The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the education sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace.

AUSTRALIA

How schools in every state and territory in Australia will be handling coronavirus in term two

The ABC News reports that by this Wednesday, schools in all Australian states and territories will have returned for a heavily modified and distinctly abnormal term two. Here's how each state and territory is operating in term two:

ACT — school will return in the ACT on Tuesday, and will initially be entirely delivered via remote learning.

NSW — Term two is technically scheduled to begin on Monday in NSW, but two pupil-free school development days on April 27 and 28 means students won't return until Wednesday. The NSW Government's plan is to stagger a return to face-to-face classroom teaching through five phases.

NT — The Northern Territory started term two last Monday, and has largely been operating as business as usual. All students in the NT are expected to physically attend school, unless they are unwell. Parents can choose not to send their children to school, but are then "responsible for the student's learning, safety and wellbeing at home or elsewhere".

Queensland — Queensland schools also reopened last week, with remote learning currently in place for at least the first half of term two, until May 22. The Queensland Government's policy is "all students who are able to be supervised at home and learn from home are to stay home, except for vulnerable students and children of essential workers".

SA — Despite term two beginning on Monday in South Australia, teachers and students weren't entirely sure how schools would be operating their state until late last week, when the formal advice came that schools would be open and students should attend. Remote learning is available for students who are kept at home, but Premier Steven Marshall was clear in saying "we would like to see your attendance in term two and beyond".

Tasmania — The school term will begin in Tasmania on Tuesday, and students have been encouraged to learn from home wherever possible. While schools will be open through most of the state for students who for whatever reason are unable to learn from home, schools in the North West region — which has recently experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 cases — will remain shut to everyone until at least May 4.

Victoria — Victorian schools have been open since April 14, and the Victorian Government has so far been firm in its stance that students must learn from home if at all possible. Schools are open for those who are unable to utilise remote learning but, despite some pressure from the opposition, the Government intends for all of term two to be delivered remotely.

WA — When school resumes in WA on Wednesday, they will be open for any student to receive face-to-face teaching. But the WA Government has said the choice to send children to school or not lies with families, and distance education packages and resources or online remote learning will be provided to any student who is kept home. Year 11 and 12 students have been "strongly encouraged" to attend school for face-to-face classes. Some Catholic, independent and Anglican schools have gone against this advice though, and are adopting remote learning for students up to Year 10 — a move which Premier Mark McGowan said should prompt parents to ask for a reduction in school fees.

Federal payday gives private schools a reward to return to class

The Age reports that private schools will be given financial rewards to restart classroom teaching within four weeks under a federal plan to use $13 billion in annual funding to demolish resistance to face-to-face learning. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will offer independent and Catholic schools a 25 per cent advance on next year’s federal funding on the condition they have at least half their students in classrooms by June 1. The dramatic offer, made to school groups on Tuesday night, intensifies pressure on state governments to hasten the end of online learning at home as Australia curbs growth in the COVID-19 virus. The first advance will be worth 12.5 per cent of next year’s funding and will be paid in late May to schools that can show their boards have approved plans in place to resume classes by June 1. The second advance will be worth another 12.5 per cent and will be paid in early June to those schools that can show they have at least half their students in normal classes from June 1. Independent and Catholic schools that already offer classroom teaching will qualify for the advances, with the government seeking responses by this Friday to calculate the first payments.

Children unlikely to transmit coronavirus, says study cited in PM's push to reopen schools

The Guardian reports that a new report, cited by the Chief Medical Officer as the federal Government advocates the reopening of schools, says children are unlikely to transmit COVID-19 between each other or to adults. The study by NSW Health’s Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), released on Sunday, examined transmission of the virus in NSW schools and childcare centres between March and mid-April. Examining the spread of 18 coronavirus cases (nine students and nine staff) from 15 schools, the report’s preliminary findings were that only one primary school student and one high school student “may have contracted COVID-19 from the initial cases at their schools”. “No teacher or staff member contracted COVID-19 from any of the initial school cases,” the report added. The low transmission rate was despite 735 students and 128 staff being “close contacts” of the initial 18 cases.

COVID-19: Independent school registration process

According to the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), it has made a slight adjustment to how you submit your application to register an independent school during the disruption caused by novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Largely, the process remains unchanged. Submit to the VRQA office:

• three printed copies
• one digital copy on a USB.

Additionally, the VRQA requests you email your application as a zipped file to: vrqa.schools@edumail.vic.gov.au Applications for independent school registration close 30 June 2020.

Minister’s direction for monitoring school attendance

According to the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), the Minister for Education has issued a direction to the VRQA to afford schools some flexibility, allowing schools to choose to monitor attendance once rather than twice daily. The Direction recognises the challenges Victorian schools face as they transition to the delivery of online and remote learning in Term 2. The Ministerial Direction is in place for the duration of Victoria's state of emergency or until a date determined by the Secretary, during which time the VRQA is to refrain from:

• reviewing or evaluating school compliance with the prescribed minimum standard for monitoring and recording student attendance twice a day
• pursuing a principal or person in charge of a registered school for non-compliance with section 4.3.7 of the Education and Training Reform Act which states it is an offence if attendance is not recorded in the attendance register in accordance with the minimum standard.

