Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Education Department Deputy Chief Executive Susan Bowden explains what parents need to know about Covid in schools

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Education Department Deputy Chief Executive Susan Bowden explains what parents need to know about Covid in schools · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: And I know that a lot of parents who listen
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  Speaker 1: to the show and caregivers have been in contact a
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: bit concerned as some of those case numbers continue to
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  Speaker 1: rise across our territory schools. And I think that we
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  Speaker 1: always knew that it was going to happen as school
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  Speaker 1: headed back and there was such a large number of
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  Speaker 1: cases throughout the Northern territory. But joining us on the
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  Speaker 1: line right now to give us a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: info about what we need to do as parents if
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  Speaker 1: our child is in a classroom with somebody who has
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  Speaker 1: got COVID or has has since tested positive to COVID.
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  Speaker 1: Is the Education Department's Deputy Chief Executive, Susan Bowden. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you, Susan.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Twice in one week, Susan. We wouldn't have usually expected
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  Speaker 1: to be to start at it. Most certainly has now, Susan,
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  Speaker 1: to get started, Can I ask you do we have
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  Speaker 1: more cases in our schools today.
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  Speaker 2: So I've got data as of yesterday, But before I
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  Speaker 2: go into that data, I'd just like to start by
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  Speaker 2: acknowledging that we do know. So it's been a very
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  Speaker 2: different and challenging start to the school year for all involved.
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  Speaker 2: That's just not for parents, but for our staff, and
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  Speaker 2: I also wanted to thank parents for their support and patients.
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  Speaker 2: As we continue to respond to COVID nineteen in our schools.
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  Speaker 2: It has been tricky, but we are certainly trying to
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  Speaker 2: do the best we can to keep families informed. In
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  Speaker 2: terms of our data, I've got data as of yesterday
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  Speaker 2: there were three hundred and twenty nine students across fifty
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  Speaker 2: seven schools that notified their school that they were positive
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  Speaker 2: with COVID.
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  Speaker 1: Well, they are fairly large numbers. I guess it's not
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  Speaker 1: to be unexpected given the fact that there is, you know,
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  Speaker 1: quite a high volume of COVID within the community. Now, Susan,
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  Speaker 1: what's it been like then for those fifty seven schools
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  Speaker 1: trying to you know, to deal with I guess the
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  Speaker 1: ramifications of knowing that there are cases within your school.
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  Speaker 2: So first, in terms of the number, that three hundred
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  Speaker 2: and twenty nine represents point ninety percent of the total
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  Speaker 2: number of students enrolled across our Northern Territory Government school
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  Speaker 2: So in terms of percentage, it is considerably small, but
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  Speaker 2: of course it's a number that we're really watching closely
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  Speaker 2: because we want to make sure that we've got children learning,
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  Speaker 2: but also that our children are safe in school. So
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  Speaker 2: there are a range of different things that schools are doing.
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  Speaker 2: So there's making sure that there's hands sterilizer available, promoting
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  Speaker 2: those messages around washing hands regularly, also mask wearing by
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  Speaker 2: our teachers and educators, children and students wearing masks. It's
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  Speaker 2: mandated for students in year seventy, year twelve, but also
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  Speaker 2: encouraging those students in the younger grades year three and
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  Speaker 2: above to also be wearing masks. There's also been quite
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  Speaker 2: a bit of work done around maximizing the airflow in
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  Speaker 2: our classrooms so there as much airflow as possible going
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  Speaker 2: through in fresh air. And also schools are looking at
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  Speaker 2: ways of trying to get children outdoors and it's been
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  Speaker 2: tricky this week because there's been a lot of monsoon
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  Speaker 2: or rain around, but certainly wherever possible getting children outside
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  Speaker 2: in the fresh air regularly and having those breaks.
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  Speaker 1: Susan, are you expecting those numbers to grow today?
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  Speaker 2: We are keeping an eye on them. It's hard for
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  Speaker 2: me to say, we know with COVID it changes rapidly,
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  Speaker 2: but it is important to note that you know we
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  Speaker 2: will be keeping an eye on it. These schools will
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  Speaker 2: be notifying parents if there's a COVID case in a
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  Speaker 2: particular classroom as well, so that parents are notified. It
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  Speaker 2: is important though, because kids are anxious. You know, my
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  Speaker 2: kids are anxious. I've got children in year six and
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  Speaker 2: year eight at the moment, and they're coming home and
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  Speaker 2: telling me there's cases there. But then when I contacted
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  Speaker 2: the school, that actually wasn't the case. So it is
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  Speaker 2: important that if you're not sure, just contact the school.
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  Speaker 2: They'll clarify for you. Because sometimes the kids aren't getting
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  Speaker 2: quite the right messages either, and you know, they're anxious
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  Speaker 2: and they're worried. So it is important that we continue
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  Speaker 2: to talk to our children about COVID. It's important to
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  Speaker 2: monitor children for symptoms. And if we see any symptoms
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  Speaker 2: in our children that's fever, costs or throat, if they're
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  Speaker 2: unusually more tired than usual, they're headachey, keep them home
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  Speaker 2: and get them tested.
