On Wednesday afternoon you will have received an email outlining the home learning all ākonga could access via our hub distance learning websites. This learning was for Thursday and Friday of this week. Here are the links to the three distance learning sites:
Koru Hub Harakeke Hub Pōhutukawa Hub
Now that it has been confirmed that we will be staying in Alert Level 4 for the time being, teams will begin sending an online 'home learning pack' for each week we complete remote learning. The learning pack will run from Monday - Friday every week, and each new pack of learning will be sent out on Sunday evening by 5pm, giving whānau time to read through the new learning before the week begins. Our next online learning pack will be sent out by 5pm this Sunday.
We appreciate that ākonga in Harakeke and Pōhutukawa Hubs currently do not have their school Chromebooks with them at home, and we know that accessing devices can be tricky, especially if families have multiple tamariki trying to complete their learning. As such, teams have endeavoured to include some offline learning activities where possible. We know that families have different capacities for supporting their tamariki with home learning, and we also understand that families may be completing home learning in different ways. Therefore, please do not feel pressured by the learning that is being provided. The learning is available for all tamariki to complete as appropriate. Teams have made suggestions about the learning that could happen each day; this is only a suggestion for parents who are looking for guidance about how to structure their child's learning. We know that families will look to meet their child/ren's needs as appropriate for each family's context.
As part of the learning pack each week, each ākonga (student) will have the opportunity to participate in one small group online learning conference each week, and also one small group online social conference each week. Again, these invitations will be sent to all ākonga, but there is no pressure or expectation to attend. We need to schedule specific times for all conferences, and we understand that some online conferences may not work well with a family's schedule. Please view these invitations as an opportunity, but not an expectation.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health have now given permission for school to organise safe pick up of school devices and learning resources. Understandably, there are necessary guidelines in place around this process to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Given that we do now have several cases of Covid-19 in Wellington, we will run a distribution process of school Chromebooks and reading books on Monday 23rd August, in case we stay in remote learning beyond Tuesday 24th. There is a second article in this communication post to explain this pick up process.
We hope all families are doing well. Please stay at home and stay safe; wear a mask if you head outside, scan the QR code if you access essential services, and as always, horoia ō ringaringa - wash your hands. Take care and we hope to see you all again soon.
Warm regards,
Urs Cunningham