Classroom hours slashed for teaching students to avoid educator shortage

The Age reports that this year’s crop of teaching graduates will be allowed to enter the profession with 25 per cent less classroom experience than their predecessors, in an effort to prevent COVID-19 causing a teacher shortage. The Victorian Government will slash the number of professional experience days students must spend inside a school classroom from 80 days to 60 for undergraduates, and from 60 days to 45 for graduate students. The changes will run until the end of 2020, even though Victoria has committed to remote learning only until the end of term two in June. Students are being deprived of practical experience this term because of remote learning, meaning graduates might struggle to fulfil the usual number of days of practical experience required to be registered. Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said that the Government was adjusting placement and registration requirements to make it easier for teachers to do their work during the pandemic.

Cyber threats at home: how to keep kids safe while they’re learning online

According to an article in The Conversation, before COVID-19, children would spend a lot of the day at school. There they would be taught about internet safety and be protected when going online by systems that filter or restrict access to online content. Schools provide protective environments to restrict access to content such as pornography and gambling. They also protect children from various threats such as viruses and unmoderated social media. This is usually done using filters and blacklists (lists of websites or other resources that aren’t allowed) applied to school devices or through the school internet connection. But with many children learning from home, parents may not be aware of the need for the same safeguards. With an increased use of web-based tools, downloading new applications and a dependence on email, children could be exposed to a new batch of malware threats in the absence of school-based controls. Children working at home are not usually protected by the filters provided by their school. The eSafety Office has reported a significant increase in a range of incidents of online harm since early March.

SA private schools fear for future as pandemic fee pain bites

According to InDaily, parents struggling to meet private school fees as COVID-19 restrictions bite into their savings are seeing their children being turned away from public schools already at capacity. Association of Independent Schools of South Australia chief executive Carolyn Grantskalns said private schools had been hit hard by the economic downturn triggered by COVID-19 rules, and a significant number of families were asking for fee relief. Many schools were being forced to stand down non-teaching staff including school nurses and boarding house staff as buildings were closed. The state body joined forces with their national counterparts to lobby Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan for support but have not yet received answers. Grantskalns said that the State Government had made a welcome decision to bring forward its annual funding grants – usually paid in July – to support schools. Fee structures at private schools made it difficult to meet eligibility criteria for Jobseeker grants, meaning some staff had been stood down.

Could some schools be breaking the law this week?

According to a 6PR podcast, some Catholic and independent schools are choosing to go against the State Government’s directive and only offer online learning with no option for learning in a physical classroom. While it hasn’t been tested, Executive Chairman for HHG Legal Simon Creek told Mark Gibson that this could be in breach of the School Education Act. “Yes, there are consequences of ignoring those directions. For example [the school’s] position for funding and for classification as an Independent school could be reviewed in a year if right now the State Government thinks you’re a complete maverick and you’ve made a whole pile of mistakes that jeopardise the system.” In response to the “rogue schools” Premier Mark McGowan made comment in a press conference parents could be within their rights to ask for a refund or discount on fees. Mr Creek said parents would need to fall back to contract law.

WA school students, teachers to be tested from the second week of term 2

WAtoday reports that asymptomatic school students and staff returning to a physical classroom in Western Australia next term could be tested for COVID-19 as early as week two. As part of the state’s expansion of its testing regime, Health Minister Roger Cook on Thursday said the main focus was to get testing started within the education sector. Mr Cook said that the department had started looking at different ways to test children so that they wouldn’t have to undergo the invasive swab technique. Currently more than 1000 COVID-19 tests are conducted within WA each day, with testing now expanding beyond symptomatic patients to asymptomatic people as part of what Mr Cook said was a population study targeting cohorts of people to “ensure we have an extra vigilance in relation to any outbreak of the disease”. Education Minister Sue Ellery, who had a meeting with SSTUWA on Thursday morning, said that research project would focus on school staff and teachers first.

INTERNATIONAL

Keeping children out of school might be doing more harm than good, say Quebec paediatricians (Canada)

According to the CBC, Quebec's paediatricians are backing the government's plan to gradually reopen schools, saying unless that happens well before September, children and teens risk suffering further "collateral damage" from prolonged isolation and the loss of the social safety net that schools and daycares provide. In an open letter released last Thursday, the association said that for children from underprivileged families, in particular, there are enormous costs to keeping them out of school and daycare. "Knowing that, for lots of families, their financial status is not very good now, we're worried that kids are not nourished as well as they should be," Dr. Marc Lebel, the association president, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak on Friday. Just as serious, Lebel said, is the increased risk of abuse. The association notes there have been far fewer reports of alleged abuse to the youth protection authorities in recent weeks. "That doesn't mean that there are no kids that are mistreated," said Lebel.

COVID 19 coronavirus: New report shows reasoning behind opening schools (New Zealand)

According to The NZ Herald, closing schools and childcare centres probably had only a minimal effect on reducing COVID-19, but is causing major social damage, the Ministry of Health says. The Ministry has released a 16-page document dated April 13 to explain why it supported this week's Cabinet decision to reopen schools and early childhood education (ECE) from April 29 for children whose parents need to go back to work under level 3 of the coronavirus alert system. "Recently emerging evidence suggests closure of education institutions has a limited role in reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality," the report said. "Best case scenario modelling, which may not apply to New Zealand (because it was mostly based on the UK experience), suggests it may reduce Covid-19 by 2 to 4 per cent." Against this, it says: "Educational institution closures come with significant and enduring adverse impacts on health, education, economic and social inequities."