Kia ora koutou e te whanau
Whilst we are able to keep the school open for learning all children should still be attending, as long as they are well. Over the next few weeks some students may be based at home for short periods of time, due to being a close contact or having Covid-19 symptoms. We may also find that whole classes or the entire school are based at home for a time.
This bulletin is about helping you as a parent, prepare for changes to your child’s learning environment, if/when that happens. All of our Bulletins are on our website for future reference.
Learning when the school site is open
Those students attending school will continue to be taught by classroom teachers 9am – 3pm.
For children who are unable to attend school for short periods of time, the following learning opportunities can be accessed by our families:
- Visit our school’s website- Click on Our Learning Home & Online Learning to view suggested learning tasks
- MOE online learning lessons https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/learning-resources
- MOE Home offline learning trial packs https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/2022-learning-packs
- Rewa Rewa School Yr 1 – 4 (Seesaw platform) and yr 5 – 6 (Seesaw /Hapara platforms) general tasks – email your child’s homeroom teacher for instructions as to how to access these
While the school is open for onsite learning, our teachers will not offer online lessons or ZOOM meetings for students based at home.
Learning for children who are unable to attend school because either their class or all classes are unable to operate onsite
Within 24 hours of learning shifting to online at home, teachers will communicate via email to you about:
- How their online learning programme can be accessed and how it will operate
- When the programme will start – we have found that families appreciate having at least 2-3 days before starting any “learning at home” lessons
- Date/time for parents-only ZOOM meeting where you can ask questions about Seesaw/Hapara and how to help your child access their online learning environment
- Realistic expectations shared for supporting your child’s learning i.e. those working online/offline/being home tutored
- What to expect if your child’s teacher is sick/unavailable for ZOOM sessions
TIPS for all parents & caregivers
- You know your child best and your home situation. Use the above information to determine how your child’s learning can be fitted into your own family’s daily routine.
- Each family can choose whether to access online learning some of the time/all of the time/none of the time. If you choose not to undertake any home school learning for your children, depending on how long we are offsite, we expect that their learning progress will be affected.
- Keep good routines such as joining in to the ZOOM sessions as these may help your child to adapt more easily to being away from school and seeing their friends / teachers’ faces. This helps support their mental health.
- Our Seesaw (yr 1 – 4) and Hapara (yr 5 – 6) online learning environments allow us the flexibility to operate live ZOOM or group sessions at set times as well as to place tasks / videos online for families to access when and if it suits them.
- Class teachers will make themselves available to you via email (see below). If you need a personal telephone call, please share your contact details with them – they are only too happy to help you.
- Please send your child’s teacher positive/next steps feedback, as this will help them to adjust tasks and delivery for your child.
Online Protocols for your child/family
- Before your child goes online we strongly urge all parents to explore your child’s class programme first. Think about what may be appropriate and when/for how long the online session will last for your child.
- THEN – discuss with your child what your family’s agreed protocols will be g. 10am – 11am online/11am – 1.30pm offline etc. If children are sharing devices with other family members, this will also need to be factored into your family’s timetable.
- However, if, after all this, your child is not interested or has had enough, we advise that you DON’T force them to continue. We recommend that you take each day as it comes and decide what is right for your child on the day. If you need to go outside and get some fresh air, kick a ball, bake a cake, build a fort – just do it!
Online Cyber Safety Tips – keeping safe online
We encourage you to discuss internet safety with your child. Agree on what they can do online, including sites they can visit and appropriate behaviours such as:
- reviewing and approving games and apps before they are downloaded
- reviewing privacy settings of sites and applications
- checking children’s profiles and what they are posting online
- check the sites your child is accessing – each child at Rewa Rewa School should only be accessing their own class’ site unless the learning is a shared whole school activity such as a shared book reading
- reminding children that anything that is posted online will be permanently on the internet
- taking the time to understand what sites they are visiting and who they are talking with and check in regularly
- some social media sites have age restrictions to join, check these before letting your child use them or join them
- monitoring a child’s use of the internet and consider having them use it in an open, shared area of the house
- making sure your children know to report any activity they don’t feel comfortable with to parents and caregivers straight away.
Netsafe provides our parent and caregiver community with support for online safety. They have information for parents and caregivers and have pulled together their top tips for online safety during the lockdown. To report an incident To Netsafe – https://www.netsafe.org.nz/reportanincident/
If you think a child in your care is the victim of online exploitation or abuse, report it to Police – if you or a child are in danger or a crime is being committed, call 111 or visit your nearest Police Station immediately.
If we all work together to make sure children are safe online, we can make the internet a great tool for people of all ages.
From the team at Rewa Rewa School we wish you continuing good health and hope that you and your family can find the time to focus on the positive things in your lives. We will get through this, just as we have before – think of it as a momentary ‘blip in time’ that we need to jump over to get to greener pastures – we can do this!
Arohanui from
Jan Otene, Principal (principal@rewarewa.school.nz)
Charlotte Hills, Deputy Principal & Ahi Teacher (charlotte.hills@rewarewa.school.nz)
Avi Jayasekara, Junior Team Leader & Wai Teacher (avi.jayasekara@rewarewa.school.nz)
Helen Pine, Wai Teacher (helen.pine@rewarewa.school.nz)
Liz Martindale, Hau Teacher (liz.martindale@rewarewa.school.nz)
Frances Reilly, Whenua Teacher (frances.Reilly@rewarewa.school.nz)
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