All Queensland state school students will return to regular classroom learning from next Monday 25 May 2020.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last week announced that students in Years 2 to 10 will join their schoolmates in Kindy, Prep, Year 1 and Years 11 and 12, who returned to school on 11 May following three weeks of home-based learning.
“This latest step is only possible given the low transmission rates that Queensland has experienced and thanks to the efforts of all Queenslanders,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Our decision to adopt a sensible and deliberate approach with this phased return has proven to be the right one as we progressively move to relaxing the range of COVID-19 restrictions in place across the state.
“Queenslanders are continuing to do the right thing by each other, and I am so proud of Queensland’s response to slowing the spread of COVID_19 – it truly is world class.”
Education Minister Grace Grace said the updated arrangements for the remainder of Term 2 had been made in accordance with advice from Queensland’s Chief Health Officer and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
“At the beginning of the year whoever would have thought we would face a global health pandemic the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes,” Ms Grace
“We moved quickly to a learning at home model when the health advice directed us to do so and it has worked incredibly well in providing students with lessons and activities in the home.
“But of course, we know that nothing can match that face-to-face learning children get in the classroom.
“Our staged return to school has gone so smoothly with parents and carers heeding the advice around stop, drop and go to ensure the health, wellbeing and safety of all.
“Principals, teachers, teacher aides and staff have done a fantastic job throughout this pandemic and I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time.”
Ms Grace said students with health support needs would continue to be supported and directed by their teachers while they learned from home.
“Access to a range of resources continues to be available through the Department of Education’s The Learning Place and the learning@home website, in addition to Learning@Home TV programs.
“Health and safety will continue to be our main focus in kindies and schools, and any staff and students who are unwell must not attend school.”
Measures remain in place at Queensland schools to limit the spread of COVID-19 including the following:
• All adults must maintain physical distancing of 1.5 metres and must not gather in groups in and around school grounds, car parks, school gates and outside classrooms.
• Parents should use stop, drop and go options rather than walking children into school grounds.
• Schools will work with their communities to modify student and traffic movements around their schools.
• Strict personal hygiene protocols, including the cleaning of high frequency touch points such as desks and door handles, will remain in place.
• Schools will continue to adapt to this changing situation and may use larger, alternative locations or classrooms within the school, designate new or different drop-off/pick-up points for parents, take advantage of outdoor learning spaces and stagger lunch breaks, start/finish times and other activities to reduce movement around the school.
