Cyber-schools open all hours

By ALAN PERROTT education reporter

Two new secondary schools taking shape in high-growth parts of Auckland will offer around-the-clock email access to teachers and may pave the way for split-shift schools.

Botany Downs Secondary College and Alfriston College are the first state secondary schools to be built in Auckland since 1980 and feature extensive computerisation.

Cutting edge technology includes special "floor boxes" which let students plug laptops into the internet without having to go to a specialised computer room.

Botany Downs Secondary College vice-principal Fiona MacCuish said email meant students would "theoretically" have 24-hour access to their teachers or mentors.

The school prospectus boasts that the network allows any student or teacher to link up from any computer in any home or classroom.

But Ms MacCuish said the contact would work both ways, so sick students could be sent homework and parents could receive monthly updates on their child's performance and behaviour. The gradual dissolution of traditional classroom teaching could even result in the introduction of split school shifts.

Alfriston College vice-principal Susan Impey said technology provided the flexibility needed to cater for each student's specific needs.

Ms Impey said email contact would help to build relationships between staff members and between staff and students.

But the Post Primary Teachers Association is concerned that increased computerisation will create excessive email contact between students working at home and teachers trying to relax after work.

Anxious parents concerned about their child's behaviour or progress could push for daily updates.

While school administrators say each teacher will be free to decide how often he or she responds to emails from within the school community, they accept that the systems will make it possible for staff to be faced with student problems 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

PPTA president Phil Smith said how far school work should intrude into a teacher's private life would become a wider industrial issue unless limitations were set.

The introduction of the NCEA had already dramatically increased workloads and any further incursions into teachers' private lives would be strongly resisted.

"Limits on teacher availability have to be in place when the schools open, otherwise the sky becomes the limit. You have to guard against overzealous principals who set very, very high expectations on staff."

Mr Smith said secondary teachers already complained of "managerial bullying" from principals to take on extra work for the sake of students.

"It's a subtle but very powerful tool used to keep teachers under control. I know some teachers whose careers were affected by saying no."

Administrative staff and teachers move into the schools in October and will spend the rest of the year learning how to operate the new systems.

Both schools have construction budgets of up to $21 million, including design fees and site work, and will open at the start of next year for year nine (form three) students.

An additional year will be added each subsequent year up to year 13 (form seven). The school rolls are expected to reach 1500.