A staged return

The Premier Dan Andrews and the Education Minister James Merlino have given an update on Coronavirus and Victorian Schools including the commencement of a staged return to schooling, at all government schools.

STAGE 1

Monday 25 May, 2020  will be a pupil-free day to make sure everything’s ready to go.

Tuesday 26 May, 2020  Prep, Grade 1 and 2, and all VCE, VCAL and specialist school students will return to classroom learning.

STAGE 2

Tuesday 9 June, 2020  Students in all year levels will return to classroom learning.

For more information, please visit the Department of Education and Training website here.

Activities such as camps, excursions and incursions will not be offered until current travel restrictions are lifted.

We’ll still be offering on-site supervision during those two interim weeks for families who need it – but by 9 June, all kids will be back to face-to-face learning in the classroom.

Our Government will provide additional funding for daily cleaning – and extra sanitiser and soap supplies. We’ll prioritise testing for any Victorian school staff members who wish to do so, including those without symptoms.

And we’ll support teachers and staff at greater risk to continue working remotely. That includes older staff or those with underlying health conditions. Schools will be taking extra precautions too – such as staggered drop off and pickup times to avoid lots of parents being in the same place at the same time.

While we were working so hard to flatten the curve, it was really important not to have a million kids and their parents and carers moving around the community every day. But thanks to everyone’s hard work, we’re now able to make some changes.

Further learning from home information for parents can be found here.

 

VCE Learning

VCE students will still receive an ATAR score, but there will be changes to the academic calendar, including:

• The General Achievement Test (GAT) will be held towards the end of Term 3 on Wednesday 9 September, 2020. 
• VCE exams will begin the week commencing Monday 9 November and will be completed by Wednesday 2 December, 2020.
• VCE study scores will continue to be a combination of school-based assessment and external exams.
• VCE and VCAL students will receive their results before the end of 2020.
• Universities and TAFEs are working closely with the State Government to enable enrolments to commence next year.

VCE is an intense couple of years at the best of times. These measures have been put in place to give certainty to thousands of VCE students whose studies have been interrupted by coronavirus (COVID-19).

Please see the Premier’s full media release (22 May, 2020) here.