The Road Back to Face-to-Face

Coinciding with the lifting of lockdown in Sydney, I had the pleasure of hosting two family forum events for the families of  Sydney Catholic Schools students which focused on how we are planning the transition of our 70,000 students back to face-to-face learning.

More than 2,000 families joined the live, online events demonstrating to us the real concerns, practical considerations, hope and expectations that our families have around their children returning to school.  

I was joined at the events by: Dr Kate O'Brien, SCS Director of Education and Research; Dr Jacqueline Frost, SCS Chief of Staff; SCS Director of System Performance, Kevin Carragher; Principal of St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Concord West, Linda McFadden; Principal of St Declan’s Catholic Primary School Penshurst, Peter Cranney; Principal of Good Samaritan Catholic College Hinchinbrook; James Corcoran; and the Assistant Principal of Mount Saint Joseph Milperra and newly appointed Principal of Freeman Catholic College for 2022, Melinda Melham.

What struck me most about our event, and our discussions, is the fact that while the students are moving back to face-to-face, it’s safe to say that the entire family will be transitioning with them. 

Learning away from school has been a whole family endeavour, regardless of whether our students’ families are juggling working from home while managing school at home, or whatever their individual situations. Routines have changed, communication between families has morphed, new rituals have been adopted, old ones abandoned, and family dynamics have been shaped by long stints of remote learning. 

And while the morning hustle of the school day routine will start again, it’s important that we make the road back to face-to-face as positive as possible for our students, their families, our teachers, and staff. We are acutely aware that not only have our students been remote learning, but they have also been living with the emotion and anxiety brought about by the impact of Covid-19. 

Nothing can replace the experience of being in the physical presence of others. We know that one of the things that been most difficult to replace in the remote learning environment has been the social aspects of school. Schools are fundamental building blocks of community and being part of a class, and a school, is key to our students’ emotional and social development. We are really focusing on bringing joy to learning and wellbeing programs are being supercharged to ensure that our students transition in a positive way.

Every family wants their child or children to be happy and to be given every opportunity to thrive.  The last two years has been challenging on so many levels and we can’t wait to have our students back in our schools so that we can continue to deliver an experience for our students that holistically focuses on the academic, social and wellbeing of every student. And by doing so, we hope to ensure that it has a positive impact on the student’s family and the wider community.

In case you missed it, you can tune in to our Primary and Secondary Family Forums below.