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This year Ed Week will be held from 26 to 30 July 2021 celebrating the theme Lifelong learners. 

NSW public schools will celebrate Education Week from 26 to 30 July 2021 with the theme Lifelong learners.

Education Week is an annual celebration of NSW public education and it’s your chance to celebrate the achievements of your school, students and learning community.

This year’s theme is ‘Lifelong learners’ and celebrates education as a lifelong journey from before a child enters an early childhood setting, progressing to primary and secondary school, and continuing their learning journey into adulthood; learning a trade, entering tertiary education, or the workforce.

Continuous learning is critical for success throughout life and everyone can be a lifelong learner.

This year’s celebrations will kick-off with a virtual live stream launch from 10am on Monday 26 July, with more events to follow.

Schools can enter the Ed Week video competition by creating a mini documentary that showcases the theme of Lifelong learners.

Tell us about a unique or interesting story from your school community for the chance to win filmmaking gear for your school. Visit the Ed Week video competition webpage for details on how to enter.

Visit the Education Week website for ideas and resources to plan a celebration in your local school community and share your Ed Week celebrations and activities on social media using #EdWeek21. 

We are proud to be a Share Our Space school these school holidays, placing the school at the heart of our community by helping provide more quality open spaces to enjoy.

Whether you’re looking for a place to play sport with friends, exercise using fitness equipment, or simply to relax and gather with your family, you can Share Our Space with participating schools opening from 8am to 5pm from Monday 28 June – Friday 9 July, including weekends and public holidays.

Key things to know about Share Our Space:

• Gates are opened at 8am and closed at 5pm each day.

• To remind visitors to maintain appropriate physical distancing and COVID safe hygiene practices, additional signage will be provided. An external cleaning service will also be provided twice weekly to all Share Our Space schools during the holidays and at the end of the program.

• The list of schools that are open may change because of emergencies or natural disasters.

• Each school will have only one gate open during Share Our Space.

• School toilets are not open during Share Our Space.

 To find out details and a school near you, go to the Share Our Space webpage at https://edu.nsw.link/ShareOurSpace

Learning from home; schools are open for families who need it – applies to schools in Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour).

Students learning from home. No student is to be turned away. Early childhood education services can continue to operate.

All non–core curriculum related activities are to cease on school site.

Schools should not turn away any student from attending the school site in person. Schools will provide a program of learning for students who attend school, and students who are learning from home.

Schools will revert to their remote learning mode, using existing resources and programs. For additional support, refer to Learning from home.

Under the current health orders, there is nothing to restrict students and staff who must attend school from moving between two areas with different levels of restrictions.

Latest advice

Refer to Advice for families for the latest information.

Restrictions on certain activities and non-essential visitors – applies to schools outside of Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour).

All students are expected to be at school unless they have even the mildest of COVID-19 symptoms.

Under the current health orders, there is nothing to restrict students and staff who must attend school from moving between two areas with different levels of restrictions. Students and staff should reduce traveling to geographical areas with higher levels of COVID-19 restrictions in place.

A reminder for all families

Students should not attend school if unwell, even with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Any person with any COVID-19 symptoms should be sent home and should not return until they have received a negative test result and are symptom-free. In circumstances where children have other medical reasons for recurrent symptoms a letter from their GP is sufficient to negate the requirement for a negative test.

Anyone who is unwell with COVID-19 symptoms is strongly encouraged to get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received. Find your local testing clinics.

Latest advice

Refer to Advice for families for more information.

Special Religious Education (SRE)/Special Education in Ethics (SEE) is not currently permitted in Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour.

Approved providers have modified their authorised curriculum to enable students to learn from home.

Parents/carers may wish to access the SRE and SEE resources through the portal entry points to lesson content below:

• Approved providers for All Faiths SRE (Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Bahai, Hindu)
• Approved providers for Christian based faith SRE
• Primary Ethics for SEE

For more information or support on these resources, please contact the approved provider.

Refer to the department’s COVID-19 Advice for families page for more information on school operations.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is ‘Heal Country!’

view celebrations here

NSW Department of Education STAY COVID safe

Is your child interested in learning new skills at school through virtual vocational education and training courses? 

From next year, schools in NSW will be able to offer 20 new virtual vocational courses to Year 11 students. These new industry focused courses will contribute to a student’s HSC and ATAR. They will also give students great in-demand and practical skills for the workplace. 

The courses focus on current skills needs and include: 

• allied health assistant

• game design

• cyber security 

• robotics 

• digital supply chain.

The virtual courses are different to ‘online’ learning in that they are delivered via a virtual classroom with a teacher, other students in the class, and an established weekly timetable. This will be complemented with 24/7 access to content, chat rooms and tutorials to connect with other students. 

Each of the new courses is part of an existing NESA Industry Curriculum Framework (ICF) syllabus. 

Expressions of interest (EOI) for the courses are open now but be quick, as they close on 3 September 2021. Students can find out more at Skills at School, and speak to their school’s VET coordinator or careers advisor to discuss the options available to them.

VFest 2021

V-FEST 2021 is premireing on YOUTUBE next Monday 29 November AT 7:00PM.

Here is the link: V-FEST 2021

Have your say. A short survey for parents and carers is now open to help the Department strengthen consent education for students.

Students from across the state, both past and present, have this year called for improved consent education.

This was sparked by a petition by former Sydney student Chanel Contos, which led to thousands of young people sharing their stories of witnessing or experiencing, sexual harassment, abuse and violence amongst young people.

In response to the voices of young people, the heads of the three education sectors signed a Statement of Intent. In this Statement, the NSW Department of Education committed to a number of actions – including partnering with parents and carers to improve consent education.

There is now an opportunity for parents and carers to have their say by completing a short survey.

This anonymous survey is available in 10 languages other than English and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.

It is part of a collaboration between the NSW Department of Education and the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW (P&C) to strengthen students’ understanding of consent and prevent sexual violence among young people.

The results will be shared through NSW Department of Education and P&C websites.

They will help the Department plan how we can better support consent education at school and at home, and understand the kinds of resources parents and carers would find helpful in having important conversations with their children.

Visit the Department’s webpage for frequently asked questions (FAQs) and to find out more about the Statement of Intent or how consent education is taught in NSW Public Schools today.