VCE students back to school on Monday
Premier Dan Andrews announced new COVID-19 restrictions today (7 July).
The Premier announced that VCE students will return to school next Monday as normal. Special schools will also open for on-site schooling as planned.
Other students will have their holidays extended by 1 week, i.e. Monday 13 - Friday 17 July will be pupil-free days. Teachers will spend those days preparing for remote learning in Term 3. Supervised school holiday programs will be available for children of essential service workers.
At today's media conference, Mr Andrews undertook to announce Term 3 arrangements for other students by early next week. He said that a return to remote learning is a possibility, depending on advice from health experts.
We will publish details as they become available.
Continued school operation in 'lockdown' suburbs
The Education Department advice on schools in 'lockdown' suburbs where Stage 3 restrictions have been re-imposed is that:
- All schools in these postcodes will continue to operate as normal, except where there is a confirmed case of a student or staff member with coronavirus (COVID-19).
- Students and staff attending those schools but who live outside the postcode area will continue to be able to attend school.
- Similarly, students and staff who live in a designated postcode but who are enrolled or employed in a school outside that postcode will continue to be able to attend school.
Victoria's jobs and training needs
The Department of Education and Training has released a series of reports on Victoria's jobs and training needs. There's one for Melbourne and five covering regional areas. The reports provide a detailed analysis of:
- Job vacancies in various industry sectors
- The relationship between training courses and employment in various industry sectors
- Which vocational training courses are currently in demand
- Which courses are meeting community and industry needs.
The reports are intended for training providers but will also be useful for people making training/career decisions.
Where's the money going? Private schools!
"Funding for students at Catholic and independent schools in Victoria has grown almost 15 times faster than for state schools in the past decade, prompting warnings that disadvantaged students who need the most support are instead being left further behind."
This article in the Age highlights the growing disparity in funding between government and non-government schools. And it's worst of all in Victoria, according to Save Our Schools. Their analysis shows the average student at a state school in Victoria had $13,663 spent on their education in 2018, compared with $16,303 per Catholic school student and $25,000 for a student at an independent school.
Message to parents from the Chief Health Officer
Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton has published a letter to all Victoria parents about the current COVID-19 situation.
The letter begins:
"As the school holidays approach, we can’t ease up on looking after ourselves and our families. The only thing between us and a second wave is what we do next. Wherever you go, please be mindful of the risks. Be aware others may be carrying the virus and practice physical distancing."
Return to school: PV media comment
PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy was interviewed by 7 News on Friday - the last day of home learning for many Victorian students.
Gail commented on the range of experiences reported by parents and the mixed feelings that many parents will have when students return to school on Tuesday.
UNICEF grants for Parent Clubs
UNICEF grants of up to $3,000 are available for Parent Clubs at drought and bushfire affected schools.
From the UNICEF website: "As part of our support to assist children and local communities in the context of COVID-19, we will be providing a one-off round of School Community Grants for 30 primary and high schools to use on activities related to strengthening connectivity, wellbeing and implementing social distancing programs in a child-friendly way during the pandemic."
More details on the UNICEF website
We're listening... tell your story
The COVID-19 situation is changing day by day, so we're keeping our parent survey form open... if you have something to say about the way COVID-19 is impacting your children's education, and how that impact flows on to you and your family... we're still listening!
We often have opportunities to advise government departments and other agencies on how the management of COVID-19 is affecting children and parents in the school system, so give us your views and we'll pass them on. In June 2020 we made a submission to Engage Victoria on "Lessons learnt from Remote and Flexible Learning" , in part informed by our online survey.
What is going well? What are the big problems for you? What could be done better?
We're keeping the format wide open - no questions, just tell your story.
Tell your story via our online form
Schools back to remote learning: PV comment
The Age reported late yesterday that "Two schools in Melbourne’s north-west remained closed for deep cleaning on Monday after students tested positive to COVID-19 last week, with one school telling families it would revert to remote learning until further notice."
The article includes comment from PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy:
Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy sympathised with the VET students who had been sent into isolation so soon after returning to practical classes."It would be hard for those students when they have been missing out on doing certain tasks," Ms McHardy said.
She said inter-campus VET classes should continue, with arrangements in place to ensure students' health and safety.
"The chief health officer and the government have been clear that there would be further outbreaks, its just how we manage those outbreaks."
Parent survey: schooling in the pandemic
Preliminary results from ACSSO's parent survey on schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic are in.
Over 3,300 families responded from many areas of the country.
The survey weas designed to identify family circumstances, what worked, what challenges they faced and their input on safety and improvements.
“We’re still analysing, but comments from the ‘learning from home’ families suggest that increased school engagement and more consistency with the learning programs would improve their wellbeing emotionally as well as educationally,” said Andrew Bidwell, President of ACSSO.
