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Speaker 1: And I know that a lot of parents who listen

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Speaker 1: to the show and caregivers have been in contact a

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Speaker 1: bit concerned as some of those case numbers continue to

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Speaker 1: rise across our territory schools. And I think that we

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Speaker 1: always knew that it was going to happen as school

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Speaker 1: headed back and there was such a large number of

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Speaker 1: cases throughout the Northern territory. But joining us on the

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Speaker 1: line right now to give us a little bit of

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Speaker 1: info about what we need to do as parents if

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Speaker 1: our child is in a classroom with somebody who has

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Speaker 1: got COVID or has has since tested positive to COVID.

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Speaker 1: Is the Education Department's Deputy Chief Executive, Susan Bowden. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you, Susan.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Twice in one week, Susan. We wouldn't have usually expected

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Speaker 1: to be to start at it. Most certainly has now, Susan,

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Speaker 1: to get started, Can I ask you do we have

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Speaker 1: more cases in our schools today.

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Speaker 2: So I've got data as of yesterday, But before I

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Speaker 2: go into that data, I'd just like to start by

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Speaker 2: acknowledging that we do know. So it's been a very

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Speaker 2: different and challenging start to the school year for all involved.

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Speaker 2: That's just not for parents, but for our staff, and

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Speaker 2: I also wanted to thank parents for their support and patients.

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Speaker 2: As we continue to respond to COVID nineteen in our schools.

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Speaker 2: It has been tricky, but we are certainly trying to

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Speaker 2: do the best we can to keep families informed. In

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Speaker 2: terms of our data, I've got data as of yesterday

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Speaker 2: there were three hundred and twenty nine students across fifty

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Speaker 2: seven schools that notified their school that they were positive

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Speaker 2: with COVID.

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Speaker 1: Well, they are fairly large numbers. I guess it's not

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Speaker 1: to be unexpected given the fact that there is, you know,

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Speaker 1: quite a high volume of COVID within the community. Now, Susan,

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Speaker 1: what's it been like then for those fifty seven schools

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Speaker 1: trying to you know, to deal with I guess the

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Speaker 1: ramifications of knowing that there are cases within your school.

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Speaker 2: So first, in terms of the number, that three hundred

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Speaker 2: and twenty nine represents point ninety percent of the total

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Speaker 2: number of students enrolled across our Northern Territory Government school

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Speaker 2: So in terms of percentage, it is considerably small, but

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Speaker 2: of course it's a number that we're really watching closely

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Speaker 2: because we want to make sure that we've got children learning,

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Speaker 2: but also that our children are safe in school. So

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Speaker 2: there are a range of different things that schools are doing.

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Speaker 2: So there's making sure that there's hands sterilizer available, promoting

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Speaker 2: those messages around washing hands regularly, also mask wearing by

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Speaker 2: our teachers and educators, children and students wearing masks. It's

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Speaker 2: mandated for students in year seventy, year twelve, but also

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Speaker 2: encouraging those students in the younger grades year three and

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Speaker 2: above to also be wearing masks. There's also been quite

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Speaker 2: a bit of work done around maximizing the airflow in

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Speaker 2: our classrooms so there as much airflow as possible going

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Speaker 2: through in fresh air. And also schools are looking at

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Speaker 2: ways of trying to get children outdoors and it's been

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Speaker 2: tricky this week because there's been a lot of monsoon

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Speaker 2: or rain around, but certainly wherever possible getting children outside

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Speaker 2: in the fresh air regularly and having those breaks.

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Speaker 1: Susan, are you expecting those numbers to grow today?

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Speaker 2: We are keeping an eye on them. It's hard for

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Speaker 2: me to say, we know with COVID it changes rapidly,

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Speaker 2: but it is important to note that you know we

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Speaker 2: will be keeping an eye on it. These schools will

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Speaker 2: be notifying parents if there's a COVID case in a

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Speaker 2: particular classroom as well, so that parents are notified. It

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Speaker 2: is important though, because kids are anxious. You know, my

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Speaker 2: kids are anxious. I've got children in year six and

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Speaker 2: year eight at the moment, and they're coming home and

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Speaker 2: telling me there's cases there. But then when I contacted

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Speaker 2: the school, that actually wasn't the case. So it is

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Speaker 2: important that if you're not sure, just contact the school.

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Speaker 2: They'll clarify for you. Because sometimes the kids aren't getting

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Speaker 2: quite the right messages either, and you know, they're anxious

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Speaker 2: and they're worried. So it is important that we continue

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Speaker 2: to talk to our children about COVID. It's important to

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Speaker 2: monitor children for symptoms. And if we see any symptoms

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Speaker 2: in our children that's fever, costs or throat, if they're

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Speaker 2: unusually more tired than usual, they're headachey, keep them home

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Speaker 2: and get them tested.

