School students in New South Wales will head back to class earlier than expected with the government bringing forward start dates by one week.
The new timetable, agreed to by the state’s crisis cabinet on Wednesday, means kindergarten, year 1 and year 12 students will return on 18 October.
All other students will be integrated back onto school grounds over the following two weeks, with years 2, 6 and 11 returning on 25 October and all other grades resuming on 1 November.
A source confirmed the move on Wednesday evening after it was initially reported by Nine News. Guardian Australia understands teachers will only be allowed on-site if they are fully vaccinated.
Earlier on Wednesday, the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said getting children back into school earlier was always an option.
“I want to stress we are carefully considering the options we have to get kids to school earlier if we can,” she told reporters. “At this stage, parents should plan for the 25th [of October] but we are looking at options if we can bring things forward.”
NSW has exceeded vaccination double dosage expectations and will hit 70% coverage of the adult population ahead of schedule.
The Independent Education Union said earlier on Wednesday it was deeply concerned by the lack of consultation. It believed the original staged plan was the safest option.
“There are no government guidelines in place about ventilation and air filtration in schools … the union is not aware of any systemic review of ventilation,” the IEUA acting secretary, Carol Matthews, said.
“The NSW government, unlike the Victorian government, is not funding non-government schools to achieve improvements. NSW non-government schools are only just starting to take steps in this area.”
Matthews said bringing the return date forward would place pressure on schools.
“There’s no doubt there’s a lot of concern,” she said.
“Teachers feel a bit like they’re guinea pigs, they don’t know what’s going to happen. Once you understand how the Delta virus is transmitted there are really big question marks.
“Talking to some in the industry, there really is an expectation there will be a significant number of outbreaks once they go back.”
Matthews said she was also concerned about how mandatory vaccination requirements, announced before the return date was brought forward, may “cause confusion” among teachers at short notice.
Last week, it was revealed the NSW government was yet to order any air filters for public schools despite a slated return for face-to-face classrooms in October.
The government was in talks with potential suppliers but it was too early to put in an order because an audit of classrooms was ongoing, the chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW, Anthony Manning, told a parliamentary inquiry.
Work had begun to fix windows that didn’t open fully or fans that didn’t work, the hearing was told.
