The banning of choirs and recorders, limiting inter-school activities and clarity over year 12 graduations and kindergarten orientations are expected under new coronavirus rules for NSW schools in term three.
The rules also propose suspending extracurricular social activities such as formals and dances for the rest of the term, the Herald has learned, but debate continues over inter-school sport, with concerns a school ban would be unfair while community club sport was permitted.
The plans come as police cleared Tangara School for Girls - the site of a growing COVID-19 cluster - of breaching public health orders, and non-government principals said they were upset Premier Gladys Berejiklian had questioned their COVID-19 compliance.
The Tangara School for Girls cluster has increased to 21 cases.Credit:Kate Geraghty
The Tangara School cluster grew to 21 on Friday, with one more student testing positive. NSW Health reported nine new cases, including three in hotel quarantine and one with a mystery source.
As flagged by Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant this week, NSW Health are working on amendments to school guidelines to help stop the spread of COVID-19 among students as worries persist that community transmission will increase.
School choirs and inter-school choral performances are permitted under existing rules, but proposed changes would put them on hold for the rest of term three due to their higher risk of disease-spreading droplets, the Herald has learned.
The use of woodwind instruments in groups - including many parents' favourite, the recorder - would also be put on hold, robbing bands and orchestras of flutes, saxophones and clarinets, but not brass instruments.
Activities that involved students from different schools mixing, especially if it involved more than 100 people, would be limited, and events with parents such as graduations, as well as formals and dances, would cease for the remainder of term three.
When the Tangara outbreak first appeared this week, Ms Berejiklian warned schools - "in particular non-government schools" - not to carry out their normal extra-curricular activities during the pandemic.
Her comments upset many private school principals, who felt they were being accused of flouting advice. "I'm upset she has targeted private schools, when we are working so hard to do the right thing," one said.
However, police on Friday cleared Tangara of wrongdoing. "The NSW Police force has finalised its investigation and determined no breaches of public health orders have taken place," a police spokeswoman said.
There was also confusion about what Ms Berejiklian meant by extra curricular activities, and about her references in press conferences to singing being dangerous despite being permitted under NSW Health rules.
The head of SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Jenny Allum, said all schools, both public and private, were doing their best, but the guidelines provided to schools "must be clear", she said. "We're working in a vacuum here, the stated rules appear to be superseded [in press conferences]."
Paulina Skerman from Santa Sabina College in Strathfield said principals were under "incredible pressure from parents and other stakeholders to host events so they need to be supported by clear government directives".
"I don't think schools should be persecuted or made an example of if they are following Public Health Orders; that needs to be investigated before schools are publicly criticised," she said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Berejiklian said "we have provided strong health advice to the community and will continue to do so during the pandemic".
Geoff Newcombe, chief executive of the NSW Association of Independent Schools, said guidelines provided to schools were not specific enough. "It's important there is absolute clarity about what the Premier and Health want us to do," he said.
"The Premier said she did not want any extra curricular activities [meaning out-of-school activities]. Heads interpret extra curricular activities as activities after school such as robotics. We have to use language that's common to everyone.
"You don't want overnight camps, yet health approved … camps in the holidays. If it's no camps, then it's got to be really clear that camps run by [schools] or organised by others, are out.
"The sport is a really important one, because you can't stop school sport and community sport, these two things are intertwined."
Jordan Baker is Education Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald
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2020-08-14 14:01:00Z
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