Kindergarten and year 1 are the first Sydney students to return on Monday,as well as year 12,because they are still learning the foundation skills of reading,writing and basic numeracy,and the least able to learn independently. The remaining year groups will join them one week later.
Groups of students will be separated at all times under COVID-safe“cohorting” guidelines to reduce mingling and COVID-19 transmission. But even though school won’t be back to its usual settings,many experts and parents believe it’s the right compromise to get children back to learning and their social lives after a long break.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet accepted there were mixed feelings ahead of Monday but said returning to school was essential for children’s mental health. “I know there will be nervousness,but also lots of excitement about kids going back to school. Many kids have not seen their friends for a very long time,” he said.
The NSW government also announced it would extend its tutoring program,which was introduced after last year’s lockdown,for another year at a cost of $383 million. The program involves small-group tutoring for students who’ve slipped behind due to the extended period of remote learning.
“Early insights from the ongoing evaluation of the program show that students are bouncing back thanks to the intensive tutoring delivered through the program,and we are committed to helping them do so again next year,” Mr Perrottet said.
There is conflicting evidence on how much students fall behind due to remote learning. Assessments undertaken in NSW when students returned after seven weeks of home learning last year showed some had slipped behind by two to three months,but this year’s NAPLAN results show little impact. No evaluation of last year’s program has been made public.