The Roar - Issue 32 Term 4 2025

COVID – Five Years On

Since Scots All Saints began in 2019, the Archives staff have been collecting things that might be of interest to people at the College in the future. It is often the case that when a new school is started, the people in it are so busy setting up the new institution that they do not have time to think about leaving records for the future.

A decision taken by the Archivists five years ago is the source of information for this article: that was to create a file of material related to the COVID outbreak of 2020. It was felt that a record should be kept of how the pandemic affected the College, and the letters from Headmaster John Weeks documented how the College coped with it.

The first document on file is a letter from the Headmaster, John Weeks, to parents dated 28 January 2020, by which time people in Australia already had COVID. At this time, COVID was still not common in the Australian community, but by then, people travelling from countries where there had been a COVID outbreak were required to quarantine for 14 days. A new student arrived from Hong Kong at about that time. Whilst driving him from Sydney Airport to Bathurst, Andrew Maher was instructed that, on arrival, the boy was to go straight into isolation at Marsden House on the Junior Campus.

COVID hit the overseas students very hard. One boy whose return to the College was delayed by a non-COVID sickness never came back as travel restrictions were imposed by many countries. Others who did return found themselves in quarantine for two weeks. Most would not be able to go home to their families for close to 2 years. On 27 March 2020, the Director of Boarding, Anthony Le Couteur, wrote to the boarding staff to advise that the houses would be open over the holidays to accommodate the overseas students who could not go home.

By early March, the world had very quickly become a place of shutdowns, sanitisers and masks. The College musical “Annie” was cancelled days before it was due to go ahead, despite months of work and rehearsals. All theatres were closed. The Opera House in Sydney was closed after a performance of Verdi’s “Attila”.

A letter from Headmaster John Weeks on 14 March mentions several precautions that were introduced. Visitors were unable to come to the College. Assemblies and chapel services were cancelled. Interschool sports were cancelled. It was not long before travel was limited or not possible at all. Two days later, a lengthy letter was sent to parents by John Weeks after the Association of Independent Schools met with the NSW Health Minister and senior health officials to discuss, among other things, how boarding schools were to manage.

A third, and even longer, letter was sent the following day. By this time, many boarders had gone home. The overseas students had nowhere else to go, as did some others. One student from Queensland had to stay because the borders between Queensland and New South Wales were closed. The list of cancellations grew. Musical performances and the Pipes and Drums could not rehearse or give performances. Many sports were cancelled. Anzac Day was another casualty.

Space prevents a more detailed discussion of how COVID affected the College. Generally, the decision was taken, supported by advice from the health authorities, to keep the College open. John Weeks was particularly keen to have it available to parents working in health care who were desperately needed at work. A few boarders and day students were at school each day, but for the rest, remote learning became a term, and staff quickly had to familiarise themselves with Zoom and other technologies. In May, the cruise liner Ruby Princess docked in Sydney, with passengers on board who had contracted COVID on the ship. In a much-investigated bungle, they were released into the community.

By June 2020, there was some easing of restrictions. However, new strains of the disease and further waves of it meant that there were more restrictions and lockdowns. After the Higher School Certificate, an outdoor prize-giving ceremony was held for the departing Year 12, attended by a large audience. Because of the mature and sensible way that the Year 12 had coped with COVID, senior management was determined to hold a farewell dinner for Year 12, and this went ahead in November. The boarders, who had endured all sorts of restrictions, were rewarded with a trip to Wet ‘n’ Wild in Sydney.

The last document is a letter to staff from January 2022. By this time, there were still recommendations that masks be worn, rapid antigen tests were still a fact of life, and the community was still living with COVID, but with milder strains, vaccinations and herd immunity, the worst was over.

Mr Andrew Maher
Archives

Photo 1: The COVID file from the Scots All Saints Archives.

Photo 2: The Year 12 of 2020 at their graduation dinner, a triumph over COVID.