The classrooms at Giralang Primary School are quiet and empty, but not for much longer.
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The preschool, kindergarten, year 1 and year 2 students will be filling the playgrounds and classrooms from Monday, May 18. The year 3 and 4 students will follow the next week and by June 2, the whole school will be back together.
Principal Belinda Andrews said the children were "ecstatic" about the prospect of returning to face-to-face learning, even if it was mostly to be with their friends again.
"The little ones just want to see each other and hang out," she said.
"It's been really cute, each day we use Google Meet, which is a video conferencing platform, and the little ones are absolutely gorgeous. When they see each others' faces and they see their teacher, their face lights up."
There are sure to be a few nerves on the first day back after COVID-19 forced schools to rapidly change to a remote learning model.
Mrs Andrews said staff were preparing to adapt to the new hygiene and social distancing practices as advised by the ACT Education Directorate.
Parents will have to drop their child directly to the classroom and leave straight away to avoid groups of adults lingering together. Preschool children will be signed in outside the classroom, weather permitting.
"We're a really strong community school. Each morning we get together for morning lines, we share messages and then we come in to start learning for the day. We can't do things like that either. They are things we will miss because that's what makes a strong community. "
Signs will be put up with the numbers of adults allowed in each room and staff meetings and professional development will likely still be virtual.
Each teacher has been issued a bottle of hand sanitiser. Washing hands will become part of the daily schedule. It's just another task slotted in with literacy and maths.
Tables will be separated in classrooms and small coloured dots called "sit spots" will be used to space out younger children when working on the floor.
Sports carnivals and school assemblies won't be happening anytime soon. Teachers are working on new ways to deliver physical education and keep children active at lunch time while reducing physical interaction.
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The massive overhaul the ACT public education system has gone through has had some positive impacts, Mrs Andrews said. Changes that were planned for the next 10 years in the Future of Education Strategy were implemented in less than 10 weeks.
"It's actually a really exciting time for education because we've had to innovate and flip learning really really quickly," she said.
"Now is the time to start thinking about change and improving practice and being pioneers. This is a historical event and this could be a turning point. If there's a silver lining to be had, it would be that."
Remote learning hasn't been easy, especially since many teachers were supervising their own children while organising their virtual classes. But Mrs Andrews said the collaboration has brought the staff even closer together.
The teachers are keen to do some assessments to discover what affect, if any, the remote learning had on the students' learning and development.
Despite the upheaval, Mrs Andrews is proud of how the children, parents and staff have supported each other.
"Giralang means star in Wiradjuri language... they have shone, the students, so brightly throughout all of this and our expert teaching team has been phenomenal as well."
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