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Speaker 1: Susan. You know, the big question from a lot of

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Speaker 1: parents at the moment is if there is a case

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Speaker 1: at school. So if there is a case in their

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Speaker 1: child's classroom, are they a close contact, do they need

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Speaker 1: to keep the kids home or is it a matter

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Speaker 1: of keeping an eye out to see if they if

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Speaker 1: they start experiencing symptoms.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've been really following the Chief Health Officers

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Speaker 2: directions here and of course we all know that they

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Speaker 2: change regularly and they keep those updated. So at this

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Speaker 2: point in time, and I say this point in time

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Speaker 2: because it might be different tomorrow, but certainly in terms

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Speaker 2: of a close contact, if an individual has been indoors

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Speaker 2: for a continuous for our period, then they're considered a

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Speaker 2: close contact. So that's why we're encouraging our schools to

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Speaker 2: maximize being outdoors getting fresh air, and this is a

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Speaker 2: little challenging at the moment, but also looking at conducting

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Speaker 2: learning and smaller groups wherever possible. But first of all,

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Speaker 2: all close contacts, if they've been deemed a close contact,

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Speaker 2: need to follow the advice by the Department of Health

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Speaker 2: in regards to testing and isolation periods. However, if the

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Speaker 2: children have no symptoms, so that's children in primary school,

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Speaker 2: preschool in child care, if those children have been deemed

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Speaker 2: a close contact, they have absolutely no symptoms and parents

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Speaker 2: have checked that, then they can continue to attend school

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Speaker 2: and preschool as normal.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, So if they're a symptomatic, they're able to

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Speaker 1: do so. But what age group is that up until, Susan.

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Speaker 2: So that's up to year six, okay.

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Speaker 1: So up to ear six. If they are asymptomatic, if

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Speaker 1: they're a close contact, they are still able to attend.

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Speaker 2: Middle school and senior school is a little bit different.

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Speaker 2: So students who are in middle school and senior school.

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Speaker 2: So if those students have no symptoms of COVID, then

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Speaker 2: they must have a rapid andigen test daily before entering

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Speaker 2: the school, and that's for those first seven days of

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Speaker 2: being deemed a close contact. So middle and senior schools

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Speaker 2: have got different rules that apply there. Of course, if

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Speaker 2: any children, whether they are in middle school, senior school,

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Speaker 2: primary school, preschool, childcare, if they have COVID and they

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Speaker 2: are positive, then they must stay home and follow their

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Speaker 2: health advice.

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Speaker 1: Now, Susan, you said three hundred and twenty nine cases

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Speaker 1: across fifty seven schools as of yesterday. How many teachers

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Speaker 1: and staff have been impacted or have COVID at the

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Speaker 1: moment and what kind of impact is that having on

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Speaker 1: delivering delivering classes.

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Speaker 2: So at this stage there are relatively small numbers of

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Speaker 2: teachers and we tend to find there might be particular

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Speaker 2: schools that might have teachers out at the moment. I

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Speaker 2: don't have that data in front of me for yesterday,

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Speaker 2: but what I can say is that the Department is

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Speaker 2: certainly pooling all of our resources to support those schools

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Speaker 2: so we can make sure there's continuity of learning for

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Speaker 2: the children in those classrooms. So if the school can't

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Speaker 2: accommodate any changes in terms of covering of those classes themselves,

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Speaker 2: the department has got a great pool of teachers who

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Speaker 2: are registered with the Teacher Registration Board, who are actually

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Speaker 2: going into schools and supporting for short term periods to

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Speaker 2: make sure that those classes are covered.

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Speaker 1: Now in terms of the air purification and making sure

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Speaker 1: that you know, I guess that the air is really

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Speaker 1: flowing through those classrooms and hopefully even if there is

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Speaker 1: a case that the air is being circulated well or

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Speaker 1: it's you know, not spreading COVID, minimizing that risk as

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Speaker 1: much as possible. Where are we at, You know, we're

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Speaker 1: trying to make sure that all of those classrooms are

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Speaker 1: up to the capait see that they need to be.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we're really fortunate because the Department of Infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: Planning and Logistics did some work late last year actually

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Speaker 2: checking the quality of our air conditioners and our quality

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Speaker 2: of our airflow and the quality of our air conditioning

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Speaker 2: systems in terms of getting fresh air into classrooms is

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Speaker 2: actually better than some of the southern states, particularly in

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Speaker 2: New South Wales and Victoria. So what the Department of

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Speaker 2: Infrastructure Planning Logistics are now doing is increasing the airflow,

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Speaker 2: so making sure it's on maximum and where we find

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Speaker 2: classrooms that don't have that adequate airflow, is actually looking

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Speaker 2: at getting purification devices or air purification devices in there

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Speaker 2: just to help with the quality of the air in

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Speaker 2: the classroom.

