Senior students will be among the first to go back to class as Canberra's independent schools make arrangements for a staggered return to face-to-face learning.
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Schools have relied on guidance from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee as well as observing the dwindling COVID-19 caseload in the ACT to plan a transition from remote learning to classroom-based teaching.
May 11 will be the date that many schools will reintroduce classes on campus, including for the year 11 and 12 cohort at Daramalan College.
Principal Rita Daniels said the senior years were prioritised as they had slightly shorter terms and needed to keep up with their studies to achieve the Senior Secondary Certificate.
It won't be school as they know it - no assemblies, a cashless canteen and click and collect library borrowing - but Ms Daniels said the students were "very keen to come back."
"Because in the ACT year 11 and 12 system every unit counts, it was quite challenging, I think, and somewhat disappointing for year 12 in their final year not have the opportunity to spend time at school.
"The student leaders lost the opportunity to do some of the fantastic things they get to do day-to-day."
An announcement on a gradual return to school for the other Daramalan College year groups will be made in coming days.
St Edmund's College will also have a gradual approach, first allowing year 11 and 12 back from the middle of next week, followed by years 4 to 6 on May 18 and finally years 7 to 10 on May 25.
Principal Joe Zavone said co-curricular activities would be on hold until restrictions on sport in the wider community were lifted. He said the school was "very confident" in making the decision to allow classes to resume at this time.
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"If there's an outbreak, at least we know there's good procedures in place: we close the school down, go into online teaching and learning and then we come back."
Canberra Girls Grammar School will also welcome year 11 and 12 to campus on May 11 while years 7 to 10 will return on May 18. Larger classes will be allocated bigger classrooms and breaks will be staggered so that there is not as much contact between the year levels.
The primary school will be on a 10-day timetable with each student having five face-to-face days of learning in every ten and remote learning on the remaining days.
Principal Anna Owen said while online was not the preferred mode of learning, she was proud of how the school community embraced the challenge.
"We've proven to ourselves that we're able to be incredibly agile, incredibly nimble in what we're doing," she said.
"If those circumstances change, in support of the community we'll adjust again."
From May 11, Canberra Grammar School will allow students in kindergarten and even-numbered year groups to attend classes on Monday and Tuesday.
Odd-numbered year groups will be in class on Thursday and Friday with a day for cleaning on Wednesday. Year 12 will be allowed to come to class all four days, to be joined by year 11 from week four if the stage two transition continues past week three.
At Radford College, primary and senior students will return to regular classes while years 7 to 10 will have face-to-face classes on alternate days based on house groups.
Principals have said their decisions were not related to federal Education Minister Dan Tehan's offer to bring forward funding for independent schools if they had at least half of the students in class by the end of May.
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