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  Speaker 1: Susan. You know, the big question from a lot of
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  Speaker 1: parents at the moment is if there is a case
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  Speaker 1: at school. So if there is a case in their
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  Speaker 1: child's classroom, are they a close contact, do they need
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  Speaker 1: to keep the kids home or is it a matter
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  Speaker 1: of keeping an eye out to see if they if
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  Speaker 1: they start experiencing symptoms.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've been really following the Chief Health Officers
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  Speaker 2: directions here and of course we all know that they
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  Speaker 2: change regularly and they keep those updated. So at this
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  Speaker 2: point in time, and I say this point in time
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  Speaker 2: because it might be different tomorrow, but certainly in terms
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  Speaker 2: of a close contact, if an individual has been indoors
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  Speaker 2: for a continuous for our period, then they're considered a
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  Speaker 2: close contact. So that's why we're encouraging our schools to
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  Speaker 2: maximize being outdoors getting fresh air, and this is a
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  Speaker 2: little challenging at the moment, but also looking at conducting
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  Speaker 2: learning and smaller groups wherever possible. But first of all,
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  Speaker 2: all close contacts, if they've been deemed a close contact,
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  Speaker 2: need to follow the advice by the Department of Health
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  Speaker 2: in regards to testing and isolation periods. However, if the
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  Speaker 2: children have no symptoms, so that's children in primary school,
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  Speaker 2: preschool in child care, if those children have been deemed
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  Speaker 2: a close contact, they have absolutely no symptoms and parents
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  Speaker 2: have checked that, then they can continue to attend school
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  Speaker 2: and preschool as normal.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, So if they're a symptomatic, they're able to
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  Speaker 1: do so. But what age group is that up until, Susan.
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  Speaker 2: So that's up to year six, okay.
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  Speaker 1: So up to ear six. If they are asymptomatic, if
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  Speaker 1: they're a close contact, they are still able to attend.
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  Speaker 2: Middle school and senior school is a little bit different.
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  Speaker 2: So students who are in middle school and senior school.
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  Speaker 2: So if those students have no symptoms of COVID, then
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  Speaker 2: they must have a rapid andigen test daily before entering
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  Speaker 2: the school, and that's for those first seven days of
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  Speaker 2: being deemed a close contact. So middle and senior schools
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  Speaker 2: have got different rules that apply there. Of course, if
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  Speaker 2: any children, whether they are in middle school, senior school,
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  Speaker 2: primary school, preschool, childcare, if they have COVID and they
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  Speaker 2: are positive, then they must stay home and follow their
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  Speaker 2: health advice.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Susan, you said three hundred and twenty nine cases
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  Speaker 1: across fifty seven schools as of yesterday. How many teachers
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  Speaker 1: and staff have been impacted or have COVID at the
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  Speaker 1: moment and what kind of impact is that having on
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  Speaker 1: delivering delivering classes.
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  Speaker 2: So at this stage there are relatively small numbers of
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  Speaker 2: teachers and we tend to find there might be particular
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  Speaker 2: schools that might have teachers out at the moment. I
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  Speaker 2: don't have that data in front of me for yesterday,
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  Speaker 2: but what I can say is that the Department is
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  Speaker 2: certainly pooling all of our resources to support those schools
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  Speaker 2: so we can make sure there's continuity of learning for
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  Speaker 2: the children in those classrooms. So if the school can't
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  Speaker 2: accommodate any changes in terms of covering of those classes themselves,
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  Speaker 2: the department has got a great pool of teachers who
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  Speaker 2: are registered with the Teacher Registration Board, who are actually
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  Speaker 2: going into schools and supporting for short term periods to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that those classes are covered.
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  Speaker 1: Now in terms of the air purification and making sure
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  Speaker 1: that you know, I guess that the air is really
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  Speaker 1: flowing through those classrooms and hopefully even if there is
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  Speaker 1: a case that the air is being circulated well or
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  Speaker 1: it's you know, not spreading COVID, minimizing that risk as
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  Speaker 1: much as possible. Where are we at, You know, we're
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  Speaker 1: trying to make sure that all of those classrooms are
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  Speaker 1: up to the capait see that they need to be.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we're really fortunate because the Department of Infrastructure,
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  Speaker 2: Planning and Logistics did some work late last year actually
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  Speaker 2: checking the quality of our air conditioners and our quality
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  Speaker 2: of our airflow and the quality of our air conditioning
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  Speaker 2: systems in terms of getting fresh air into classrooms is
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  Speaker 2: actually better than some of the southern states, particularly in
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  Speaker 2: New South Wales and Victoria. So what the Department of
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  Speaker 2: Infrastructure Planning Logistics are now doing is increasing the airflow,
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  Speaker 2: so making sure it's on maximum and where we find
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  Speaker 2: classrooms that don't have that adequate airflow, is actually looking
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  Speaker 2: at getting purification devices or air purification devices in there
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  Speaker 2: just to help with the quality of the air in
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  Speaker 2: the classroom.
