Bounce back to school
COVID-19 may have posed a range of challenges for students, staff and their families in Tasmania, but I am overwhelmingly proud of their commitment to learning and willingness to adapt to the circumstances.
Teachers rapidly upskilled and pivoted to teach online, and discovered other innovative and creative ways to engage students remotely.
We saw students take remote learning in their stride, constructively engaging with their fellow classmates and teachers through online platforms. I have heard many stories of students who actually became more engaged while learning at home.
Most importantly, we saw meaningful collaboration with parents and carers as partners in their children’s learning.
Across the community there has also been a deeper appreciation and understanding of the work teachers and schools do each and every day to support student learning and wellbeing.
While we recognise learning from home may have been challenging at times, we know that without a doubt it helped stopped the spread of COVID-19 and saved lives. As a result of the restrictions, the Department of Education has also strengthened its partnership with Communities Tasmania to develop new and innovative ways to support students who may be at risk of disengaging in schooling during this time. Today, we welcome back our Years 7 to 10 students as part of our staged approach back to learning in the classroom. This has allowed us to manage and monitor the impact of increasing movements of people across our community.
A lot of thought and planning went into learning from home and indeed the transition back to the classroom. We have been working with all stakeholders, including principals and leaders in the Department of Education, Catholic and Independent sectors to ensure the process is smooth, and that no child is disadvantaged. Throughout this period the health, safety and wellbeing of all Tasmanians students has always been the government’s number one priority. It is still very important that we all maintain safety precautions and continue to follow the advice of public health.
To reduce the risk of COVID-19, schools are well supplied with liquid soap and hand sanitiser and will implement strict handwashing and hygiene protocols.
They have increased cleaning of surfaces and introduced processes for managing student pick up and drop to support physical distancing. Gatherings such as assemblies, trips and inter-school activities remain suspended.
For all Tasmanians, this is the new norm, and it is of the utmost importance that we continue to follow public health advice. I sincerely thank our principals, staff and teachers for their leadership and dedication to supporting student learning and wellbeing, and I also pay tribute to parents and carers for their incredible work in partnering with teachers to support learning at home.
Planning is under way to support learners in Kindergarten to Year 2 to “bounce back” to learning at school. The focus in Term 2 for our youngest learners will be on universal support, and checking-in with parents about their children’s learning.
With just over three weeks left of Term 2, we are starting to look ahead to Term 3, where we will progress to more targeted supports with a focus on wellbeing and literacy and numeracy development.
Our Years 11 and 12 students have been working to a modified curriculum which clearly spells out what is needed from them for the remainder of the year, and how teachers can best support them in their learning.
We have been working closely with all stakeholders including TASC, the Department of Education, Catholic Education Tasmania, Independent Schools Tasmania, the University of Tasmania, and public and private registered training organisations to address issues that may affect the attainment of the Tasmanian Qualifications Certificate, Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) and the calculation of ATAR scores.
We have also made excellent progress updating examinations and assessments. For example, students in accounting and business studies will sit modified exams with confidence knowing they can achieve a nationally recognised certificate.
Written examinations will be held from November 9-19, with student results emailed on December 18.
I am committed to ensuring that our students will not be adversely affected this year, and that they will still have access to all the opportunities they dreamed of.