Still,they chose to brave the early start and arrive at their Crows Nest campus more than half an hour before the bell on Monday,stoked to see their friends and have real-life classroom discussions after being freed from Zoom fatigue.
Half a million students have returned to school as full-time face-to-face learning resumed across the state for the first time since June,although 16 schools were closed due to positive COVID-19 cases.
School’s back:students arrived early at Cammeryagal High School to see their friends.James Alcock
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was continuing its work with NSW Health around isolation requirements for children “so that we’re not having an unfair impact on families,particularly parents who are vaccinated”.
“That advice will come through the school,” she said. “There are,yes,16 schools that have been impacted - but that means over 2180 schools are in operation today. It’s all about making sure we have as many students back on every day,as much as possible. That really has to be the focus moving forward.”
The NSW Education Standards Authority,which runs the HSC,will also extend its special consideration program to any student whose learning was significantly compromised for six weeks or more due to restrictions.
In Sydney’s 12 former local government areas of concern,principals can apply on behalf of their entire year 12 cohort.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said 2021 “will go down in history as one of the more challenging HSC years” but student excitement and positivity was palpable on Monday,two weeks before final exams.
Eighty-seven per cent of Greater Sydney students were at school on Monday,;across NSW,90 per cent of primary students and 77 per cent of high school students attended.
Public transport patronage also surged,increasing by close to 40 per cent compared to the previous week,and 250 per cent compared to the depths of the Delta-lockdown. Close to 250,000 trips were taken during the morning peak,according to Transport for NSW data.
Road traffic increased across Sydney by about 10 per cent compared to last week,but remains 9 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister Sarah Mitchell eased rules around school sport from next week.Nick Moir
More than 95 per cent of the state’s public school teaching workforce have now been fully vaccinated and Ms Mitchell said the Education Department had spoken to all principals about their staffing needs before the November 8 vaccination deadline.
Mr Perrottet downplayed suggestions the remaining 5 per cent of teachers - who are not permitted on school grounds - would lead to workforce shortages.
“I think the main point is to focus on the positive,and that is over 95 per cent of teachers have been vaccinated ... we can’t force people to be vaccinated but we need to keep our children safe,” he said.
NSW Teachers’ Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos had earlier told Nine’sTodaythat schools were “scrambling” to tackle staffing shortages after the staged return schedule was brought forward by the state government.
“The latest statistics suggest we have 2000 to 3000 teachers who may not have met the double-vaccination status as yet,” he said. “There will be pockets where its impact is already more severe. New reports yesterday suggest 160 schools are more affected than others.”
Mr Perrottet said there would be challenges as schools returned with COVID-19 cases in the community.
“But it was incredibly important from the state’s perspective that we got students in classrooms[as soon and as safely] as possible,” he said.
The government will also allow inter-school sport and sport activities during school hours to resume from next week.
Cammeryagal High School’s students were excited to be back with their friends on Monday.James Alcock
Cammeraygal’s principal Kathy Melky said her students had benefitted from continuity during lockdown:teachers ran Zoom sessions according to the regular timetable and students wore uniform each day.
“But we are very excited to get them back on site,” Ms Melky said. “They’ve all turned up really early as well.”
With Tom Rabe and Sarah McPhee