The Victorian government is committing to having all of its schools return to face-to-face learning for the first day of term one.
With fears the Omicron variant will seriously impact staffing levels and student health early in the school term, the Andrews government has unveiled a four-week approach to managing COVID.
The plan is near-identical to the one being introduced in New South Wales, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews working closely with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on the new COVID settings.
Here's how school will look for Victorian students and staff this term.
Students and staff to use self-testing surveillance regime
The government has secured 14 million rapid tests to be delivered to schools and early childhood centres in the coming weeks.
More than 6.6 million tests will be delivered in the first week of school, with delivery trucks rolling out from Sunday morning.
The RATs will form the backbone of a self-testing regime designed to stop widespread outbreaks at schools.
"That surveillance testing is all about detecting cases, not necessarily every case, that would be almost impossible given the amount of transmission that is in the community," Mr Andrews said.
"But it’s about finding as many cases as we can and shutting down those chains of transmission."
Primary and secondary students and staff will be recommended to test themselves twice weekly, while students and staff at specialist schools will be recommended to test five times a week.
The testing will be voluntary, with the responsibility of reporting results to the Department of Health and to schools falling on parents and guardians.
Minister for Education James Merlino said he expected overwhelming compliance from Victorian families.
Schools will distribute RATs to parents and families, with the first deliveries being made today.
"As many as we can give them, whether it's a week, two weeks or for the full four weeks," Mr Andrews said.
"Certainly at least two, perhaps more than that actually, for every family."
Amid continued RAT shortages, the government made assurances that it had all the rapid antigen tests needed to deliver on its back-to-school plan.
Supply numbers will be reviewed by the government at the end of the four-week plan.
Schools to combine classes and employ retired teachers to tackle staff shortages
Schools will use a "tiered" approach to staff replacements in the event of COVID infection or close contact.
The first tier will involve schools internally replacing teachers will casual teaching staff.
Tier two and tier three include schools combining some grades for a short period.
"You might have years five and six together in the gym for a week, for example," Mr Merlino said.
Education staff have also been reclassified as critical workers, allowing household contacts to voluntarily continue working if they are asymptomatic and return daily negative rapid antigen tests.
Where there are particular difficulties in finding available staff, schools will be able to call upon a Job Opportunity pool comprised of retired or inactive teachers and support staff as well as final-year university students.
These staff will be deployed to local schools on a fixed-term basis and will hold a valid Working with Children Check or valid Victorian Institute of Teaching registration prior to the commencement of employment.
Mask and vaccine mandates will be enforced
In line with the reclassification of education staff to critical workers, booster doses will become mandatory for all school staff.
A third vaccination dose will be required for all onsite staff including subcontractors either by February 25 or within three months and two weeks of their second vaccine dose.
More than 99.7 per cent of staff were vaccinated with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of term four 2021.
"I have got every confidence that staff will enthusiastically respond to the third-dose vaccine mandate," Mr Merlino said.
Parents are encouraged to get their children vaccinated, with just under 30 per cent of Victorian children aged 5 to 11 now vaccinated.
Similar to last year, masks will be made mandatory for all staff and students in year 3 and above, as well as anyone visiting a school.
The government will deliver 30 million surgical masks to Victorian schools, with 5.8 million masks to be delivered in the first week.
Cloth masks are able to be worn, but surgical masks will be recommended by the government.
The government has also invested in 51,000 air purifiers for use in high-risk school rooms such as indoor canteens, music rooms and staff rooms.
Shade sails will also be installed at 1,800 schools, as the government encourages outdoor learning.
School camps, excursions and sporting activities will be able to proceed at an individual school's discretion.
Remote learning only 'a very last option'
The government has been clear on its firm stance of students returning to face-to-face learning with no alternative.
Mr Merlino said that remote learning is "an absolute last resort" and will only be used in extreme cases at individual schools for the "shortest period possible".
No provisions will be made for remote learning in the event a parent does not want to send their child back to school.
"If they are at home because of COVID, either they are positive or they are household contact, then there will be learning materials and activities that schools will provide for those children," Mr Merlino said.
"But for all other kids, school is back and the requirement is that children are back at school."
If a student tests positive for COVID, schools will deal with the case in the same way as any other communicable disease.
Schools will notify other parents and tell them to be on the lookout for symptoms, but entire classrooms will not be broadly classified as close contacts.
