COVID-19 parenting has been very tough,and the new school year will have its own challenges. But we must persevere for the sake of children’s mental health,and our own.
When the state’s new council of student representatives met last year to brainstorm how education could be improved,their Google document quickly ballooned to 15-plus pages.
Staff went the extra mile to make sure every NSW school had received rapid tests by Friday,including one principal who made the ferry trip across Port Hacking with RATs in tow.
One in five schools were yet to receive rapid antigen tests as some private schools resumed school on Thursday,but the Premier said distribution has been an “incredibly impressive effort” overall.
Children are about to head back to school and we need their parents to embrace one more annoying chore:the rapid antigen test.
Children are far more likely to be hospitalised for the endemic respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),for which there is no vaccine and which kills 60,000 kids globally each year. We have never closed schools for viruses such as RSV.
Several private schools are due to start term as early as Thursday,meaning the government’s back to school announcement came too late to factor into their week one plans.
Teachers and office workers are packing boxes,school maintenance staff are driving trucks and forklift drivers are on site until late at night in a mammoth effort at a western Sydney warehouse.
As useful as it has been in lockdown,remote learning has been difficult for parents and students alike but further research is needed for a more accurate picture of any residual educational gaps.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was continuing to 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”.
After 16 weeks,life was finally returning to normal. But shortly after the final school bell on Wednesday,parents received the email they dreaded;there had been a positive case.