School's back: Tamworth schools welcome students return to face-to-face learning in Term 4 after disrupted year

A disrupted Term 3 saw children finally return to face-to-face learning in Week 10, but that was short-lived as the September school holidays sent them back home the week later.

St Nicholas Primary School Tamworth principal John Clery said Week 10 was a fantastic opportunity to check in on student wellbeing so they could hit the ground running on Tuesday.

He said staff used the week to conduct wellbeing and quality assessments, and were able to find out exactly where the kids sat with a particular focus on literacy and numeracy.

"We've since put quality literacy and numeracy programs in place so that we can target every kid at the point where they're at," he said.

While students returned to school under strict COVID-safe rules - QR code check-ins, no visitors, restricted activities, increased hygiene practices and mask wearing - Mr Clery emphasised how crucial a face-to-face setting is for development.

"If you look from a Kindergarten perspective, these kids were so excited to be coming to school, they had finally settled in and then we had to tell them that school was off for five or six weeks," he said.

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"The other really hard thing is in those foundational years we're really teaching the skills. Remote learning is more effective if you're trying to deliver content, but when you're teaching the skills, reading for example, we are far more effective with our kids on site.

"So to have our kids on site for our learning, particularly in the foundational years is crucial, but it's also their social development as well."

St Nicholas student Reese Moore told the Leader said she enjoyed being back in the classroom as it was a chance to see friends, while Sophia Mitchell said the opportunity to participate in reading group with classmates was her favourite part of the day.

With COVID-19 restrictions eased across many parts of regional NSW, Tamworth schools were among the 721 that welcomed students back on site on Tuesday.

They will soon be followed by students in other parts of the state as restrictions ease, with a state-wide staged return slated from October 18.

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