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  Speaker 1: Should that have already happened through the school holidays in
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  Speaker 1: terms of you know, with those classrooms that need that
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  Speaker 1: additional work.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it certainly started over the school holidays, so that
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  Speaker 2: work has commenced. But as you're aware, there's been some
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  Speaker 2: challenges with the weather, particularly with some of our remote
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  Speaker 2: communities roads have been cut. But also then we also
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  Speaker 2: have contractors and people working outside of the education system
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  Speaker 2: who provide services who have also been impacted by COVID.
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  Speaker 2: But certainly we're working as quickly as we can to do.
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  Speaker 1: That now, Susan is the aim here realistically to no
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  Speaker 1: matter how many cases we sort of see, to make
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  Speaker 1: sure that kids are able to continue to head into
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  Speaker 1: the classroom and go to school on site.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the purpose of that is too fold, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: We really want to in these changing times and what's
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  Speaker 2: going on in the world at the moment with COVID
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  Speaker 2: and what we've experienced over the last two years, we're
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  Speaker 2: really trying to provide an opportunity for children to have
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  Speaker 2: those opportunities to learn in a normal learning environment. Try
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  Speaker 2: to give them that level of normality in their lives
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  Speaker 2: and through the schooling systems. And that's also why we've
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  Speaker 2: put in as many preventative measures as we can, and
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  Speaker 2: schools have done a fantastic job around ensuring there's those
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  Speaker 2: preventive measures. There's been increased cleaning occurring in schools now
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  Speaker 2: for the last two years, so we've been preparing for
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  Speaker 2: this for two years. Now it's hit us and we're
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  Speaker 2: right in the middle of it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, I know it's tough. I know
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  Speaker 1: that parents, and certainly, like Kid said earlier, some of
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  Speaker 1: the kids would be feeling anxious as well. But I
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  Speaker 1: thought it was a really good thing that school wasn't
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  Speaker 1: delayed in terms of going back. I know that some
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  Speaker 1: people might be feeling concerned and might have been thinking, oh,
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  Speaker 1: maybe we should have put it off for a little
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  Speaker 1: bit longer. But you know, I hope that even though
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  Speaker 1: we are seeing those cases, that kids are able to
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  Speaker 1: continue to get into the classroom and continue to learn.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's absolutely our priority. We know COVID is here,
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  Speaker 2: we know it's going to be present in our schools,
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  Speaker 2: but we need to ensure that we're trying to keep
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  Speaker 2: children's lives as normal as possible, keep them learning, keeping
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  Speaker 2: them engaged with school, and you know, we've got to
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  Speaker 2: let them be here too, and that's really tough in
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  Speaker 2: these times now.
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  Speaker 1: We did catch up with Tabby Fudge from nt COGSO
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  Speaker 1: a little bit earlier this morning. She had said that
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  Speaker 1: some of that messaging around COVID had been very confusing.
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  Speaker 1: Is there any sort of efforts underway to try to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that throughout those different schools all around the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory that it does become a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: streamlined so that parents know exactly what they need to
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  Speaker 1: do if there are COVID cases.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So we have a lot of support for our schools.
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  Speaker 2: We've got an amazing pandemic team who are working seven
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  Speaker 2: days a week. They have a range of different templates
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  Speaker 2: and information for schools to send out to parents to
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  Speaker 2: keep them informed around what's going on. I meet every
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  Speaker 2: week myself with all of our principals, so that's we
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  Speaker 2: have one hundred and fifty two schools across the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 2: so I'm meeting with those principles weekly to make sure
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  Speaker 2: they're up to date. Our chief executive, she puts out
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  Speaker 2: very regular comms almost every second day at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: if not every day, just providing updated information to all
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  Speaker 2: of our schools around how we're following the current health advice.
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  Speaker 2: So we are doing everything we can. We do know
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  Speaker 2: that things change quite quickly in this space, but we're
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  Speaker 2: certainly doing our very best to keep up with that
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  Speaker 2: and to keep parents informed because that partnership with the
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  Speaker 2: parents is so very important at this particular point in time.
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  Speaker 1: And are you confident that those various schools around the
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  Speaker 1: territory are then relaying that information to parents in an
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  Speaker 1: adequate way.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, so they've got all the information there. But as
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  Speaker 2: I said earlier, if parents aren't getting the information that
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  Speaker 2: they need or they're not sure for whatever reason, don't
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  Speaker 2: hesitate to contact the school. But I just have a
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  Speaker 2: level of patience because we are managing a lot of
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  Speaker 2: queries and trying to provide as much information as we
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  Speaker 2: can in a timely advice to families. We know how
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  Speaker 2: very important.
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  Speaker 1: That is, well Education Department Deputy Chief Executive Thus Susan Bowden,
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  Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks very much
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  Speaker 1: for taking the time and making that time to have
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  Speaker 1: a chat with us, because, as I said, I know
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  Speaker 1: there are a lot of parents listening to the show
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  Speaker 1: who've been a bit confused, not one hundred percential what
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  Speaker 1: they need to be doing if there is a COVID
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  Speaker 1: case within the classroom. So we really appreciate the chat today.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, and we appreciate the support the families are
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  Speaker 2: also providing. It's greatly appreciated.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you,