By DYLAN DE JONG 

Wimmera private schools are sticking to State Government advice to continue with online learning despite Federal Government incentives to get students back into classrooms.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan offered an early payment of more than $3.3-billion to independent and Catholic schools to get at least half of their students back into classrooms within a month. 

Mr Tehan wrote a letter to independent schools’ peak body and National Catholic Education Commission offering an early payment of a quarter of the annual funding due to them in July.

Mr Tehan gave schools until Friday last week to accept the offer.

He has since criticised the Victorian Government’s stance to continue remote learning while public schools were planning to reopen in other states such as Queensland. 

But Wimmera private school leaders have decided that keeping students at home was key to keeping the school body, particularly vulnerable staff and parents, safe.

They believe a staggered ‘exit strategy’ is crucial in mitigating the threat of COVID-19, while also delivering fair academic opportunities for all students.

Horsham’s St Brigid’s College principal Peter Gutteridge said the Federal Government’s offer was of little benefit to his school.

“The wellbeing of our staff and students far outweighs any little financial gain,” he said.

“It’s not a gain as such – it’s just money to be paid a bit earlier.” 

Mr Gutteridge said he wanted the school to be consistent with State Government advice.

“It’s up to our State Government to decide what’s best for everyone in Victoria, including for our parents, students and staff,” he said. 

“I applaud Premier Daniel Andrews, because he has not wavered in anything he is saying. 

“That’s allowed me and my staff to prepare for the long-haul.” 

Mr Gutteridge said although online learning was challenging, feedback from the school body indicated students and teachers were adapting to the changes. 

“The feedback I’ve been getting from parents and a number of students is showing it’s certainly going well, although the novelty is wearing off a little bit,” he said.

“We’re expecting this will be ongoing for the rest of term two, that’s what we’re planning for.”

Ararat Marian College

Ararat’s Marian College principal Carmel Barker said her school, which had more than 500 students and staff, was developing an exit strategy for when the Victorian Department of Education and Training, DET, advised to bring students back to classrooms. 

“We’re developing a strategic plan for our school to come out of the lockdown – that has to be managed really carefully while taking on health advice and working with the Department of Education and the Catholic Education Commission,” she said. 

“We want to be consistent, but very deliberate with our actions, so we see to the needs and safety of our students, staff and families.” 

Ms Barker said it would be too difficult for her school to manage the Federal Government’s plans to get 50 percent of students back in classrooms by June. 

“It is complicated in a secondary school. You have a timetable from year seven right across the curriculum,” she said. 

“To send back half a cohort, you can’t teach half a classroom, there are a lot of complications there.” 

St Patrick’s Stawell

Stawell’s St Patrick’s Primary School principal Michelle Hogan said her school would continue to liaise with State Government and Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. 

She said based on parent feedback, students were progressing well with online learning despite the challenges it posed. 

“We did a parent survey after eight days which was extremely positive, hearing our parents have settled into a routine with their children,” she said. 

“I think in some ways, the rhetoric we are seeing detracts from the hard work that teachers and students are doing – we don’t hear enough about the students’ successes of getting some amazing work done.” 

Mrs Hogan said this period was encouraging parents to become more engaged in their children’s learning. 

“This is the greatest forced experiment with parent engagement,” she said.

“Some of the feedback from parents has been it’s great to see what my child does at school.”

Lutheran college

Horsham Holy Trinity Lutheran College principal Daniel Weller said his school’s decision to continue remote learning was based on advice from Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. 

“As a Victorian school we lean to the state in such matters,” he said. 

“Our priority remains on the provision of a safe learning environment for all, and for the health and wellbeing of our community.

“As always we will continue to monitor the situation and inform our community of any changes.

“I look forward to a time soon when we can all return to school and engage once again with onsite learning.” 

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