The final stage of the return to face-to-face learning at school is to occur this month as students in Years Seven to 10 join their peers back in the classrooom.
Announced by Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Education, James Merlino, Year Seven students are to resume learning at school next week (12 October) and students in Years Eight, Nine and 10 from 26 October.
In a joint statement, Messrs Andrews and Merlino said the staggered return was based on the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer and was designed to manage increased movement across the community with the return of staff and students to school.
”A return of Years Eight to 10 students from 26 October will provide enough time to enable monitoring of the impact of the first stage of students returning to school,” the Minsters said.
”The staggered approach to getting all students in all year levels back to on-site schooling will also support a more gradual increase of community mobility across metropolitan Melbourne, while providing a full 14 days between stages to account for a full incubation period of the virus,” they said.
”As senior students begin their exam preparations, it will also be easier for schools to spread students out across the school – an important protection against transmission of the virus.”
Mr Andrews and Mr Merlino said the staggered return also allowed schools to work with parents to support the safe return of students to on-site learning and enabled schools to review the implementation of risk-mitigation measures.
“This will include, for example, staggered start and finish times, maintaining physical distancing at the school gate, and observing restrictions on the adults who can enter school sites,” they said.
The Ministers said the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education and Training had strategies in place to ensure any potential outbreaks in schools could be quickly controlled.
