Parents are coming to realise this only too well as schools return in stages, with the largest contingent set to return next Monday.

We are transitioning from the pre-vaccination part of the pandemic to the post-vaccination world where we live with the virus's presence, protected to some extent by the two jabs.

But it is not as though the pandemic is over. Only on Thursday, the junior campus at Caroline Chisholm School was closed for a deep clean after a COVID exposure. There were 24 new cases of COVID-19 in the ACT on Tuesday. The virus is here among us.

So it is understandable some parents are anxious about their children returning to buildings where they will be in close proximity to lots of people, and where those people mingle through the day.

While one Canberra school principal has emerged as anti-vaccine, and a small number of educators have signed a letter objecting to the vaccine mandate, overwhelmingly schools are run by people doing everything they can to support public health.

Children must return to school at some stage. There may be a few who have thrived while learning at home, but there must be many more who have not thrived, socially if not academically.

Children usually need structure to their education, and that structure is best provided in the classroom.

Part of education is learning to live within a society - to get on with other people, whether we like them or not. It is also about enjoying the communal life, whether that is on a field of play, or in a break when children walk around and just talk to each other, or through more formal learning in a class.

But our social nature presents risks. The task of schools and those who run them is obviously to minimise those risks - and to reassure parents those risks have been minimised. That means clarity and communication.

The danger with a lack of communication is that, if undisclosed information does finally emerge, the authorities lose a little trust. Parents - and children - need to feel that they are involved in this difficult process of transition, and not merely as passive agents, directed by others. They need to be told what's happening.

There also needs to be a lot of pragmatism.

Schools are all different, not just in atmosphere and attitude but also in their physical configurations. Corridors, rooms and exits offer different combinations.

This means that situations have to be assessed individually. If, for example, there was an infection in a school, that might or might not necessitate the closure of the whole place.

Decisions should be taken as near to locally as possible, albeit with the best advice from experts outside. This is not the time for rigid rules covering all schools. We should go forward step-by-step, tailoring action to circumstances.

This, of course, puts an enormous burden on teachers - and on school principals, in particular.

Whatever they do, there will be no pleasing some people - but they must be supported.

There is no right or wrong answer when a child is infected. Complete shutdown deprives children of the best education, but the risk of more infections has to be countered, too. It will be a matter of intelligent judgment.

Fortunately, teachers are intelligent people. They, in consultation with the education authorities and health experts, may well have to deal with situations way beyond anything they were prepared for when they trained.

They will do it with good sense. They deserve the support of everyone around when those decisions are taken. It will not be a time for cheap blame games and hunts for heads to roll.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: