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Stawell Secondary College principal Carlos Lopez has been amazed by the way parents, teachers and students have handled remote learning.
But he is ecstatic to soon have his students back in a classroom.
"I think teachers will be very glad to have students back, albeit with trepidation in regards to health concerns," he said.
"It's been a little bit lonely out here without the students. We're really thrilled to get some sense of normalcy."
Other news:
The state government wants staggered drop-offs and breaks at schools to help with social distancing.
Mr Lopez said it would be up to schools to decide how that worked.
He said a staff committee would look at how it could best maximise literacy and numeracy learning while factoring in the staggered breaks.
"We have to plan to make sure (students) get the best out of their schooling as well," he said.
"It's a logistical challenge."
Mr Lopez said it was hard to gauge students' reactions to the announcement on Tuesday.
But he said Victorian Certificate of Education students in particular would be thrilled.
"Particularly year 12 students ... they'll leave stress and anxiety behind," he said.
Mr Lopez said there would still be challenges in the next few weeks as students gradually returned and leaned into a new normal.
"We're taking this as a new chapter," he said.
"I think what's made the situation more complex is the ever-changing nature of it. During the last holidays things were changing hourly on some days. It was challenging from that point of view. It's nobody's fault.
"Hopefully the next holidays will be a bit more calm."
11.30am
Kaniva College year 12 student Gabby Hodges is thrilled about the imminent return to school.
She has missed the face-to-face learning from teachers, and interactions with her classmates.
"It's hard seeing them through a computer screen," she said.
But she said there were some aspects of remote learning she had enjoyed.
"It's been alright. It's been good managing your own time, and being able to prioritise some things over other things," she said.
"It's given kids the chance to manage themselves."
Gabby, 17, is using a caravan in her backyard as a study space, and aims to be out there by 9am each school day.
She is studying four subjects - health and human development, English, physical education and biology.
She said remote learning made certain parts of the subjects challenging.
"PE's alright because we have very set guides, but we haven't done many pracs," she said.
"Biology's been a bit more difficult because it's more content-based."
Gabby said she was in a year level of about a dozen students. Some of her classmates were finding remote learning more difficult than others.
"Most seem to be on track," she said.
Gabby said she was not concerned about coronavirus at school.
"Hopefully it's good - as long as, if people are sick, they stay home," she said.
Earlier
SOME Wimmera school students will be back at school in two weeks.
Premier Daniel Andrews made the announcement on Tuesday morning, where he outlined a staggered plan for Victorian students to return to face-to-face learning.
On Tuesday, May 26 classes will resume for prep, grades one and two and years 11 and 12. All special schools will also return on this date.
May 25 will be a pupil-free day.
On Tuesday, June 9 the remainder of students (grades three to year 10) will return to school.
Mr Andrews said specific arrangements for year 10 students studying year 11 subjects would be made if it was practical.
He said he expected Catholic education would follow a similar timeline.
Victoria was the only state or territory that is yet to set a date on a return to classes but the premier defended his cautious approach.
Other news:
"School will look different than what it would normally look like," Mr Andrews said.
"Drop-offs - there will be a whole range of protocols so, we don't have adults mingling, we don't have parents mingling.
"There will be staggered drop-offs, there will be staggered breaks for play for lunch. There will be a massive boost to the cleaning of our schools."
Schools have been open only to vulnerable students and those of essential workers during term two as part of the government's measures to stem the coronavirus spread.
Mr Andrews said about three per cent of students had continued attending school.
He praised the efforts of parents in ensuring children were able to learn from home.
"It is an equally important opportunity to thank parents for contributions made to flattening the curve and making sure this virus is under control," he said.
"I know the past four weeks been challenging. It has made a profound difference to the number of cases we have and prospect for further rule changes."
There are 1509 COVID-19 cases in Victoria - an increase of 17 from Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Andrews outlined the state's "safe, cautious and appropriate" easing of COVID-19 restrictions, from 11.59pm Tuesday until May 31.
They include allowing Victorians to host up to five visitors in their homes and meet outdoors in groups of 10.
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