Canberra schools reopen to all students after long COVID lockdown

For students in years 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, it was finally time for them to put on their uniforms and go back to the classroom.

At St Bede's Primary School in Red Hill, students were feeling nervous but excited to be at school with their friends again.

Year 3 student Finn McCracken said that at the beginning of the lockdown he thought it would be fun to have time at home.

"At the start of lockdown I really wanted to take a day off school, just to have time off school but then I realised after a long time it's not as great as going to school," he said.

He said it was much easier to just talk to his teacher and peers in the classroom instead of pushing all the buttons to talk in a video call.

Ruby Hobill enjoyed being able to do school work in her pyjamas at home, but found home learning to be annoying and boring as the weeks dragged on.

"In lockdown your friends aren't always available, you can't always be talking to them and ask for help and your teachers are busy at school as well."

"We're really happy to be back. My mum will finally get a break and she'll be able to get her work done."

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As with all schools, St Bede's Primary School has devised ways to keep cohorts separate during the day.

Principal Julie Douglas said the small school wasn't able to stagger breaks for staffing reasons but the infants and primary students will play in different parts of the school.

"We're just hoping that that restriction is going to change in the next little while because it would be nice for all the kids to play together, especially even siblings to be able to see each other on the playground," she said.

Mrs Douglas said the school would focus on wellbeing and ensuring there were authentic and thorough assessments and reporting on the students' academic progress.

"This is a much longer lockdown than what we had before and lots of things can change when families have been at home," she said.

"Children have been away from friends, especially the older children, and I know that the year 6s are feeling that it's been a year where they haven't been able to do the things that they wanted to be able to do in their last year of [primary] school."

The small Catholic primary school was shocked at Easter to learn it was facing closure due to low enrollments and a change to government funding.

But the community banded together to get the word out and it's had a complete turnaround.

Last week the principal got approval from Catholic Education for a second kindergarten class for 2022. If the growth in enrollments continues, the school will need to explore options to expand to be a double-stream school.

Mrs Douglas was pleased to be able to advertise for a new kindergarten teacher and leave the school in a strong position as she prepares to retire after 17 years of service.

"We hope this is the start of a growth period at St Bede's," she said.

"I'm ending on a high."

Monday is the first day that teachers and early childhood staff need to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to remain in roles where they near children aged under 12.

The Education Directorate has reported that more than 96 per cent of staff affected by the mandate had one dose by November 1 and the remaining staff would be redeployed.

Younger students and those in transition years were prioritised to return to school first as part of the switch from remote learning to face-to-face learning.

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