{"id":255646,"date":"2020-03-26T12:07:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T02:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=255646"},"modified":"2020-03-26T13:03:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T03:03:13","slug":"five-pupil-free-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/26\/five-pupil-free-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Pupil-Free Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 26, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Education Queensland announced on Thursday that the\u00a0Term 1 break will begin next Monday (March 30) for all State School students.<\/p>\n

Five student-free days have been declared for March 30-April 3.<\/p>\n

However, schools will continue to provide a program of care and supervision for children during these five days.<\/p>\n

Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services will also be available.<\/p>\n

Community kindergartens will also be student-free next week but long day care centres will stay open.<\/p>\n

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said while the advice from the Chief Health Officers was that schools could remain open, they needed to start preparing for a potential closure in the coming weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will not be a normal school break,\u201d the Premier said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that parents take responsibility for their children during this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Queenslander needs to do their part to limit the spread of coronavirus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Premier said school would still be open for the children of frontline workers, ie. workers who are required in their workplace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an unprecedented time in our history,\u201d the Premier said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be asking frontline workers to go above and beyond their normal work situations to help us get through this.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s not only frontline health professionals and police but people who undertake important work in our supply chain like stacking shelves in supermarkets.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool will still be open for the children of these workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education Minister Grace Grace said teachers, teacher aides and staff would use the reduced attendance at schools to prepare for a potential move to students learning from home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are planning for every eventuality when it comes to this global pandemic,\u201d Ms Grace said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently we have two weeks\u2019 worth of learning available to students to use at home and that will be constantly updated for as long as necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese student-free days will allow our hard-working teachers and teacher aides to prepare for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose staff members who have genuine health concerns will continue to have flexible working arrangements, such as working from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schools will reopen to students and staff on Monday, April 20, unless health authorities advise otherwise.<\/strong><\/p>\n