The majority of Canberra schools will have two extra pupil free days in Term 3, as they did in Term 2.
Here's why families will have to keep students home from school again.
Why are there so many pupil free days?
Winter illnesses have brought the education system to its knees in Term 2.
Teachers have been asked to fill in for their sick colleagues at short notice by taking on extra students, combining classes or giving up classroom release time to supervise students.
Casual teachers have been very difficult to find and some schools have had to switch to remote learning.
The planning days are designed to give teachers some respite from the pressures they've been facing.
Australian Education Union ACT branch president Angela Burroughs said the extra planning days were very welcome considering about 2000 teachers were absent on any given week across the public system.
"There is still a critical staffing shortage. If anything, it seems to be getting worse. It's certainly worse than it was at the beginning of the year," she said.
"So they are absolute lifesaver measures for our overworked teaching members."
When are the Term 3 pupil free days?
ACT public schools will have two pupil free days next term: Friday, August 5 and Friday, September 9. The two dates cover students in preschool through to year 10.
Colleges may choose different dates to suit their timetables and will communicate this to students and parents.
Some schools may have had activities, such as camps or excursions, planned on these dates and will choose a different date.
Catholic systemic schools will also be having two pupil free days next term, but the dates have not been decided.
Why were these dates chosen?
In Term 2, public and Catholic schools chose their own dates for the pupil free days. This was sometimes at short notice and was inconvenient for families who had students at multiple schools.
When parents and teachers gave feedback on the Term 2 arrangements, they indicated they preferred more notice, no midweek dates and for the dates to be the same across the school system.
How will families be affected?
Parents will need to stay home with their children when possible, causing more disruption to workplaces.
The Education Directorate has said students who can't stay home will be able to attend school to be supervised while doing general learning activities. Parents will need to confirm attendance with their schools.
Children will miss out on another day of regular learning in what has already been a disrupted year of education.
ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations spokeswoman Janelle Kennard said some families were finding the extra pupil free days stressful to manage.
"While we appreciate that teachers are in that position and being asked to give more than they feel they are able, it is really difficult for some families," Ms Kennard said.
"Some people are hit harder than others and it's always difficult to see."
How will teachers be affected?
Schools will decide how teachers can use these days, be it in professional learning or as a chance to catch up on preparation and administration work.
Ms Burroughs said besides face-to-face teaching, educators had to prepare lessons and assessments, do reporting and complete individual programming for children with special needs as well as provide advice and support to students and parents.
She said teachers had school holidays in recognition of extra hours worked during the school term.
Ongoing staff shortages means much of this work is being done in teachers' own time and they don't have as much time to collaborate with their colleagues during the term.
"What we're seeing is teachers going above and beyond to try and keep providing the education that everyone wants our kids to get but ... it's at a cost of excessive workload," Ms Burroughs said.
"The planning days were an initiative originally requested by the Australian Education Union to provide some respite to the excessive workload."
She said teachers did not systematically track the classroom release time they had missed. The planning days would help teachers keep their head above water.
"Teachers are doing it hard. The community's doing it hard, but the only way through this is is to work together and seek solutions."
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