Parents and year 12 students in St George and Sutherland Shire are among those leading a revolt against the state government's ban on school formals and graduation ceremonies.
Dozens of parents have taken to social media in the past few days to condemn the government's updated COVID Safe guidelines for all NSW schools, which were announced Monday and came into effect Wednesday.
Parents took to the Leader Facebook page to comment on the new guidelines, which banned school formals, dances, graduations and other social events, with the vast majority opposing the ban.
Under the guidelines, parents would not be allowed to attend year 12 graduation ceremonies, which traditionally occur in term three before students break for study leave ahead of HSC exams. Schools could consider delaying graduation ceremonies until later in the year in the hope parents could attend, although there was no guarantee the ban would be lifted by then.
A Change.org petition for NSW year 12 students to hold graduation assemblies and formals has been widely shared across social media over the past few days and had more than 33,000 signatures by this 9am morning.
Debbie Terrantroy, who started the petition, said it seemed "unreasonable for schools to not allow parents to attend their child's graduation assemblies" or for them to attend a formal.
"As per current regulations in NSW, shopping centres, sporting matches, pubs and clubs are open. And yet parents and children are being denied to attend such an important event? Year 12 students and their parents deserve better," she said.
She also questioned the timing of the announcement during HSC trial exams and asked why schools were not being given the option of holding multiple staged graduation assemblies "which would allow for social distancing measures so parents can attend and be part of this milestone in their children's lives".
"As per current regulations in NSW, venues such as clubs can have 300 seated people. Corporate events can have 150 people attending. Why are schools not being given the option of holding multiple formals so as to adhere with current guidelines for venues such as clubs?
She said the guidelines were "clearly lacking in insight and is unreasonable and incompatible with current restrictions in NSW".
Both NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklina and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant appeared to relent yesterday, saying there was a possibility graduation ceremonies could go ahead at the end of the year.
"I would actually like to give some hope to those year 12 students," Dr Chant said.
"This is the setting for term 3.
"I have got a degree of optimism that if we all work together we can suppress this [outbreak].
"And that hopefully by term 4 the picture across Australia will be a different one."
Ms Berejiklian said the steps had been taken to reduce the chances of a school outbreak during the lead up to HSC exams and that NSW Health would revisit the guidelines.
"Once the HSC is finished, there will be an opportunity for [NSW] Health to consider schools having those ceremonies once those exams are over," she said.
The updated COVID Safe guidelines follow a spate of COVID-19 infections and clusters at schools in recent weeks.
The large cluster at Tangara School for Girls at Cherrybrook has grown to 25 while there are six confirmed cases at Our Lady of Mercy College at Parramatta.
One of the state's top schools, Sydney Girls High School, was non-operational for on-site learning on Monday due to a confirmed case of COVID-19, causing the cancellation of a planned trial HSC exam.
The NSW Government said an updated health advice announced Monday would ensure that NSW public schools could continue to operate full-time with face-to face-teaching and learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Schools remain safe, however, school communities must remain vigilant," the advice said.
"From Wednesday, August 19, all public schools in NSW will be required to adopt the changes to ensure school communities remain safe inside and outside the school gate.
"Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 is prohibited from returning to school until a negative test result has been reported."
Under additional measures for term 3:
- Students must remain within their relevant class or year group to limit mixing
- Schools must not travel outside their local community or zone, including between rural and regional areas
- Interschool sport and zone carnivals are restricted to 100 people per venue and must be held in the local area
- Spectators, including parents and carers, are not permitted within school grounds or at sporting events held during school hours
- All group singing and or other chanting activities, as well as the use of wind instruments in group settings are not permitted
- Dance activities and drama group work can continue under a COVID-19 Safety Plan
- School formals, dances, graduation or other social events are not permitted. Schools may hold a year 12 assembly at school without parents to recognise the completion of school or consider delaying events until later in the year.
The government said "HSC students are permitted to undertake activities to meet their HSC requirements with COVID-19 safety measures in place".
"Organisations that use school buildings or grounds must have a COVID-19 safety plan in place and encourage strict compliance with that plan," the department said.
"The new restrictions will complement existing health advice for schools, including maintaining good hand hygiene inside and outside the classroom, physical distancing for adults and banning non-essential school visitors."
Details: To view the full list of changes click here.
To view the petition click here.