Students to become more connected
A group of Christchurch students will be the first to have school internet supplied to their homes.
Half of Haeata Community Campus students do not have internet at home, and principal Andy Kai Fong is happy a trial starting next month will help remedy that.
Crown-owned companies Chorus and Network for Learning (N4L) have unveiled new initiatives to see all school students given the chance to continue learning after the school bell rings.
The initial trial will provide free wi-fi to the homes of a street within the Aranui school’s community before Christmas.
If successful, it would expand to other streets until most of the school’s catchment area was covered.
Students could log in to unlimited internet from home using a school-provided device and under a secure school network.
Kai Fong said about 50 per cent of his students had no internet access at home and there was no way to continue their learning after school hours.
‘‘For example, we’ve got a student working on project to start a school radio station. He’s been doing research after school and on weekends around the required equipment and costs because he’s so excited about the idea.
‘‘This wouldn’t happen if he didn’t have access to the internet at home.’’
N4L chief executive Greg Woolley said the extended access would help reduce a ‘‘widening’’ inequity and ensure children could access digital technology regardless of where they lived or their socio-economic status.
Chorus would cover the limited costs involved in the trial, due to using existing infrastructure.
Chorus chief executive officer Kate McKenzie said an upgrade would also bring Gigabit broadband directly to classrooms. Most schools used one broadband connection shared using wi-fi access points.
‘‘Our children are at the heart of a massive technological change and New Zealand’s world-class fibre network is at the centre of this,’’ she said.
‘‘The way schools use the internet is constantly evolving and the demand is skyrocketing, with an increasing focus on online learning programmes and video.
It was important New Zealand became a world leader in digital technology, she said. Businesses in a southern West Coast town quickly sourced bottled water for guests after E coli was discovered in the town’s water supply.
Residents connected to the Fox Glacier water supply were advised by the Westland District Council to boil their water on Thursday after the bacteria was detected. More than 300 residents were affected, a council spokeswoman said.
Despite the health risk, some hotel and motel managers said they had not received complaints or heard reports of guests falling ill over the weekend.
Heartland Hotel Fox Glacier general manager Gladys Bargello said the group’s sister hotel in Franz Josef was able to supply tap water for food preparation at its restaurant.
Notices were given to guests, bottled water was supplied to rooms, and each room had a kettle.
Hotel staff had been doing ‘‘everything we can’’ to remain compliant with health and safety rules. ‘‘We are lucky to have a sister property to help us. We did everything necessary to make our guests comfortable,’’ Bargello said.
Bella Vista Motel manager Sue Bergquist said all guests were notified and a staff member translated some notices into Mandarin to cater for Chinese visitors.
Complimentary bottles of water were given at check-in and the situation had a ‘‘relatively low-cost impact’’, she said.
The Last Kitchen manager Bhranti Patel said lunch and dinner services were unaffected. The council was ‘‘satisfied with the work’’ the restaurant had done to ensure customers had access to boiled and bottled water, she said.
Yesterday, the Westland District Council said it had two successive days of clear results on the Fox Glacier water supply.
‘‘If the next result is also clear, then council will be able to remove the boil water notice.’’
Water mains were being flushed and the chlorine dose had been increased at the water treatment plant to disinfect the reticulation system.
Community Public Health was working closely with the council to ensure the water supply was restored to its normal state as soon as possible.