While colour runs were taken off the calendar in 2020, the public education community were still about to find new and innovative ways to continue to teach and engage students.
Public schools across NSW will celebrate Education Week from 3 to 7 August with the theme of ‘Learning together’ drawing on the education community’s sentiment of 2020, which saw parents, teachers and students engaging and working together in conditions and ways that were unheard of pre-2020.
However, with a multitude of changes and challenges, communities have found ways to learn together. The Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott said that with the unprecedented challenges schools had faced in 2020, Education Week would provide an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the public school community in the face of adversity.
“We started the year with communities still suffering the impacts of drought and the destructive summer bushfires. Flooding then forced the closure of schools in some fire-affected areas,” Mark said.
“Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and totally disrupted our way of life, changing the way we learn and socialise. But despite so many major disruptions to teachers, staff, parents, carers and students, the public-school community worked together to ensure that students could continue to learn.”
Mark went on to say: “Learning together reinforces the role of our schools as the cornerstone of the community. We all worked together to move learning online almost overnight to maintain the continuity of education during the COVID-19 restrictions.”
Education Week is an annual statewide celebration of public education, which has been held for more than 50 years. This year’s events will run from Monday, 3 Au- gust to Friday, 7 August, with a focus on opportunities to celebrate virtually.
The week will start with a live stream on Monday, 3 August featuring public schools across NSW celebrating the theme. A student film festival will be live streamed on Wednesday, 5 August.
The Education Week 2020 website at education.nsw.gov.au/edweek20 offers a wealth of ideas, information, and resources for schools to plan and promote their #EdWeek20 activities including a comprehensive Teacher toolkit.
All are welcome to share NSW students’ excitement with the following video on the Department of Education website at https://edu.nsw.link/EdWeek20 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=333664430962580.