School’s back: Some Melbourne students return to the classroom this week

Some Melbourne students will return to the classroom this week after two months of learning from home.

Year 12 students will complete the General Achievement Test on site tomorrow, and year 12 students and year 11 students studying a unit 3/4 subject will return to regular classes on campus on Wednesday.

Prep to year 2 will be the next to return part-time in mid-October, followed by other year levels later in the month.

New COVID-19 safety measures will be in place at schools, including more than 50,000 air purifiers at government and low-fee non-government schools.

Schools will also operate with staggered pick-up and drop off-times and physical distancing where possible.

McKinnon Secondary College principal Pitsa Binnion says “this lockdown has been particularly difficult” for students.

“You just get so unmotivated, but look, they’ve really rallied. Everybody has been so resilient,” she told Ross and Russel.

School-leaver celebrations don’t look likely to go ahead.

“At this stage there’s no graduation possible, but I think come late November we’ll see,” Ms Binnion said.

Press PLAY below to hear more about the return to face-to-face learning