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Speaker 1: Should that have already happened through the school holidays in

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Speaker 1: terms of you know, with those classrooms that need that

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Speaker 1: additional work.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it certainly started over the school holidays, so that

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Speaker 2: work has commenced. But as you're aware, there's been some

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Speaker 2: challenges with the weather, particularly with some of our remote

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Speaker 2: communities roads have been cut. But also then we also

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Speaker 2: have contractors and people working outside of the education system

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Speaker 2: who provide services who have also been impacted by COVID.

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Speaker 2: But certainly we're working as quickly as we can to do.

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Speaker 1: That now, Susan is the aim here realistically to no

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Speaker 1: matter how many cases we sort of see, to make

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Speaker 1: sure that kids are able to continue to head into

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Speaker 1: the classroom and go to school on site.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and the purpose of that is too fold, Katie.

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Speaker 2: We really want to in these changing times and what's

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Speaker 2: going on in the world at the moment with COVID

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Speaker 2: and what we've experienced over the last two years, we're

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Speaker 2: really trying to provide an opportunity for children to have

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Speaker 2: those opportunities to learn in a normal learning environment. Try

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Speaker 2: to give them that level of normality in their lives

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Speaker 2: and through the schooling systems. And that's also why we've

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Speaker 2: put in as many preventative measures as we can, and

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Speaker 2: schools have done a fantastic job around ensuring there's those

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Speaker 2: preventive measures. There's been increased cleaning occurring in schools now

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Speaker 2: for the last two years, so we've been preparing for

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Speaker 2: this for two years. Now it's hit us and we're

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Speaker 2: right in the middle of it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, I know it's tough. I know

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Speaker 1: that parents, and certainly, like Kid said earlier, some of

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Speaker 1: the kids would be feeling anxious as well. But I

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Speaker 1: thought it was a really good thing that school wasn't

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Speaker 1: delayed in terms of going back. I know that some

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Speaker 1: people might be feeling concerned and might have been thinking, oh,

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Speaker 1: maybe we should have put it off for a little

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Speaker 1: bit longer. But you know, I hope that even though

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Speaker 1: we are seeing those cases, that kids are able to

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Speaker 1: continue to get into the classroom and continue to learn.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's absolutely our priority. We know COVID is here,

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Speaker 2: we know it's going to be present in our schools,

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Speaker 2: but we need to ensure that we're trying to keep

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Speaker 2: children's lives as normal as possible, keep them learning, keeping

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Speaker 2: them engaged with school, and you know, we've got to

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Speaker 2: let them be here too, and that's really tough in

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Speaker 2: these times now.

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Speaker 1: We did catch up with Tabby Fudge from nt COGSO

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Speaker 1: a little bit earlier this morning. She had said that

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Speaker 1: some of that messaging around COVID had been very confusing.

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Speaker 1: Is there any sort of efforts underway to try to

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Speaker 1: make sure that throughout those different schools all around the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory that it does become a little bit more

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Speaker 1: streamlined so that parents know exactly what they need to

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Speaker 1: do if there are COVID cases.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So we have a lot of support for our schools.

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Speaker 2: We've got an amazing pandemic team who are working seven

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Speaker 2: days a week. They have a range of different templates

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Speaker 2: and information for schools to send out to parents to

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Speaker 2: keep them informed around what's going on. I meet every

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Speaker 2: week myself with all of our principals, so that's we

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Speaker 2: have one hundred and fifty two schools across the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 2: so I'm meeting with those principles weekly to make sure

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Speaker 2: they're up to date. Our chief executive, she puts out

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Speaker 2: very regular comms almost every second day at the moment,

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Speaker 2: if not every day, just providing updated information to all

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Speaker 2: of our schools around how we're following the current health advice.

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Speaker 2: So we are doing everything we can. We do know

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Speaker 2: that things change quite quickly in this space, but we're

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Speaker 2: certainly doing our very best to keep up with that

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Speaker 2: and to keep parents informed because that partnership with the

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Speaker 2: parents is so very important at this particular point in time.

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Speaker 1: And are you confident that those various schools around the

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Speaker 1: territory are then relaying that information to parents in an

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Speaker 1: adequate way.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so they've got all the information there. But as

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Speaker 2: I said earlier, if parents aren't getting the information that

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Speaker 2: they need or they're not sure for whatever reason, don't

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Speaker 2: hesitate to contact the school. But I just have a

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Speaker 2: level of patience because we are managing a lot of

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Speaker 2: queries and trying to provide as much information as we

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Speaker 2: can in a timely advice to families. We know how

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Speaker 2: very important.

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Speaker 1: That is, well Education Department Deputy Chief Executive Thus Susan Bowden,

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Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks very much

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Speaker 1: for taking the time and making that time to have

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Speaker 1: a chat with us, because, as I said, I know

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of parents listening to the show

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Speaker 1: who've been a bit confused, not one hundred percential what

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Speaker 1: they need to be doing if there is a COVID

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Speaker 1: case within the classroom. So we really appreciate the chat today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, and we appreciate the support the families are

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Speaker 2: also providing. It's greatly appreciated.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you,