COVID-19 lockdowns impact on schooling and HSC

Hope they’re not sending year 12 back next week. Most teachers, like myself, are not vaccinated yet (not a priority so yep can get AZ, I’m booked in for Sunday but that doesn’t give an immune response much time!) I can’t see them that organised with enough tests ready though.

 

That's pretty messed up vaxing teenagers while over 50s still waiting and some dying.

 

it’s political. I’d heard whispers that there was a chance they would cancel the HSC this year. Vaxxing year 12 apparently means they can return to face to face - which is odd when so many teachers won’t have been vaccinated…. In any case, a cancelled HSC would be a massive failure for the gold standard state.

 

Young people are a much bigger problem with delta .. they get infected quickly and become super spreaders. Over 100 kids are already infected with delta compared to just 1 pediatric infection during the first wave.

 

Why would you and other teachers not have been vaccinated ?

 

This annoys me no end. Junior completed hsc last year (2020) with two terms of online learning and had been online for uni for the entire year so far ... I know some uni students who have now been online for 18 months ... so why are the 2021 hsc students so special?

Especially when friends with health issues (ie genetic diabetes) can't get a booking because they are "rural"

 

I think people are disregarding the importance of face to face education. In 2020.. there was no plan. 2021 is different as we have had time to reflect and do things differently. Your child may have been okay with online learning, but there are a lot of kids out there who don’t have supportive parents at home, or come from low socio-economic backgrounds or come from backgrounds where English was not their first language who really need that support from their teachers. It’s very hard to teach yourself, especially complex concepts in maths, science and English. And if you don’t have the foundations, university is going to be even harder. It may work to do online courses for some degrees as a temporary measure, but it doesn’t work for everything and we need to start thinking of a long term solution.

Getting students vaccinated will definitely instill confidence in the younger population to get vaccinated, so this may be a strategic move by NSW.

 

It is a Catch 22 - getting students back to learning versus the health/live of those compromised. It's wouldn't be such a problem if those damn Sydney people could be trusted to damn well stay in Sydney ... but no ... they keep escaping

 

@Lizzie, the difference is, this year there is a vaccine available. Last year there wasn't. So you couldn't vaccinate.....

 

Yes - but not enough for those that "need" it

 

There was plenty of time for those people to get the vaccine. They waited and this is the result. In any case, they shouldn’t be going out if they are severely compromised. Year 12 students.. well they are our future and need a proper education.

 

Not in regional areas there wasn't "plenty of time".

They are not "severely" compromised - controlled diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma doesn't stop one from living their life.

My point is that the government is using these people as pawns in a political game of "we can do whatever the private schools do".

I agree that the kids are our future - so was the 2020 mob that are still struggling with online learning at university. Rather hard to do a cadaver autopsy online

 

Only 13.6% of the population is fully vaccinated in Australia. Personally, when ScoMo made his announcement I asked my GP for AZ and she said no. Then I looked around all the places in my suburb (and surrounds, up to 20kms) and they were only giving it to over 60s, I couldn’t book anywhere. Then I booked Pfizer three weeks ago, which is on Sunday (I’m hoping they’ll deem me eligible, I have a range of reasons). It’s only been in the last hm… week or so? That the ATAGI advice changed for everyone to be able to get AZ and GPs have been more open to it. If they don’t give me Pfizer I’ll get AZ for sure but I’d much prefer Pfizer so I can be fully immunised sooner, given we’re meant to be back with everyone in four weeks and year 12 in two. Teachers have never been in the priority group for Pfizer except a short while with the 3 LGAs in lockdown. My school is in one of the new lockdown suburbs but I’m not eligible for Pfizer on those grounds now because the advice changed.

I feel a touch of attack in your question like we’re dumb for not getting vaccinated, but it hasn’t been long that teachers under 40 have been able to get AZ easily (some have managed with a lot of calling around) and I think many would be getting immunised now, but they won’t get their second doses and protection from those second doses until after they’re back in classrooms with kids if the current timeline holds.

 

I looked at every clinic within 20kms of me doing AZ and all of them were only doing over 60s. Plenty of time my bum. I just looked it up - 24 July ATAGI said everyone should get it then GPs opened up to everyone. Considering two doses are needed for protection at least 4 weeks apart then another two weeks to get the protection and year 12 are back three weeks after that announcement you’re falling short by several weeks. Are you a teacher? My Year 12s are doing just fine. They’re preparing for trials and if anything they’re submitting more work to me, not less. It’s actually not bad timing for them to be at home, they have plenty of time to revise with their teachers and study on their own and less distractions.

 

Probably because they now understand the significant effects of the previous approach on the health of young people.

 

Last year they got year 11 and 12 back into classrooms first, and sitting the actual HSC exams was not impacted, so the optics were not as bad.

For uni students, that's federal, and they really dont seem to care about what the unis are doing, apart from endlessly screwing them down on costs (which has led to the massive reliance of full fee paying foreign students).

It is all far from ideal, but frankly too much focus is put on the HSC. There are many pathways.

 

There are also many pathways for assessment. They want the Year 12s back so they can do their trials but we could set assessments they can do at home with no health risk. Don’t think that Year 12 kids back in classrooms means face to face teaching and social interaction - almost all schools will run trials straight away and hope they get through them without locking down again. Students will be sent home after their exams. It’s going to be a very stressful time for them.

Numbers are going up but restrictions are being loosened.

 

Well, I organised my shot BEFORE it has become urgent with this delta, if I can, and most of my family can in various areas of syd and regional NSW, then I think a lot has to come back to people not doing anything when they felt no sense of urgency.

We cannot stand here blaming everyone, you can go get AZ shot in a lot of places, alas, maybe it was just easy for me and my many family members....

And, I am not sure why teachers along with many others had not had it long ago by saying, you get this or you stay home, that part you can blame the govt for, it has been botched in that regard, but, I do not wait around for govt to tell me what to do or what I can and cannot do, I do what makes sense anyway.....

 

I too organised mine the instant I qualified ... took a week to get into a booking (all good) - got my first shot 10 weeks ago (brilliant) - still can't get my second shot for another 3 weeks (put back a week and darn) - won't have immunity for another 2 weeks after that (the stretch is getting long) ... so basically the process that started in early May won't be finished until the end of August

And that was with me jumping on the bandwagon the instant I could.

So therein lies the dilemma ... do people get their AZ now (Aug), knowing they won't be fully immunised for another 15 weeks (nearly 4 months Dec) - or do they hang out for the Pfizer knowing that, when they eventually get it, they'll be fully immunised in 5-6 weeks

So, if they hang out and get a Pfizer shot in September (expected bulk delivery), they'll be fully immunised by end of Oct/Nov ... or a full 1-2 months earlier than the AZ taken now

 

Are you all over 60 or all health workers or something? Because we have not been eligible for AZ for very long at all. And when ScoMo said we could, as I said, I couldn’t anywhere within 20kms of my house. I am so pro vax it’s not funny and have wanted to get vaccinated for ages. As soon as we were eligible and it was approved by ATAGI and thus I could book an appointment I did for my husband, which was last Monday. That’s the earliest I could have been vaccinated too. It’s not teachers fault (or anyone else who wants to be vaccinated and hasn’t been yet) they’re not vaccinated, it’s the government.