Coronavirus: Classrooms filling again as parents cast virus fear aside

More than 70 per cent of the nation’s children have returned to school full-time.

From left, Luka Andruga, Zachariah Southall, James Jackson, Harith Lama and Elizabeth Leo at Homebush West Public School in Sydney on Monday. Picture: Jane Dempster

More than 70 per cent of the ­nation’s children have returned to school full-time, with NSW and Queensland reporting strong ­attendance rates as face-to-face classes resumed on Monday.

A further 390,000 Victorian students — in prep and Year 1, as well as those studying VCE — are set to return on Tuesday when the state starts its own staged return to the classroom following a two-month hiatus.

Despite concerns that thousands of families would seek to defy the return-to-school edict over fears for their children’s ­safety, NSW public schools recorded attendance of 86 per cent, just short of the 90 per cent that would have been expected at this time under normal circumstances.

In Queensland attendance was 90 per cent, on par with average daily attendance before the coronavirus pandemic closed schools.

Schools have gone to extensive lengths to maintain hygiene and implement measures designed to limit student congestion around the school grounds.

That includes staggering school starting times, recess and lunch breaks, and restricting parents and visitors from accessing schools.

Additional cleaning routines have been introduced.

Schools have also been provided with additional resources to support staff and student wellbeing as they return to school, and teachers have been given access to new assessment tools to check students’ learning progress over the extended period of remote learning and plan for any necessary catch-up work.

A report released by the Centre for Independent Studies on ­Monday highlighted the toll of school closures on disadvantaged students.

According to the report, disadvantaged students in Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and NSW — where schools have been closed the longest — were facing ­between two and three weeks of lost learning in numeracy and up to two weeks of lost learning in ­literacy.

Homebush West Public School principal Estelle Southall said remote learning had its challenges but she did not expect that the students’ learning had suffered.

Ms Southall said teachers had been assessing students one-on-one as they returned in stages over the past few weeks and would continue to do so, providing additional support for students in need.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with where our students are at,” she said.

“I’m not noticing any concerning gaps.”

Ms Southall said 90 per cent of the primary school’s 600 students returned to class on Monday.

“There’s been quite an incredible energy around the school,” she said. “It’s a real sense of joy with the children reconnecting with their friends and their teachers.

“Everyone is working together to take care of each other; the adults are social-distancing, parents are staying off site and the school has never been cleaner.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian welcomed students back to class and thanked families for their support, particularly in regards to ensuring children arrived to school safely.

“We have noticed very positively that sufficient numbers of students have either been walking or getting dropped off or catching a dedicated school service, and our public transport system to date doesn't seem to have buckled under the pressure,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian reiterated that school attendance was no longer optional and all students were ­expected to attend classes unless they were currently unwell or had a medical certificate stating that they were unable to return due to an ongoing medical condition.

NSW brought forward its school return date by a week as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus eased. There is pressure on Victoria, which will not return all students full-time until June 9, to follow.

The state reported just two new cases of the virus on Monday.