School’s back on different terms
OLLIE Happy-Miller, 5, heads back to Prep today after the Easter break while parents Jenna Happy and Nick Miller, with daughter Isabelle Happy-Miller, 1, will need to be at work. Queensland schools will reopen for children of essential workers, but many Far North families will set up class at home as students switch to remote learning.
CAIRNS parents are sending their kids into term two in an uncertain world today – either back to school as essential workers, or homeschool teaching themselves.
Under the current advice from the Queensland governments, students and kindergarteners who are able to learn from home must stay home, except for vulnerable students and children of essential workers who will go back to school.
Machans Beach mum Jenna Happy will see her fiveyear-old son Ollie go back to prep at Mother of Good Counsel School today.
Ms Happy, a communication officer at Vocational Partnerships Group, and her partner Nick Miller, a council environment officer, are both full-time essential workers and were unable to homeschool their son.
“We felt conflicted, not knowing if it was the right decision, but at the end of the day we both had to continue working,” she said.
“We would love to be able to keep him home and homeschool him, but at the same time, think he’ll be in a good space and comfortable at school.”
Ms Happy said she trusted the school would do what was necessary to keep kids safe.
“They have strict measures in place – parents aren’t al
lowed to enter the grounds, so we’ll be seeing him off at the gate,” she said.
“He’s excited about it, he’s been stuck inside for the past few weeks so he’s looking forward to going back.”
Kanimbla mum Karla Spanagel will join many parents tomorrow in homeschooling for the first time.
With three kids ranging from prep to Year 5, Ms Spanagel said she expected to have a new appreciation for every taken thing the teachers at Edge Hill State School did for them.
“My daughter Skye is set up in her bedroom with a laptop, while I’ll be sitting at the main dining table with my youngest and my eight-year old son,” she said. “I took them out of school before school holidays doing basic work at home, but not to the extent of what we’ll be doing.
“To say I’m nervous is a massive understatement.”
Ms Spanagel said she had a step back from the home cabinetmaking business she and her husband run, Distinction Joinery NQ, to homeschool the kids.
“It’s not easy, taking a step back to focus on this, but I’m grateful that we can maintain our employees,” she said.
“It’s a really crazy time, never in my life thought I’d be homeschooling my kids.”
Home-based schooling requirements will apply for the first five weeks of term two.