With the sudden news that Bega Valley was coming out of lockdown as of 1pm on September 16, schools were left scrambling to make arrangements.
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Teaching staff at Sapphire Coast Anglican College (SCAC) said they were given little notice and were faced with the decision on what to do for the last day of term.
Deputy principal Jay Trevaskis said the staff have decided to open the school up for the last day of school on September 17, to bring students together again and allow them to reconnect in person.
"Students have been looking through screens to see their friends now for almost six weeks, for them to come back even for a day and to see them before they go on holidays, is really important for their own wellbeing," Mr Trevaskis said.
The school has also decided to open their doors to commemorate the farewell of SCAC's principal, Tracey Gray in person, on her last day.
"We were planning a virtual farewell, but coming back for that final day allows her to say goodbye to the students and the students to say their goodbyes,
"Which I think is really important because she's been such a great principal over the last three years."
Mr Trevaskis will be acting principal until a new principal for the school steps into the role for Term 1 in 2022.
Meanwhile staff at SCAC are embracing the idea of going back to face to face learning, while remaining ready to switch back online at any given time.
"We're only one positive test away from remote learning again, so we've got to be able to adapt and teachers have done that very well over the last 18 months," Mr Trevaskis said.
"It's quite tiring, I think, to be looking at the screens all day, not being face to face and it's harder to explain and show things through a computer, but the teachers have developed those skills so well and the students, by and large, have learned to cope with that as well and adapted very well too."