Summary

Image of a banner in Greensborough celebrating the return to school of all students in Victoria on 9 June 2020 after remote and flexible learning finished during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

The banner was made by local kindergarten teacher Shelli Giosis so that children in the area would be cheered up as they travelled past on their way to school on their first day back. The banner is shown hanging on the Delta Road Pre-school front fence on Delta Road, Greensborough, in Melbourne's north east.

This photograph was taken during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in 2020. It references the positive and optimistic community responses that emerged to combat the anxiety and frustrations that many Victorians were feeling during the pandemic lockdown due to the restrictions, the stress about remote schooling and general uncertainty about their health and what the future held.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Term 1 school holidays were brought forward in Victoria to start early on March 24, and during Term 2 (14 April - 26 June) students were required to do remote and flexible schooling. Students were required to learn at home unless they were children of essential workers or fitted other criteria such as being vulnerable and requiring supervision and support onsite at school. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told Victorians to "stay at home, learn from home if you can, if however your circumstances mean that you can't, school will be open for you". (ABC News, viewed 15 April 2020)

9 June 2020 marked the date when Grade 3 - Grade 6 primary school and Year 7-10 high school students returned to school, meaning that all school levels were now back at school. Preps to Grade 3 and Year 11 to 12 had already returned to school on May 26.

Description of Content

White banner with coloured paint on it hung on a metal fence next to a green metal sign for a preschool or kindergarten. There are trees and a building (the pre-school) behind the banner. The banner says 'Have a great time back at school Everyone' and has a rainbow as an exclamation mark and smiley face at bottom right.

Physical Description

Digital colour photograph.

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