COVID is one of the biggest public health challenges the world has faced. It remains a huge threat to the health and safety of school communities - including students, school staff and their families.

COVID is not a cold or a flu. It is a long-term multi-system disease which affects the entire body. Since late 2019 it has killed more than 20 million people worldwide and left millions more with chronic disease, including an estimated 400 million people with Long COVID.‍

Over the last five years, scientists have learned a great deal about COVID - including how it affects the human body, how it spreads, and what can be done to reduce the risk of it spreading. Unfortunately public health advice has failed to keep up with the science, and many schools are relying on information that is either out of date, or in some cases totally incorrect.

We created this course to give schools the best possible factual information about COVID, based on the latest science. We want principals and teachers to be empowered to minimise the health risks from COVID without disrupting the core role of the school.

This BBC interview with cardiologist Dr Rae Duncan summarises the issues with regard to COVID and long-term risks, especially in kids. Dr Duncan is one of the subject matter experts featured in the COVID Safety For Schools Course.

School leaders, teachers and parents are currently reliant on public health advice that downplays the seriousness of COVID and fails to adequately protect school communities. Many media outlets have also downplayed the risks from COVID.

A lack of reliable information has led many schools and families to not take basic precautions that would reduce the risk of COVID spreading. This places students, teachers, their families and the wider community at unnecessary risk.

Schools have been shown to be major drivers of COVID transmission in the community. By empowering schools to minimise spread of COVID, they can reduce the impact of the pandemic, save lives and prevent more Australians from suffering chronic illness, including Long COVID.

The mitigations schools put in place to prevent spread of COVID will also be effective in reducing the impact of other airborne viruses such as RSV and influenza, and could also lead to improved cognitive performance and academic results.

The course comprises around 7 hours of video content. It's broken up into bite-size chunks (most videos are 10-15 minutes long), so you can make your way through it at your own pace.

We know this is a big time commitment.

However, to put it in perspective, every Australian school teacher is required to do a full-day first-aid course, and to update this training every three years. Many schools also require teachers to do CPR and AED training, which (thankfully) most teachers will never put into practice.

In contrast, every Australian teacher can have a direct positive impact on reducing COVID transmission and the health burden that comes with it, by understanding the concepts covered in this course.

School staff who complete all modules of the course can receive a Certificate of Completion. Teachers can count the course as PD under Focus Area 4.4 (Maintain Student Safety) of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Yes, the course is freely available to anyone who wants to learn about COVID safety.

We are working on courses for other sectors including healthcare and aged care. Contact us if you’d like to discuss COVID safety training specific to your sector.

Yes, anyone can do the course. However, it’s important to note that some of the information presented is specific to Australia.

We hope to launch international versions of the course in 2024.