ANNOUNCEMENT - Applications Open:
Sunday 28 May I will be continuing #20phds20mins on @einstein_agogo. 20 PhD students will be selected from the applications received by 5pm Friday 19th AEST.
@3RRRFM Each interview will be approximately 1 minute long. PhD students will get their first ever taste of live radio in a supportive and professional environment. Best of all, you will get to work with other amazing students.

Remote Learning Academy:
Today I sent this letter to every state Minister for Education in Australia in the hope that we can augment our face-to-face school programs with structured and consistent remote learning. Supporting teachers, staff, students and families. Please retweet widely and support in your own state. This program is particularly important for those who have compromised health.

The State of Queensland has appropriately delayed the start of the school year on health advice. At the urging of many on twitter, I have penned an open letter to @AnnastaciaMP to capitalise on this initial step to further support teachers and students.

ATAGI Communication:
In September 2021 I wrote to @GregHuntMP about the need for communication expertise on the ATAGI group. This need is even more crucial now as we move into more complex vaccination requirements. Effective communication is the cornerstone to our response.

SCHOOL MONDAY:
My Decision on School - My Kids
I have been talking about schools for some weeks now in the hope that we can return kids to F2F learning as fast as possible in a safe and minimally disrupted way. 1/ Having inspected my son's class room it definitely does not have adequate ventilation. It may have a HEPA filter but if it does another class will miss out. RATs will be optional for parents and mask wearing will be patchy. Teachers are not supposed to mask up when teaching.

PARENTS: I know a lot of parents, especially of primary school kids, are concerned about the return to school on Monday (some today). I share this concern as the promised mitigation strategies are not in place.

So I looked up how non-attendance is addressed: education.vic.gov.au/Documents/scho…
This document outlines the details which are largely in the hands of principals.
Here goes:
'If a child reaches five days of unapproved or unexplained absence in the preceding 12 months then the school and principal will work with the parent or legal..

Today Monash University was issued with a 'Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) under Victorian workplace safety law.'
(Note - compare this with current schools issues) NOTE: From NTEU Press Release 28 January.
Where is the @AEUVictoria ??
More below:

SCHOOLS:
I have just sent this letter to Minister Merlino regarding the possibility of setting up a 'Remote Learning Academy' to augment our school offerings over coming months and to help future proof our state against educational disruptions from Covid-19. @JamesMerlinoMP
1/3

Why I want to be wrong on Schools. It will mean:
1. Teachers won't be infected any more than they would otherwise be
2. There will be few disruptions, important for many kids that crave stability.
3. Parents will remain at work - no random disruptions 4. Those with compromised health will have nothing to worry about.
5. There will be no further strain on our health system - hopefully elective surgeries will restart
6. Very few kids will be sick so everyone can stay in class

TEACHERS & PARENTS:
Over the past 2 years, the majority of our governments have utilised fear as a tool in the pandemic instead of education. This can be fast acting, no doubt, but you cannot easily switch it off.
Many teachers and parents are fearful right now.
1/N Messages have been contradictory. In science we must accept that our knowledge changes and evolves, but some health experts have been speaking as if they alone have the 'gospel' at their fingertips. They are bad communicators. They seed just enough fear.

Over the last week I have received 100s of distressed confidential messages from teachers and school staff. They cannot speak up publicly as they fear losing their jobs. Many feel trapped, in some cases prepared to leave their careers. This is heart breaking.
1/N Every day we are hearing rhetoric about having almost 'passed the peak'. Nevertheless we are a week out from the start of school with no plan and a huge case load. Not much is going to change in the next 5 days beyond more teachers and students being infected.

Schools:
I will re-iterate something I would like to see put in place for all the kids that for whatever reason will not be able to do F2F learning or will have no remote access to their teachers... Can the government please put together a team of amazing teachers to run remote classes via webinar or TV for all our kids. These would last much longer than the remote learning days last year (some were as short as 1 hour) but would be curriculum focused.

Hoping that we get some clarity today on the plan for Schools. If gov pushes forward with F2F for all on day 1, then the plan must include:
1. How teacher shortage will be filled in a way that does not disadvantage students
2. Who will pay for and provide PPE and RATs
cont... 3. How those immunocompromised or with health problems will be accommodated to avoid discriminatory behaviour
4. What provisions will be in place to support teacher mental health
5. Quarantine requirements for parents when kids are sent home, also siblings

Schools: SOME FACTS

In these tweets I will try and summarise a few of the things we know with regards to schools and Covid. Please do let me know if I miss things - I'll add them later. Also, in most cases 'teachers' means 'teachers and staff'.
1/N CLASSROOMS:
1. Very few classrooms have HEPA filters
2. Many classrooms don't have adequate ventilation
3. Social distancing in classrooms just doesn't work
4. Many classrooms are unbearable without climate control
5. Many windows cannot be opened. Some have none.

Term 1 School Start Date
Over the last week I have heard from thousands of teachers, school staff and parents.
Some have immunocompromised family members.
Some just remember the debacle of term 4 when we had almost no Covid cases.
The current 'plan' is unacceptable to most.
1/ If at any point in this thread I say teachers, please note that I most likely mean teachers AND staff. My focus is on primary as kids are largely unvaccinated. But secondary and pre-school are equally being ignored. Few adults will have booster shots by start dates.

The letter regarding kids and schools published yesterday is deeply problematic. It assumes knowledge of transmission in schools.
One of our top paediatric research institutes, MCRI, states we don't understand this and has an open study to address it. 1/N MCRI Website: "Ultimately, we need more evidence to understand how coronavirus(COVID-19) is spread in schools and ECEC, inform the best way to respond to outbreaks, and ensure that children, students and staff are supported and can continue to learn and thrive in 2021"

The Schools letter sent to governments today has upset many.
It is poor comms, but beyond that there are some very significant erroneous statements. The most prominent for me is the lack understanding of the vaccination status of 18+ in Victoria - Currently at 18% booster
1/N "With wide community circulation and all parents, grandparents and high-risk community members having had an opportunity to get vaccinated, the general population will not be at higher risk of severe disease with schools re-opening."

This statement should be ignored.

SCHOOLS:
There are 578,499 kids (approx) between 5-11 in Victoria.
ATAGI has approved 3 week interval for Pfizer as an outbreak response.
Earliest possible dose 2 = January 31
So delay in person start by 4 weeks to allow all kids eligible to be vaccinated. New Start 28 Feb.
1/7 AIR QUALITY:
Every classroom and common space must have at least 1 HEPA filter and adequate airflow (windows/doors).
Where windows cannot be used, additional HEPA filters should be provided.
Urgent deployment - January-February