P&C Federation’s Response to the Latest Announcement on the Return to School

The NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has today announced amendments to the timetable for returning to face-to-face learning. Students will now return in the following order:

• From 18 October – department preschools, Kindergarten, Year 1
• From 25 October – all remaining year groups.; previously the return of these year groups was to be divided between 25 October and 1 November.

The updated advice to families can be read here.

Year 12 students will be able to return full time, as needed, to prepare for their HSC. From 18 October, these students will have full-time access to school campuses and their teachers.

The requirements for all teachers to be vaccinated and masked at school has not changed.

P&C Federation President Natalie Walker commented “While  the accelerated return to face-to-face learning will be a relief to many parents, there are also widespread concerns from parents. Some of these concerns are around teachers who will not be vaccinated by these dates and what this means for the availability of teachers , the lack of vaccinations for children under 12  and whether schools are adequately ventilated.”

“We encourage parents to raise any concerns they have with their school. P&C Federation has meanwhile worked with the NSW Department of Education on webinars for parents on the staged return to school and the HSC exams in a COVID-19 safe environment. We are currently working with the Department on another webinar to answer pressing questions from parents and carers about the return to school. We will provide more information on this webinar in due course.”

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