After 10 weeks studying at home, thousands of Year 11 to 13 students in Auckland returned to the classroom on Tuesday.
However, some are anxious, worrying about rising Covid-19 cases in the community.
Papatoetoe High School Principal Vaughn Couillault says there is a mixture of excitement and nerves: “It sort of feels like the first day back after the summer break.”
Officials believe the risk to students in schools is low, but not zero, those under 20 make up around a third of all Covid-19 cases in the current Delta outbreak.
Macleans College principal Steven Hargreaves says the risk there could be a Covid-19 case is real.
“Even though I think we've got good mitigations in place we have increased the risk now and there are 60,000 students moving around Auckland.”
Hargraves says last Wednesday’s announcement came a as real surprise, “to be told two working days before the students are going to be back in school is quite a shock.”
Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles told Breakfast for schools to be safe, ventilation, filtration and vaccinations are key.
“We know it can be done safely, we’ve seen this overseas.”
PPTA President Melanie Webber says when it comes to senior students on some sites its well over 2000 students returning to schools.
"You realise very quickly basically in a school what is level three or level two elsewhere is level one, there is no other way you can do that.
"So, while you have those masks and that's great, we are just worried that the vaccination rates aren't where we'd like them to be, where we are being told they should be to keep us all safe,” Webber says.
Some schools have opted to remain closed; Takapuna Grammar School students are already halfway through their practise exams online and Principal Mary Nixon says it’s impractical to change now.
Cabinet is yet to make an announcement about the return of junior students.
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