Advice for families

In Term 2 2022, your child’s school will operate with a number of COVID-smart measures that have been developed with NSW Health to minimise transmission and keep schools open.

These key measures include:

rapid antigen testing (RAT) of students and staff who have COVID-19 symptoms or are identified as close contacts
vaccinations
maximising ventilation
encouraging regular hand washing and continuing enhanced cleaning of schools
assessing risk and applying appropriate safeguards across activities and events
learning from home where face-to-face learning is not possible.

In certain circumstances NSW Health and the Department of Education may advise that certain COVID-smart measures be temporarily reintroduced at your school. Your principal will work with Health and the department and provide further details of any changes to COVID-smart measures at your school when required. These temporary measures may include:

ceasing large indoor gatherings

ceasing off-site and inter-school activities

mask wearing for adults and high school students

limiting visitors to schools

separating cohorts of students

symptomatic use of RATs

learning from home or remotely.

Close contacts attending school

Published 23 April 2022

The announcementExternal link to ease the isolation requirements for close contacts was made on 20 April 2022. This will enable students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms to continue to attend school if they follow guidelines agreed with NSW Health. Close contacts will not be permitted to enter an SSP or support unit (including Assisted School Travel Program) and will be supported to continue learning or working from home where possible.

Note that staff and students who have had confirmed COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks do not have to comply with the following guidelines if they become a household or close contact and are not required to self-isolate or test unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms.

Close contacts attending school will need to adhere to the following in addition to the NSW Health guidelinesExternal link:

They must notify the school and/or early childhood education (ECE) service provider (including their outside of school hours care provider) if they are intending to return under this provision.

They should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 school days.

They (if in a secondary school setting) must wear a mask indoors except when eating or exercising. Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors (except when eating or exercising).

No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to participate in overnight excursions, including school camps.

No apprentices, trainees or students on placement or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to attend settings identified as high risk by NSW Health (healthcare, aged care, disability care or correctional facilities)

Any visitor to a school site who is a close contact is required to advise the school that they are a close contact before they come on site. These visitors should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times. Schools should consider if the visit can be conducted virtually.

The department’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing case management team will continue to work with schools around temporary use of additional COVID- smart measures for short periods of time based on localised risk assessments.

In line with this advice, the department has determined that close contacts will not be permitted to return to a school for specific purposes or to a support unit (including Assisted School Travel Program) where there are a number of students at greater risk of serious illness if they were to contract COVID-19 and will be supported to continue learning or working from home where possible.

Students and staff at greater risk of serious illness, if they were to contract COVID-19, should speak with their health care professional to review their health support plan or COVID-19 action plan and speak with the school about any local considerations.

Testing

Last updated 23 April 2022

Remember: Staff and students cannot attend school if they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19External link.

If symptoms occur at any time, your child should not attend school and should undertake a rapid antigen test (RAT).

Additional delivery of RATs will be provided for students and staff who are identified as close contacts and are returning to school.

All students and staff will receive 1 multipack of RAT kits within the first three weeks of Term 2. The RAT kits can be used for symptomatic testing or for daily testing as part of the close contact requirements. Note that students and staff in SSPs or support classes or who utilise assisted transport who are identified as close contacts must not attend school and learn from home.

Additional RAT kits will also be sent out to ECE services to support symptomatic testing or for daily testing as a close contact for ECE staff.

Beyond the department's provision of RATs, symptomatic students and staff should continue to access PCR and store-purchased RATs.

If a student is unwell and has any COVID-19 symptomsExternal link, they should always test for COVID-19.
If the test comes back negative for COVID-19, the student should still not return to school until either:
- The student no longer has any symptoms, or
- A medical certificate is provided to the school confirming that symptoms are explained by another diagnosis (such as hay fever)
It is important that students do not attend school if they are unwell, even if they have tested negative for COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests can produce false negative results and symptoms of other illnesses can also be similar to COVID-19, including flu, the common cold and stomach bugs. Health advice is that students who are sick should always stay home to rest and recover and avoid putting other students and staff at risk of getting sick.

It is recommended that students and staff that return to school after recovering from COVID-19 do not participate in rapid antigen testing for 12 weeks following release from self-isolation unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms. This is due to NSW Health advice that people who have recovered from COVID-19 have a low risk of contracting it again in the following 12 weeks.

Students and staff may receive a nasal or saliva rapid antigen testing kit from their school. All RAT kits contain instructions on how to use the tests, check results and dispose of the tests safely. Parents, carers and staff can also download user guides of the relevant test they have received through the Therapeutic Goods AdministrationExternal link website. The user guides contain a contact number for the suppliers for additional support. People using saliva testing kits must not eat or drink for 30 minutes before taking the saliva RAT, to give more accurate results.

For positive COVID-19 cases

If there is a positive case in your child’s class, year or other grouping, your child can continue to attend school in line with NSW Health advice.

If a student or staff member receives a positive RAT test, they need to:

record the positive RAT result through the Service NSW websiteExternal link or Service NSW appExternal link – please add details of your child's school or early childhood education centre when prompted
notify the school of the positive RAT or PCR test result as soon as possible
follow NSW Health adviceExternal link to isolate for 7 days.

Registering your child’s positive RAT with Service NSW is a requirement of the Public Health Order and helps NSW Health track COVID-19 in schools and address any public health issues early on if required.

Negative results do not need to be reported to Service NSW or to the school.

Schools will inform their community when there is a positive case in the school and guide families on NSW Health advice, including monitoring for symptoms. Parents should expect regular communication.

For more information, including COVID-19 guidelines and fact sheets, refer to People who tested positive or were exposed to COVID-19External link.

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