This week Taupo-nui-a-Tia College is running its annual Cancer Society fundraiser. Photo / Supplied
This week Taupo-nui-a-Tia College is running its annual Cancer Society fundraiser. Photo / Supplied
Back to the classroom after three weeks of lockdown.
Taupō-nui-a-Tia College was pleased to report at least 90 per cent of students turned up to the first two days of school.
Senior manager Stephen Fowler said there was a positive vibe among the students as they returned to learning atCovid-19 alert level two conditions. He said there were a range of reasons why 10 per cent of students stayed away.
"Many have a family member with a high health risk and the student doesn't want to be in a place where they could pick up an infection. Some of the students themselves have a high health risk.
"Some like starting school on Monday and not Thursday."
Stephen said some students have said they will come back when the Taupō District is at Covid-19 alert level 1.
Students who are not attending school will be able to continue with online learning through Google Classroom. Teachers will put work online to provide for these students.
He said the high school is following Ministry of Health guidelines around wearing masks, and it is strongly recommended face coverings are worn but not compulsory.
"There is a high level of staff choosing to wear masks. Among the students, a minority are wearing masks."
Normal school activities are resuming, as much as Covid-19 level 2 conditions will allow.
This week the school is taking part in its annual Cancer Society Daffodil Day fundraiser. Students and staff purchase a card, write a nice message to a friend or someone they admire and the card is personally delivered on Friday.
The end of the academic year is fast approaching and the Ministry of Education has moved exam dates back by two weeks. Stephen says this effectively gives the students and staff two weeks back, out of the three weeks lost to lockdown.
He said the school year has been extended by two weeks for senior students and this will provide much-needed flexibility in preparing students for exams.
Meanwhile, he said, senior students working towards completing NCEA were relieved to hear last week they will receive special credits for the 16 days of remote learning while in lockdown.
Along with the rest of New Zealand outside Auckland, Taupō-nui-a-Tia College students will be eligible for Learning Recognition Credits at a rate of 1 LRC per 5 credits achieved through assessment, up to a cap of 8 LRCs at NCEA level 1, and 6 LRCs at NCEA levels 2 and 3.
Tauhara Primary School deputy principal Anne Cameron said students were pleased to see their friends and their teachers after a three-week break due to lockdown.
Tauhara Primary School student Muga Aupaau, 7, learning from home during lockdown. Photo / Supplied
She said there was a relatively high level of anxiety from parents and students about staying safe from the delta variant.
"Some families will be sending their children to school when the country goes back to alert level 1," said Anne.
She said the school was providing hard copy work packs for those children who were going to learn from home until level 1.
This week saw the return of at least 90 per cent of children who would normally attend the primary school. She said many parents opted to send their children back to school on Monday, rather than having them start on the first possible day.
"For the students that did return to school on Thursday, those two days were really nice for settling back in."
Tauhara Primary School students have settled back into learning at level 2. Photo / Anne Cameron
Anne said the school community is getting better at learning from home during lockdown.
"We're also more realistic this second time around. We know parents are working from home as well, not everyone has a device and sometimes the internet is slow."
Now they are back at school, Anne says the focus is on finding out where each student is, and moving forward from there.
"We were really impressed with how some of the parents did some really inclusive learning things with their children while in lockdown."
Wearing a mask is optional at primary school. Instead, the focus is on staying healthy and the children are reminded about hand washing and staying home if they are sick.
