Classes have been disrupted and some children will have to learn from home amid rising cases at four NSW schools.
Three schools are currently impacted by whole year groups learning from home, a small fraction of the more than 2200 schools across the state.
Braddock Public School in Cranebrook has students in Years 3, 4, 5, an 6 learning from home for the remainder of the week.
All students at the small public school on Mitchell’s Island – 45 students – will also be learning from home.
A combined Year 3/4 class at Pelican Flat Public School will also be forced to stay home due to illness.
The school posted on social media on Monday confirming that a “member of our school community has recently tested positive”
“Rest assured our school remains fully operational and the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our number one priority,” the Pelican Flat PS said.
Students in Year’s 3-6 at Toongabbie East Public School were also affected by Covid-19 but have since resumed in-person learning.
“After careful consideration, the department may ask some year groups in schools to learn from home for short periods of time due to a large number of COVID-19 cases as a circuit-breaker,” a spokesperson for the Department of Education said.
“Face-to-face learning continues for unaffected year groups and for affected students who are unable to learn from home.”
The order comes just days after the World Health Organisation declared that Covid-19 was “over as a global health emergency”.
Schools are able to temporarily require some classes to learn from home when case numbers reach a level where they are impacting several students and staff.
That decision is made by the Department of Education alongside the principal and other members of the school’s executive leadership team.
Children who are unable to stay at home will be provided with supervision if they attend school.
A notification to parents at Braddock Public School also advised that all staff and adult visitors would be required to wear masks and that children were recommended to do so.
“Additional measures will be implemented to further reduce the risk of transmission and therefore indoor gatherings such as assemblies will also be temporarily postponed,” the letter read.
The notification also said that three Year 6 classes, two Year 5 classes, three Year 4 classes and two Year 3 classes were particularly impacted by the rise in Covid-19 cases.
A parent at the school spoke about the frustration the incident had caused and said that her 9-year-old daughter was riddled with “extreme anxiety” after hearing she would have to learn from home.
“It definitely caught us off guard,” the mum at Braddock PS told The Daily Telegraph.
“We were told the cases were rising within the school, but I didn’t realise how extreme it was.
“We were only contacted via email/ social media platforms which really bugged me. A phone call and explanation would have been nice. The school is normally very good with communication and support, however this time round I feel let down.”