Covid-19: More kids back at school under orange setting

Oropi School Principal Andrew King said the school was focusing on learning at school this term. Photo / John Borren.

Bay of Plenty schools have seen a surge in attendance this term, largely because of the shift to orange in the Covid Protection Framework.

Oropi School Principal Andrew King told Local Democracy Reporting that attendance at the school has been around 80 to 90 per cent this term, compared to a peak of 70 per cent in term one.

King attributed this to the move to orange and less mandates. The majority of term one was at the red setting, where mask-wearing was mandatory for students in Year 4 and above while indoors.

"Mask wearing is a big factor in people deciding whether to send their kids to school or do at-home learning," he said.

"In our communications at the start of this term, I made it clear that we won't be offering at-home learning like we did last term, and that all learning will be based at school."

King said they would provide at-home learning packs but there wouldn't be engagement with the teachers like there had been in term one.

The school couldn't "sustain that level of hybridity" with the ability to hold events and additional programmes like garden to table, he said.

Pāpāmoa College acting principal Pere Durie said attendance has been far greater and more consistent this term.

"This was very noticeable last term when we moved from the red light setting to the orange light setting," he said.

The lower attendance was attributed to positive Covid cases and students being a household contact as well as a sense of worry about contracting Covid at school, said Durie.

"Like other schools we had a hybrid learning system in place with in-person teaching and learning supplemented with online learning," he said.

"This would have provided an option for students who were hesitant about returning to school during the red light setting."

Ōtūmoetai Intermediate has had an average attendance of 89 per cent daily this term, according to principal Henk Popping.

He said attendance has "certainly picked up" since term one and almost all of the absent students this term were away with illnesses other than Covid like a cold or influenza.

Reasons for absenteeism in term one mirrored other schools with students isolating or having Covid.

"Some families were reluctant to send their children to school while we had higher numbers of Covid-19 cases connected to the school," said Popping.

Tauriko School is experiencing a second wave of Covid as well as a "double whammy" of winter illnesses so it has lower attendance this term, principal Suzanne Billington told Local Democracy Reporting.

She said Covid cases were "quite light" the first time.

"There are probably a large number of kids away because of the combination of Covid-19 and winter flus and tummy bugs," said Billington, who is also president of the Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association.

"It's just a little bit more complicated at this time of the year.

"In the winter, during term two and three you expect to have a large number of students away, but it's just compounded because we've also got the pandemic to be concerned about."

Billington said people were "erring on the side of caution" with flu symptoms and may not be sending their kids to school when they might have previously.

"There's an upside to that as well - they're not spreading their winter bugs."

King was pleased Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced an $88 million package last month to tackle school attendance issues, particularly due to Covid-19 impacts.

"Even though we're back to 80 - 90 per cent attendance, with the handful of kids that are still staying away we still have a lot of work chasing up and making follow-up phone calls to encourage and get them re-engaged, which is quite time-consuming," said King.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.