If there’s one message that school principals in the Wanaka area have for parents who may be juggling work and homeschooling during the COVID-19 lockdown, it’s this: don’t stress, and only do what’s right for your bubble.

Term 2 began for New Zealand schools last week, and the Ministry of Education says the earliest schools could reopen to students is April 29. 

When New Zealand drops to alert level three, the Prime Minister has said schools could reopen for students up to Year 10, although families would be encouraged to keep their children at home if that was practical. Years 11 to 13 would continue to be taught through distance learning. 

Mount Aspiring College (MAC) principal Wayne Bosley, said the most important thing for families to remember was not to panic.

“Just try to get into a rhythm that suits you and your family,” he said. “It’s all new for all of us, and it’s important that parents and students get into doing some regular work. But don’t spend all day in front of the PC - take breaks and stay healthy.”

MAC was using Google Classroom and Education Perfect, which Wayne said they have been using for a long time anyway. 

MAC was able to provide a device for any student who didn’t have one to use at home, and a small number of students had taken up that offer, he said. 

Wanaka Primary School’s Pod 6 running an online assembly last term, before alert level four was implemented. PHOTO: Supplied

Hawea Flat School principal Tania Pringle said the school recognised that every bubble was different and encouraged families to do what works for their bubble. 

“Children will still be learning while they’re at home,” she said. “We’re trying not to overload families with the use of technology. It’s great to hear stories of people doing things together as a family and getting offline.”

Tania said the MInistry of Education was providing some “incredible resources for families to use”. Out of a roll of 242, 100 Hawea Flat students had signed up to receive hard copy learning packs from the ministry. The school was also encouraging students to continue the online learning they would have done at school, using things like Mathletics and Epic Reading. 

Wanaka Primary School (WPS) principal Wendy Bamford said the wellbeing of children and parents must come first, before anything else. “I would say keep it simple, and well done to parents who are getting their kids to engage in learning. But if the kids are difficult to engage, just leave it alone.”

Wendy said WPS was using a range of technologies including Google Classroom and Seesaw. “For our five and six-year-olds, Jen [Chandler] has done a wonderful video lesson that’s like Playschool on steroids. And for Years 5 and 6, we’ve created an online ‘board of awesomeness’, where students can pick different challenges to do at home.”

Jo McKay, principal of Holy Family Catholic School, said the school was not aiming for any new learning, but doing some revision of what students had already learnt. 

“I would advise parents to take each day as it comes and try to take the stress out of the situation,” Jo said. “We don’t want children to be overwhelmed and stressed and we’re not expecting parents to be teachers. Just make it as fun and enjoyable as you can.”

Teachers at Holy Family School were connecting with students online using Zoom and Google classroom.

Te Kura o Take Karara principal Jodie Howard said it was important to take a flexible approach to home learning. “One size doesn’t fit all, and there are so many learning opportunities within our homes, gardens and back yards.”

Jodie said that when the school asked if families needed any support, they found that for some farming families, adequate wifi was a problem, so the school was looking at other ways to keep in contact. 

“We have devices available for families to use at home, and you don’t have to explain why you need one,” she said. “NZ Courier is doing support so we can deliver devices to families in a contactless way.”   

Te Kura o Take Karara was making use of Flipgrid, which (like Google Classroom) provided a single platform where students could find everything they needed for at-home learning. 

Angela Edmond, who has been homeschooling for nine years and has five children, said that it was life as usual for her family. “It hasn’t been a huge disturbance,” she said. “We’re missing friends and family, like everyone else in New Zealand and around the world.”

In particular, Angela said her family was missing weekly catch-ups for sport and lunch with a group of about ten local homeschooling families at the Wanaka Recreation Centre.

Angela said she really felt for families who were trying to juggle work commitments and educating their children at home.

“To them I would say don’t expect too much of yourselves. Keep the bar low - kids are still learning regardless of whether they’re doing formal academics. The important thing is to keep a really good feeling in the house and keep stress low. Maybe read them all a really good book.”