Our decision regarding Year 12 & 13 students returning earlier to school during Alert Level 3.

Dear KingsWay Community,

I want to start by thanking all parents and teachers who are presently in the throws of facilitating distance learning. I know that it is not easy, especially for those who are juggling working from home. Hopefully, we won’t be in Alert Level 3 for much longer, and we can resume teaching and learning in person.

Many of you would have watched the news last night related to the return of Year 12 and 13s to some schools. The media reported that the majority of schools were opposing this concession because of staff safety concerns. While this is one consideration, I believe that this under represents the truth. I want to use this opportunity to outline why KingsWay cannot and will not accept this proposal at present under the restrictions set out by the Ministry of Education.

Our Senior School staff are fully committed to their students, and many would jump at this opportunity if a return benefitted all their students. However, several limitations to the concession make this unfeasible. I will highlight a few.

First, and most significantly, maintaining bubbles of 20 students and limiting students to one teacher is not practical or workable at the secondary school level. Many of our classes exceed the cap of 20 students and most students take five subjects with different teachers. For instance, we would ideally like to continue a Senior Drama class that has 24 students. Which of the students would not attend, especially as they do group performances? What would the students do when this class finishes?

Second, organising transport arrangements is also an issue for many of our Senior students as school buses are not running at Alert Level 3. Is it fair or equitable if teachers continue with class learning while some students miss out because they cannot attend due to transport issues or it is an inconvenience for parents who are trying to work from home?

Finally, teachers cannot be in two places at once. Either they are focused on distance learning or in-person learning. Our focus as a school for the remainder of Alert Level 3 is on supporting distance learning.

We remain committed to ensuring the success of all our learners and being responsive to any workable opportunities from the Ministry of Education to get our seniors back as soon as possible. Management are working tirelessly to find creative solutions to allow for catch up sessions.

Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss this or any other COVID matter.

Kind regards,

Graeme Budler
Executive Principal