NSW Primary Principals Association Lake Macquarie president Lee Saurins, who is also principal at Valentine Public School, said teachers were "well prepared".

"With the Delta strain, evidence we've gleaned from other states is children are more vulnerable now than they were before," she said. "It's a great decision to do a snap lockdown."

She said the Department of Education had helped teachers more easily upload their and the department's resources onto Google Classroom, to ensure greater consistency.

She said it had also made devices more readily available to students to reduce inequity.

She said her school would use Google Classroom, as well as YouTube and Zoom.

Other schools have said they will use physical workbooks, video lessons uploaded to the Seesaw app, Canvas, Microsoft Teams and Google Drive.

Redhead Public School sent home learning packages as a precaution last week.

Mrs Saurins said while learning was important, the main priority was staying safe, happy and well.

"The department has put out guidelines for at home learning and they are vastly different to what the majority of people actually think," she said.

"I think mums and dads think they have to have children strapped to the dining room table for six hours a day mimicking a classroom situation, that is not the case.

"The department's guidelines are around two to three hours learning per day and to make sure there are plenty of lesson breaks and a physical aspect to what they're doing with the children and to allow the children downtime to rest and quietly read and things like that."

Mrs Saurins said she understood there was "heightened anxiety" and families may be feeling stressed juggling working and learning from home.

She encouraged adults to breathe, stay calm and take each day slowly and children to keep reading.

She said "it is okay" if families have a difficult day.

"Put the health and mental health of people in your family first and don't worry about high expectations that you must get this completed."

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Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle director of schools Gerard Mowbray said Friday will be a "wellbeing day" for students - apart from year 11 and 12, which will follow their usual pattern of study from home - and a preparation day for teachers, ahead of remote learning from Monday.

Newcastle Grammar School and several other public schools will also not have classes on Friday and will start online learning from Monday.

Independent Education Union NSW/ACT Hunter representative Therese Fitzgibbon said the union was "pleased with the decision because it stops a lot of fear" and staff were "much more prepared this time around".

NSW Teachers Federation regional organiser Jack Galvin Waight said teachers were "happy" to abide by health advice and would go "above and beyond".

But he said remote learning was a "massive workload imposition" and "when schools resume an urgent reset of salaries, workload and staffing shortages is required".

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the government was "confident all schools in the eight Hunter LGA's are prepared to manage this period of learning from home".

"We have risen to the challenge of COVID-19 before and have the utmost confidence that we can manage it in a way that maintains safety while ensuring continuity the of quality teaching, learning and support.

"In May 2021 all NSW public schools completed a Learning from Home Readiness Assessment, indicating their level of readiness and any areas requiring additional support.

"Expert advice is available for parents and carers on the department's Learning From Home hub website. Information on student behaviour, managing screen time, as well as accessing and using technology is also provided.

"Interruptions to teaching and learning will be minimised through the use of technologies and practices introduced during COVID-19 learning from home periods in 2020.

"Schools in the Hunter area are being supported with additional IT devices, including dongles and laptops.

"Schools and outside of school hours care (OOSHC) services remain open for any child that needs it."

The lockdown was announced following confirmed cases of COVID-19 in people who attend Hunter and Central Coast education institutions.

Morisset High and Lake Munmorah Public School - within the Central Coast Local Health District - told families late on Wednesday night that NSW Health had advised them that a high school student and two primary school students had tested positive for COVID-19 and the schools would be closed on Thursday for contact tracing and cleaning.

All students and staff were asked to isolate until further advice.

Morisset High has 719 students, Lake Munmorah 419.

Maitland Christian School asked families around 8.30am on Thursday to come and collect children immediately - even if they were an essential worker - after it was advised two students had tested positive.

This school, which has 480 students, was also closed for contact tracing and cleaning.

Hunter New England Health later said these children, aged 8 and 11, were among five people in the district confirmed to have COVID-19.

A Diocese of Maitland Newcastle spokeswoman said some concerned families of students at All Saints College St Peter's Campus notified the school their child may be a close or casual contact of a confirmed case.

"Accordingly, the school promptly adhered to COVID-19 guidelines and these students were isolated from their peers and staff until they were collected by their parents/carers a short time later," the spokeswoman said. "Today's confirmed cases, announced by NSW Health, were not students or staff at the school and therefore, it was not requested that All Saints College close."

The University of Newcastle told its staff and students that a student who visited the Learning Lounge of the Auchmuty Library on Callaghan campus from 4pm on Thursday 29 July to 1am on July 30 had tested positive.

The university said the student had minimal contact with others during this time but asked any staff or students who were in the library at the same time to get tested and isolate.

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