What have we learned about distance learning during lockdown?

This has most definitely been the most unusual term in my teaching career full of so many previously unimaginable twists and turns.  However, with two weeks remaining of a very long 12 week term, I do feel a sense of accomplishment in all that we have overcome and achieved.  Since the move to Level 1 we have been reviewing our annual calendar and, as much as we can, rescheduling a number of our previously planned activities and events. Details of these can be found in separate articles in this newsletter. 

The return to school for our students has been very smooth and they have slipped comfortably back into their in-class learning. Along with other schools in our Kōtuitui Kāhui Ako, we have sought feedback from whanau and students on the distance learning programmes we implemented during lockdown.  A special thank you to the 358 parents/caregivers who took part in this survey.  The feedback you have provided is very useful and will inform our future planning.  The comments in particular have been insightful with a range of different opinions being offered.  The responses from both the parent and student surveys will be used as we review and work on improvements for our distance teaching and learning processes.  A brief summary of parent responses can be found below.

GEIS Parent and Whanau Voice on Learning at Home during COVID-19

What has been good about your child learning at home? (select up to 3)

• 60%  Seeing what they do in their school work
• 52%  Being able to keep my child/ren safe
• 46%  Watching how they learn and understanding my child a bit more

What was hard or difficult about having your child learning from home? (select up to 3)

• 36%  Juggling priorities and not having enough time or energy to support their learning
• 32%  Worried about them falling behind
• 24%  Getting them to talk about their schoolwork

How comfortable are you about contacting the school?

• 62%  Very comfortable

When you made contact with the school, how happy were you with what happened?

• 76% Very happy

What did the school do well to support your child’s learning at home?

• 60% of respondents were happy with the way the school and teachers communicated with them. Communication was timely via regular emails and Google Meet sessions with their child.

• 80% of respondents praised the efforts of their child’s classroom teacher. They commented that teachers made themselves accessible to students, they structured learning effectively and were clear with instructions and expectations. Teachers had engaging and independent work for students to do. Teachers also checked on the wellbeing of students throughout lockdown. Teachers did not pressure children to have work completed - this was appreciated by a number of parents.

• 32% of respondents stated that Google Meet sessions were successful in supporting their child’s learning and keeping their child connected to the teacher and their peers.

• Others support mentioned as being beneficial to families was the loaning of school devices to students over this period of time and other forms of schoolwork that families were provided.

How could the school have supported you and your child further with their learning at home?

• 26% of respondents thought that there could have been increased social interactions with peers.

• 22% of respondents thought that there needed to be improved communications and clarity of expectations

• 17% of respondents wanted more interesting work for their child.

Summary and Suggestions Moving Forward:

The feedback from parents/caregiver was very positive considering the speed at which lockdown occurred. There was high school and teacher praise from respondents, some expressing their gratitude for the work that had been done online during the lockdown.

Suggestions for improvement:

• Increased teacher-parent interaction via email or even 'meet' sessions. Is there a possibility of this continuing when school returns to normal?

• Provision of more creative learning opportunities to fit in with the circumstance of learning from home

• Provision of challenging work for high achieving students

• Less technology(device) based activities

• Providing more opportunities for students to interact socially with each other 

• More activities promoting child wellbeing

• Greater consistency across the school regarding work and expectations

• More online sessions conducted by teachers to support students with additional needs

• Improved awareness of family circumstance when assigning work as some parents worked full time during lockdown

• Greater visibility of child’s work for parents

Ngā mihi nui

Maree Stavert