Mr McConville wrote to families on Thursday night to say a student was exposed over the weekend, when they spent time with a member of their extended family who has the virus. "There is no risk to anyone in the school from this event," Mr McConville told families.

"The family was very sensible in dealing with the matter.

"The student and family have been in self isolation since the weekend. The student whose relative it is hasn't been back to school since potentially being exposed to the virus - the possible exposure happened on a weekend and the student hasn't returned to school after that weekend."

He asked the school to respect the family's privacy.

He said the school had reported the matter and the family were following NSW Department of Health instructions.

Head of Newcastle Grammar School Erica Thomas said the year six teacher at her school who went into isolation after he was potentially exposed had his 14^th day of quarantine on Friday and appeared to be clear.

Ms Thomas said the school was committed to following government advice to stay open.

"We have started training our students on the virtual system we will be using should we need to go to this," she said.

Year 11 and 12 trained on Friday, years seven to 10 will train early next week.

"This will only happen if we need to shut down for a lengthy period of time."

Macquarie College will move to a "blended learning model" next week.

Principal Rohan Deanshaw said high school students will begin accessing MC Cloud services from Monday, while primary schoolers will gain access from Tuesday.

Students who register will be required to attend each timetabled class, where the roll will be marked and completion of learning tasks and engagement in discussion and activities will be monitored.

"[This] provides continuity of learning and stability for students and their families, and can assist parents to maintain routines during a period when our community is challenged by the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak," Mr Deanshaw said.

The school remains open for regular classes and about 75 per cent of students are attending. It will continue to develop pastoral care support to students.

Education ministers decided on Friday to cancel NAPLAN tests scheduled for May.

Catholic Schools Office director Gerard Mowbray said the suspension "will provide a national circuit breaker".

"This gives us the breathing space to deepen the conversation around NAPLAN." He said "decluttering the calendar" wouldn't be detrimental.

"Schools are actually realising [after event cancellations] they have a whole lot more time to focus on the core business, which is the learning and formation of young people."

Charlestown South Public principal Colin Johnson said cancelling was a "wise and necessary decision".

"Not one of my teachers requires NAPLAN to know exactly where our kids are academically... NAPLAN really just lets us know how we are comparing with other schools or indicates for us the areas in which we are excelling or needing to focus a little more."

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Live and breaking news updates: The coronavirus crisis in Newcastle and the Hunter