Good News: VIC Students Will Return to Classrooms This Month

Wait, where did I leave my backpack?

Now that coronavirus cases in Melbourne and regional Victoria are finally starting to drop, Melbourne students will actually get the chance to finish their school year in classrooms with their teachers and classmates.

In a press release on Monday, the Victorian Government announced that Year 7 students in metropolitan Melbourne will resume face-to-face learning from Monday 12 October and Years 8 to 10 will return from Monday 26 October.

The decision comes as the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed another nine cases and zero deaths from coronavirus in Victoria on Monday, recording the state's 13th day of fewer than 20 new infections.

Victoria’s Minister for Education James Merlino stated in a Facebook post that the return was in line with their public health plan.

"This staggered return is consistent with our approach throughout the pandemic and is based on the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer," he said.

"The public health imperative is about managing increased movement across the community as restrictions ease.

"A return of Years 8 to 10 students from October 26 will provide time to enable monitoring of the impact of the first stage of students returning to school."

Initially just prep to Grade 6 and Years 11 and 12 would be returning to classrooms from October 12, with Year 7 to 10 students asked to continue studying from home.

As for regional Victoria, Prep to Grade 6 students in standalone primary schools will return to classrooms from Monday 5 October and from Thursday 8 October all Prep to Grade 6 students in P-12 schools will also return.

All regional Victorian students from Years 7 to 10 will also make their way back to the classroom from 12 October, with schools staggering the return of different year levels throughout the first week.

So, from 26 October, Victorian schools will see the return of about 164,000 students, so it’s a pretty big deal.

"We always said we wanted to see students back in the classroom as soon as we can, as safely as we can, and we have been working with our public health experts to ensure that is the case," said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

As expected, students will be asked to wear masks, socially distance, comply with staggered pick-up and drop-off times and parents and guardians will have restrictions when entering school grounds.