Kia ora whanau

By Mary Healey | Posted: Monday April 13, 2020

Things have certainly changed dramatically since your children were last at school on March 20. When we headed into Anniversary weekend we certainly had no insight into the way in which our lives were about to change dramatically.

The majority of us are living in our bubbles with only essential workers leaving or someone to do the grocery shopping. Our bubbles will all look very different, the pressures within those bubbles will also be different and the ways in which everyone in your bubble copes will be different. We need to acknowledge that, be kind to each other and try to minimise the triggers of stress.

As you are no doubt aware schooling officially starts again on Wednesday. This is something that I do not want to be extra pressure on families. I know some of you are feeling anxious about school starting and how you will manage that. My hope is that you will see it as an opportunity for your child to get back into a routine and connect with their teacher and classmates. We will be keeping things low key as we take it easy moving into this new teaching and learning environment and we all need to take it one step at a time.

You can expect to get an email from your child’s teacher on Tuesday afternoon/evening outlining their programme. We know that not all children have access to devices and these have been ordered for those that don't. While you wait to receive those do not fret that your child will fall behind the others. There are many learning opportunities available to them that don’t require them to be online and the Ministry of Education is providing material on TVNZ channel 2+1 and Sky 502.

Our school expectation at this stage is to put your family first, encourage your child to engage with learning, show an interest in what they are doing and keep it manageable for everyone in your household. Where you have several children at home sharing a device I suggest you prioritise time for High School students first, maybe setting up a timetable in discussion with everyone.

Take care, take it slowly and your teachers will support you through this.

Kia kaha