Covid 19 coronavirus Delta variant: Rotorua schools launch into learning from home

Schools are rolling out online learning for students in the Bay of Plenty this week.

Many school staff members found themselves working over the weekend delivering devices to families and preparing hard copy material for students.

A Covid-19 update from the Ministry of Education issued to all schools last week said staff were able to go onsite and prepare hard pack materials and devices.

And contactless delivery to homes was the "preferred method" for getting materials to the majority of learners.

An exemption was granted so parents, caregivers or students would be able to enter a school site to collect materials or devices in limited circumstances.

Westbrook School principal Colin Watkins working at home in lockdown with his moko Cooper. Photo / Supplied

Westbrook School principal Colin Watkins described online learning this week as "déjà vu with less stress, less panic and more organisation".

Five staff members went into school over the weekend to assemble hard learning packs for students without devices, and were then delivered to roughly 100 students across all year levels.

"The vast majority of our kids are going to do the bulk of their learning on a device.

"There are some families that don't have connectivity, or don't have a device - and they had paper packs delivered to them yesterday with ample work for the next week," he said.

Wakins said a "relatively small number" of food packages were delivered to families in need.

While learning from home, learning tasks for students had been kept to a "minimum" to ease the pressure for parents. Students were not expected to complete five hours a day on schoolwork, he said.
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"They aren't used to doing five hours of education for their kids - particularly if they have kids across multiple year levels - what a challenge that is," he said.

"It is unrealistic, it puts everybody under unnecessary stress."

Rotorua Girls' High School principal Sarah Davis. Photo / NZME

Rotorua Girls' High principal Sarah Davis said it was more difficult for some students to participate in online learning due to a range of factors.

This included device sharing between family members, lack of internet connectivity and quiet space, students working from their phones and having to care for other siblings.

Despite the structured timetable of online lessons going ahead this week, Davis said teachers were required to be flexible and understanding.

The majority of teachers would be using Google Classrooms and Zoom to engage with learners.

"The girls operate off an entirely different way of thinking. It is less systematic than at school when students moved from class to class," she said.

"We need to be more flexible in terms of the expectation we have on the girls."

It would also be important for teachers to manage students on an individual basis when regular school returned.

"Some students would have struggled to have done much - they are looking after younger ones, they haven't had access to work. Others are roaring away, ready to go and able to take on the next task," she said.

"The ability to work quietly in a space can be really compromised. We are carrying on the best we can."

Her message to the community was "not to worry" if there were circumstances that changed the normal process of learning.

"A lot of our students will be doing the best they can - but whether they can turn around and generate a piece of work out of it is unknown."

The Government today announced home-based care was available for the children of essential workers who were unable to make alternative arrangements.

NZEI Te Riu Roa said an anonymous survey of almost 2000 of its members working in primary and intermediate schools has shown that teachers felt much better prepared for the move to level 4 than they did the first time.