''Having enough staff to ensure we can cater for the children and keep every body safe is always a juggle, so the fact we have low [student] numbers enables us to do that - if we had higher numbers then it could be quite tricky.''
Students who were still at home were given the opportunity to follow a range of programmes, he said on Monday.
''We have online activities and the teachers have contact with the children and families and have activities and so on.
''But one of the things we emphasise for parents is they are not teachers and not to put too much pressure on themselves or their children. Because of the circumstances it is important that people's mental health is taken into consideration.
"The circumstances of people vary a lot - we have a number of parents who are working right through so for them it's very tricky and they can find it very stressful and difficult, so we want to make sure the families feel supported and feel safe.''
He said having protocols set up during the last lockdown had made it easier this time, but he is happy the region is now at alert level 2 and the school will reopen to all today.
''Level 2 is a lot easier level for schools to manage, it's a lot closer to normality. There are still some things we can't have - we had the first night of our culture night the night before we went into lockdown, but we can't have the second night until we go into level 1.''
He said the community had been amazing in supporting families and that had helped students.
''The organisations in Te Puke are working together to support families that are in need and it's very heartwarming to have such a level of support. We have a number of children in our school that are supported and that's a really neat part of being in Te Puke.''
Bruce said the nine pupils at Paengaroa School last week were being taught in two bubbles.
''In terms of our teaching capacity, that's probably about right.''
He said nine was a lower number than had been expected.
''That's representing about 5 per cent of the school's roll when the thinking was there could be up to 10 per cent of the roll attending last week.''
Bruce said the pupils in school were being given broadly the same programme as those learning at home.
''We made a conscious decision to give the kids on site the same as the kids online were getting, just with more immediate support.''
He said the teachers in the school were doing ''double duty'', looking after multiple learning levels in their school bubble as well as their own class online.
Bruce said he was looking forward to alert level 2 with the school fully populated.
''We like it that way.''
Trish said Ōtamarākau's students were getting regular emails with tasks and had access to classroom app Seesaw.
''We are continuing with our online work - the staff are doing lots of online Zoom meetings we have Seesaw in place as well, so there's lots going on,'' she said on Monday.
''We are trying to do some outdoor challenges as well and get the children to submit photos and put them on our Facebook pages so everybody's really keeping active and teachers are making sure they are phoning people as well rather than just relying on email.
''The board has been Zooming to make sure everything is going in the right direction and so have the staff just keep in touch with each other. Everybody seems pretty positive.''
The school had also been able to give and arrange food for families who need it.
''We are part of the Weet-Bix breakfast club and they got in touch and said if whānau need some support then just hand those things out, so we've been doing that.
"The Daily [Charitable Trust] have been amazing. We've contacted them a few times to ask for food support for a few families and they have just been stunning with their response and the speed at which they have got food parcels out.''
