Kia ora whānau

How much things can change in a week! This is the second version of my contribution to this Tatler; the one I wrote prior to lockdown seems to have lost its currency.

The suddenness of our shift into Level 4 lockdown took us by surprise and has left many less prepared for time away from school than they might have liked. At Level 4 we have been able to get devices to students who need them and hard packs of learning to those without internet, so learning can continue for all students in this time away from school. A shift in levels should signal ability to access a greater range of resources.

No time is a good time to be in this situation, but this lockdown has come at a challenging time, when senior students are already aware of the limited classroom learning time left in the year. As mentioned in email communication to you at home, the best approach is to focus on the learning that is provided by engaging each day in online classes, completing work, asking questions and seeking feedback from teachers. Students also need to know that there has been commitment from NZQA and the Ministry of Education to work together to ensure that students will have a fair opportunity to gain NCEA, despite the disruption caused by the Delta variant.

It certainly is a time where our collective efforts are needed to support our young people and I acknowledge and thank all that you are doing to reinforce our messages and support learning at home.

While safety for all has prompted the lockdown, there are costs and challenges. We understand families will be coping not only with having their children home from school, but with possible work and financial pressures. There are challenges for students, coping with significant disappointment that events that they had planned, or trained for and looked forward to, are not able to proceed, and concern about impact of lockdown on their learning programmes. It is challenging for teachers too, managing family demands at home and organising online learning in the same environment.

I guess a summary is that it is hard for everyone, and that we are all trying to do our best. Thank you to you all.

We look forward to welcoming our students back to the classroom as soon as it is allowed.

Until then, my very best wishes to you all. Keep well and stay safe.

Ngā mihi nui

Sue Hume
Principal