Like teachers all over Canberra, Renee Broadhurst is counting down the days until she can return to the classroom with her year 4 students at Majura Primary School.
Until November 1, she will continue the lockdown juggle of teaching remotely while also supervising her own children Amelia, 6 and Harvey, 9.
While the switch to remote learning in 2020 was very daunting for educators, Mrs Broadhurst said the transition was much easier this time around.
"We knew as teachers what to do. The kids knew what to do. Things can still get quite chaotic but we sort of were able to fall back into that groove because it wasn't something that was brand new to us," she said.
The year 4 teachers at Majura Primary split up the subjects between themselves to share across the grade instead of each teacher having to program their whole day.
Even so, the work days have been longer than usual with early starts and late evenings to fit around caring responsibilities.
"The leadership at school has been really understanding about working whenever you can really," Mrs Broadhurst said.
"Sometimes it can be a bit of a blur between the work life balance. I've got my computer set up in the lounge room and you just might look past and check an email or something like that."
She's noticed some positive aspects to the lockdown.
The pace of life slowed down and there has been a lot more family time out walking the dog or cooking together without having to rush off to school, work and after-school activities.
Her son has learned to mow the lawn while her daughter has picked up computer skills.
Australian Catholic University's head of school of education NSW and ACT associate professor Miriam Tanti said students had learned a lot while locked down.
They have developed valuable skills for the workforce, including flexibility, creativity, technology skills, self-facilitated learning and problem solving.
"Students weren't falling behind, I think what happened was learning and teaching look different, that's all," she said.
"Everything seems to be about the losses, but we need to flip it. Let's stop looking at it as a deficit. Let's look at it as a positive. And they've gained so much. They're going to be really resilient people that will lead the country in the future with skills that we need."
Coming back to face-to-face learning, associate professor Tanti said teachers would need to quickly re-establish routines and expectation for a smooth transition for students.
She said teachers should make the most of play-based learning and extend recess and lunchtimes so children can reconnect and rediscover the joy in learning.
Outdoor learning is not only COVID safe but a fun way to engage students in many subjects.
"Every subject lends itself to being outside and I do think it's something that teachers should really think about, because the subjects that did suffer while we were online, were those that were practical in nature," she said.
"I think teachers should just really strip back curriculum and just establish a few achievable outcomes that are very practical in nature ... and you'll find that students will really thrive in those last last weeks of the school year."
When face-to-face teaching resumes, Mrs Broadhurst is hoping to revise what the students have learned, fill in any gaps and finish off the year in a positive way.
"We've got lots of outdoor spaces so depending on weather I'd love to get outside with the class as much as possible."
