kakulas started Year 1 at Hale in February, but the six-year-old has been at home with his older sister for a month and his parents feel the time is right for him to go back to class. Father ­George and mother Jeanne are keen for his education to regain some of its old structure. “He has had a lot of bike rides and a lot of screen time,” Mr Kakulas said.