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
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.
COVID-19 and schools: PV media comment
The Herald-Sun reported on Saturday about concerns of COVID-19 infections in Victorian schools. The article included a comment from PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy:
Parents Victoria on Friday backed schools, saying they were well prepared to deal with any outbreaks.“The parent community will still have mixed reactions to this latest outbreak when anxiety and uncertainty continues as we head into colder weather,” boss Gail McHardy said.
Gail also made some further comments on behalf of PV which were not reported in the story:
"Both Federal and State CMO's are on record advising us to expect instances like this. The State Government/DET have put in protocols and processes for schools to enact when these situations occur.It's tricky for families if there aren't any apparent symptoms and at this point we can't blame school environments as the cause when incubation is 14 days. If there is awareness to a family or community cluster then added precautions by us all MUST be taken as a matter of priority to protect others.
It's a Catch 22, do we stay in lockdown because of a few cases or go back as we have in stages and act with caution? Closing down one or two schools caused by an outbreak may only disrupt up to 2000 students compared to 630,000 government school students."
Ombudsman's report on nepotism in schools
The Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, reported last week on nepotism in our Victorian Public Schools.
In short, her office’s investigations found that there have been several cases of nepotism over recent years, where Principals have employed or given contracts to family members, friends, or business associates, often without advertising the positions or obtaining quotes.
We cannot condone this behaviour, and don’t accept that “not knowing” that such actions are wrong and create a conflict of interest is an acceptable excuse. However, we do agree with Ms Glass’s statement that, “Mostly, the subjects of these allegations were well-intentioned, busy people trying to solve problems, who got it wrong.”
As in all communities, the vast majority of Principals are doing the right thing. It is only a small number who are not. Yet the media focus is always on these few. It’s the same when parents are collectively described in the news as aggressive or bullying.
At this time of additional pressure on everyone, we would like to focus on the great job being done by everyone in our public school communities.
