Kaponga Primary School principal Shane Downs delivered the hardpacks on Sunday, August 22.
Kaponga Primary School principal Shane Downs delivered the hardpacks on Sunday, August 22.
A school principal drove over 200km to deliver resource hard packs to pupils.
On Sunday, August 22 Kaponga Primary School principal Shane Downs loaded his car boot with over 100 hard packs to deliver to the pupils.
"All students received either a hard pack and a school Chromebook or just a hard pack.
"I surveyed all parents on Friday evening, collected the devices and organised the workbooks and paperwork on Saturday. Then spent Saturday night putting everything together into paper bags ready for delivery. We have a school roll of 102 and all students received a hard pack."
He says it took over four hours to deliver the hard packs.
'It took around 200km to drop everything off. We just delivered them to all the Kaponga Primary School students, who largely live in the Kaponga area. There were a lot of roads to go up and down.
"Although it was a long day, seeing the excitement on the faces of the students when we delivered them was pretty neat to see too."
Shane says he put the hard packs on doorsteps or in the letterboxes.
"We followed all the rules around contactless delivery."
He says it was important for pupils to have the hard packs to eliminate any barriers to distance learning.
"When the lockdown in 2020 ended we decided that should it happen again we would tell all students to take their Chromebooks home with them. Unfortunately we did not have time to do this, this time around. We were always going to start our distance learning on Monday, so we had to get it out early."
It took over four hours to deliver the hard packs. Photo/ Supplied
Shane says having distance learning in place is a great way to keep pupils occupied.
"It is a very busy time for many of our families with calving, so having distance learning in place may be a great way to keep the students occupied. We do not have any real expectations, it is what works best for the students and their whānau.
"However, everyday the teachers will be putting up activities, challenges and revision tasks that the students can engage in. Every few days the classes will have a zoom meeting."
He says it is an interesting time for everyone, and has shared three top tips for effective home learning in lockdown.
1. Being with whānau is important.
2.It's best we all follow the level 1 rules so we can get back to normality quickly.
3. Make time for fresh air, be active, but also find time to relax.
