Like many Canberra parents, mother of two Gabrielle Connolly was thrilled to hear ACT schools would be returning to face-to-face learning for the beginning of term one.
The ACT government announced yesterday that students can return to on-campus learning from January 31, with some conditions in place.
While remote learning had its perks for a while, Mrs Connolly said her family was well and truly ready to get back to normality.
"During lockdown, our mornings were a bit slower and things have been a little less chaotic but everyone in my family thrives on routine," she said.
Mrs Connolly said despite the presence of Omicron in the ACT being a "scary time for kids," she believed Canberra's school communities would be as safe as possible thanks to the measures the government has introduced.
The ACT government yesterday announced that Canberra students and staff would be provided two Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) each week for the first four weeks of school.
However, students are not required to use them, or provide proof of a negative result before returning to campus — rather, they only need to be tested if they have symptoms.
“I want to make it clear that it is not compulsory for students to take the rapid antigen tests, this is another tool to provide that confidence to parents that we're doing everything to make sure that our schools are as safe as possible for children to return to," ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said.
But Mrs Connolly said she preferred that approach compared to measures announced by the New South Wales government, which would see children swabbed for surveillance of the virus.
"I wouldn't necessarily jump to want to test my kid every day or every second day if he's fine and dandy and doesn't have symptoms," she said.
"But in saying that, I know that COVID can present in people who are asymptomatic … so if it was something that the school or the government was asking to be done, then I would be inclined to follow."
Other parents disagreed with the ACT government's approach, questioning how the free RATs were meant to make parents and students feel safer if they were not compulsory.
"I agree," Kira Morris wrote. "The whole point to make parents feel safe was knowing that the children in the classroom my kids were around were being tested regularly and quarantining when they get sick. If you don’t have to test then how do they know they have it?"
"I’m not sending my daughter back ... I’m not going to be forced to send my child back to school in this situation," another mother, Elle Leigh, said.
Masks back in schools but assemblies are out
Ms Berry said the RATs would be provided to public, Catholic and independent schools by the end of next week.
"Obviously this is a fairly big operational task that we are undertaking, and making sure that our schools have rapid antigen tests available within that first week of school," Ms Berry said.
"All of our independent schools and Catholic schools will also be getting those tests provided, as well as early childhood centres.
Director of Catholic Education for Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese Ross Fox said the return to face-to-face learning and the provision of RATs was welcome news.
However, school operations would not go straight back to normal, with no assemblies permitted and school excursions off the table.
Like during term four last year, masks will once again be mandatory for all teachers and high school students in the ACT.
They are recommended — but not required — for students in year 3 and above.
"Noting that things aren't going to be normal, not everything that we normally do is possible," Mr Fox told ABC Radio Canberra.
"Some camps, retreats might not be possible in term one, we're hopeful we can have them later in the year.
Positive case quarantine requirements to change
With half of the ACT's kids aged five to 11 now having received their first COVID-19 vaccination and in line with the latest changes to contact requirements in the ACT, entire classes will no longer be required to quarantine if a positive case is recorded.
Instead, positive cases of the virus in schools will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
"We have been listening very carefully to our school communities, we've understood their concerns and we'll keep listening and talking with you as changes need to be made should the unfortunate circumstance that a COVID-19 case, a positive case, occurs in our schools," Ms Berry said.
Mr Fox said he has spent much of the holidays contacting casual staff and retired teachers to see if they would be available to step back into the classroom if needed.
"We'll be doing everything we can to continue to provide face-to-face learning, but there may be circumstances where we need to be reading on a class, or year level or school basis to go to remote learning for short periods of time, until we can be sure that staff are available," he said.
For Mrs Connolly, it was this resolve and adaptability that she has witnessed from so many of her son's teachers over the past two years that put her at ease.
"Their pride in taking care of the kids and keeping them safe really shows for me," she said.
"They're just magical like that."
If students are anxious about returning to school, Headspace Queanbeyan community engagement officer Nat Oliver said having an open discussion around the topic was key.
"We've seen that anxiety lead to a whole lot of young people feeling overwhelmed at the thought of just returning to the school environment, so we have been seeing school refusal in the last couple of years already due to COVID," she said.
"Sometimes all we need to do is to share our issues out loud with a trusted person. So you may not need to go to a Headspace centre; you might have a trusted family member or friend's parent."
