School's not out for summer in South Australia as the Marshall Liberal Government announces its back to school plan for the start of term one.
To help keep our kids, teachers and state safe, a staged return to school has been recommended by key health and education experts.
The hybrid, staged return to school plan will ensure our kids miss the fewest face to face learning days as possible, while also ensuring the state keeps on top of the global omicron outbreak.
Under the plan, students in key year levels (Pre-school, Reception, One, Seven, Eight and 12) will head back to face-to-face learning at school on Wednesday February 2.
Other year levels will begin their school year learning from home from Wednesday 2 February and will be back in the classroom on Monday 14 February.
January 31 and February 1 will be additional preparation days for teachers to get briefed and ready for online teaching.
Our most vulnerable students, as well as those children of essential workers, no matter their school grade, will be able to return to school from January 31 for two days of supervision and then learning from February 2.
Premier Steven Marshall said that while the first term back in 2022 will look a lot different to what parents and students are used to, the government has put students first in this back to school plan.
"This plan is all about balancing the learning needs of our kids, while also ensure they stay safe," Premier Marshall said.
"Because of the restrictions we put in place on Boxing Day, we have got on top of this outbreak, made sure our hospitals have not been over run and now – we announce that our key year levels will go back to school in week one.
"While we understand there will be disruptions to the start of 2022 and it's going to be challenging for a lot of families, we have put our kids first with this schools plan – they learn better face to face and that is what we've worked hard to achieve.
"This back to school plan is fully supported by the health and education experts in our State, and I'm certain it is the right way to go," Premier Marshall said.
Parents will be contacted by their schools directly over the coming week with all of the information they will need ahead of February 2.
The Department of Education website will also soon have all of the answers to questions parents, teachers and the wider public will have about the start of the 2022 school year.
