Kalianna School, Bendigo Special Developmental School welcomes government's planned return date for students amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday announced mainstream students in prep, grade one and two, along with year 11 and 12 students, would return to classes on May 26. Remaining year levels would go back to school on June 9.

But the premier said all special schools would open in full on May 26.

Kalianna School Bendigo principal Peter Bush said it was great that all of his students would be able to return on the same date.

"Our students generally are not autonomous learners and many have found remote learning a challenge, especially our younger and non-verbal students," he said.

"It will be great to get them back to learning and back into the routine."

Bendigo Special Developmental School principal Kirshy McAinch said there were mixed feelings about going back, given some of her students fall into the at risk category for COVID-19.

Read more: Bendigo schools welcome Victorian premier's plan to get students back to class during the COVID-19 pandemic

"On the one hand, we love that we can get back to school," she said. "But there are still a lot of things to think about in terms of on site procedures to make sure everyone is safe.

"We need to think about social distancing and hand washing, and what that might look like for some of our students who need intensive support.

"We still have some students who are medically vulnerable so we need to think about what it looks like for them.

"Some parents are overjoyed at the return date, but others are really very worried and nervous."

Ms McAinch said the school would be preparing for students during the next two weeks, including implementing increased cleaning measures.

"The notice has been critical for all of us to get our heads around the changes and plan for the smoothest transition back," she said.

"We know that many of our students have not attended school for eight weeks of longer. We're going to be really grateful for the time to plan."

Mr Bush said his school would also be making some adjustments to ensure the space was safe for students and staff.

"It will be mainly around the adults at the school," he said. "We need to make some changes to the staff room and office space. Break times will also change for staff.

"When it comes to parent drop-off at the school, we are going to need to ensure adults practice social distancing. There will be some big challenges."

Read more: Kalianna School, Bendigo Special Developmental School move to remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic

Mr Bush said the school had been advised it would be allowed to keep their playground open for use.The school will receive extra funding to ensure it is cleaned regularly.

Mr Bush said staff were "over the moon" that classes would be returning to face-to-face teaching.

He said while it great to be getting back to some form of normality, remote learning had provided some benefits.

"One of the things we will take out of this is how quickly some of our students were able to adapt to different environments," he said.

"We have also been able to engage students we haven't been able to previously.

"We're now looking at whether we can offer a remote learning alternative for some of those students who have thrived.

"It will be different to home schooling, but there might be some students who will thrive in that mix of remote and face-to-face learning."

Mr McAinch said her school had also noticed some benefits to remote learning.

"Even though it has been extremely challenging, there have also been some incredible silver linings," she said. "We have had some students who have thrived and excelled in remote learning.

"There have also been families that have become far more engaged with the school and understanding of the learning program.

"We're hoping to capture and keep those elements when we return to school."

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