Coronavirus: Back-to-school push gathers pace

Australian children are returning to school sooner after Queensland and NSW brought forward plans for more face-to-face learning.

Ben Gill with daughters Georgia, 4, and Ellie, 2, at a reopened playground in Adelaide’s Taperoo on Monday. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

More Australian children are returning to school sooner after Queensland and NSW brought forward plans for more face-to-face learning and Tasmanian kids head back to the classroom in growing numbers, despite that state government’s advice to learn from home where possible.

From Monday, Queensland children in kindy, Prep, Year 1 and Years 11 and 12 will head back to the classroom, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

The move will be assessed on May 15 and, all being well, Years 2 to 10 will return on May 25.

Ms Palaszczuk had previously flagged that her state would examine relaxing school restrictions only on May 15, but few COVID-19 cases, high levels of concern among parents and the need to kickstart the economy prompted a faster timetable back to school.

“Our numbers are still low, and that is the reason why we can now put in place these dates … they are subject to change if we do get increases with any community transmission or any outbreaks," Ms Palaszczuk said.

Teachers will have to exercise social distancing around the school, as well as parents, but children in classrooms will not be expected to stay distant from each other. Schools must organise ­appropriate pick-up and drop-off arrangements to ensure the necessary distancing.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also weighed into the schools issue on Monday, saying all going well, NSW students could be back in the classroom faster than anticipated. She said she had instructed public schools in the state to “expedite” classes for Year 12 students preparing for their end-of-year examinations, and the “overwhelming majority” had done so.

Other students in NSW will return to the classroom one day a week from Monday, moving to two days a week later in term two.

“If the first few weeks go well, we will consider bringing back full-time face-to-face teaching in a quicker way than we first anticipated,” Ms Berejiklian said.

 

With 70 per cent of children in South Australia and about 60 per cent in Western Australia now back at school in term two, and the Northern Territory’s schools remaining open, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania are the only jurisdictions encouraging students to learn from home if they can, with exceptions for the children of ­essential workers or vulnerable children.

In Tasmania, the number of students attending state schools since term two began on Tuesday last week has almost tripled, from 7-8 per cent at the end of last term to 19-20 per cent.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein defended the decision to keep schools closed to most students, saying it was necessary to reduce the movement of people.

Mr Gutwein said the learn-from-home policy was planned to be in place for all of term two but was being constantly reviewed.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff suggested a staged return to school, prioritising early years and Year 12 students, was being considered.

The Queensland government’s decision to bring children back to the classroom next week would place “huge pressure” on schools and cause significant angst among teachers and parents, the state’s teachers union warned.

Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said the timeline to return four grades to school by next Monday was tight and would be a “real pinch”.

“Not only will teachers have to prepare to return to face-to-face lessons, they’ll have to continue to teach remotely those year levels over the next four days, and teach (face-to-face) the children of ­essential workers,” Mr Bates said.

“You’re asking people to do three jobs at once. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the expectation is very significant and it’s certainly caused a great deal of angst from teachers and principals … we’ll do our best and we’ll see what next Monday brings.”

Mr Bates said the union had warned the government such a speedy timeline would be difficult. He said the union had been talking to the government about different models of returning to school for some time, but was briefed about the new May 11 date by Education Minister Grace Grace only on Sunday. “I can’t say it was a complete surprise but we’ve (told the government), please understand this will put huge pressure on schools to get four year levels back in just a few days,” Mr Bates said.

“As late as Friday, (the Premier said) we’ll make a decision on the 15th of May.”

Additional reporting: Matthew Denholm, Yoni Bashan