WHILE officially remaining open, local schools are moving fast to support the containment of COVID-19 and to do their best by students and staff.
In the space of a week, numerous camps and excursions have been cancelled, as has NAPLAN testing for 2020, and teachers and staff have refocused their attention on implementing social distancing and appropriate hygiene practices among students.
On Friday, the Federal Government announced 2020 NAPLAN testing would be dumped to allow teachers to focus on continuity of education amid the coronavirus spread.
Students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were due to be tested on literacy and numeracy in May, while some schools were going to sit an online practice test last Monday.
It follows the government’s decision to keep schools open, while advising against all indoor gatherings of 100 persons or greater, or outdoor gatherings of more than 500.
Earlier last week, schools and preschools were also told to cancel or postpone a large list of activities, including travel, camps, excursions, sports days, and open days.
Canberra cancelled
Freeling Primary School was immediately affected by the changes, having to postpone student swimming lessons due to start this week, move parent interviews to over the phone as necessary and to cancel the school’s highly-anticipated annual trip to Canberra.
Following months of fundraising, 30 year seven students were due to leave for a six-day trip to Canberra, which would have included tours or visits to the zoo, aquarium, National Gallery and Parliament House, this Sunday.
Freeling Primary School principal Nicole Cawley said the students and their families have been understandably disappointed, but have been supportive of the need to cancel.
“It is a camp that has been running for six or seven years here, so the children that are in year seven have been looking forward to this from reception almost,” she said.
"We are trying to keep the students informed about social distancing measures, explaining that these will help to minimise the spread of the virus."
Thinking outside the classroom
Immanuel Lutheran Primary School has also had to make a number of changes, including introducing a new format for its upcoming sports day and closing it to parent spectators.
However, it did not want to disappoint year five students who, prior to the State Government’s ban on excursions, were planning a trip to the Adelaide Gaol.
While the students remained in class, they were able to visit the gaol remotely thanks to teacher Mr Boesch who live-streamed his experience back to the school online.
Students were able to interact with Mr Boesch and ask questions as he toured the site.
Ready for online teaching
Head of Trinity College Nick Hately said his school is prepared for any necessary shift to online learning.
In recent weeks the college has ramped up its content production for its learning management platform, accessible by students and families via the popular Schoolbox online portal.
Everything from worksheets and assessments to teacher-recorded videos and even full-interactive lessons can be delivered online.
“Over the last few weeks we have absolutely prepared as much as we can and we are pleased with how far we have come in terms of being able to operate both in a traditional school manner but also to be able to operate online if we actually need to,” Mr Hately said.
“At its highest level, using the Cisco Webex platform, which is now embedded into Schoolbox, we could have lessons directly taught at home, with kids sitting in front of their computer screen, fully engaging with the teacher, with people asking questions and so on.
“We have put a lot of work into this and generally in the past only universities have been able to do this.”
