Students back to school with masks
Red level means extra measures in classrooms
Tuesday, February 1, was the first day of the new school year for a number of local students, who faced a new learning environment because of the recent change in the Government’s traffic light Covid defence system.
Horowhenua College Year 9 students not only had to deal with first day jitters, they also had to learn how to navigate new rules, such as wearing masks in classrooms.
Principal Grant Congdon said wha¯nau and students had embraced the changes that needed to be made to help keep everybody safe.
“The maturity with which our school family have received the news [about mask use] and the appropriate questions that have been asked regards health and safety concerns have been really impressive,” said Congdon.
Like everyone else in the country, Horowhenua College staff found out about the move to the red traffic light level when the Prime Minister announced the change on Sunday, January 23.
“We called the senior leadership team together on the Monday. Mask requirements were 80 per cent of our conversation — making sure there was a clear distinction about mask use inside and outside of [college] buildings.”
Congdon said the Ministry of Education had advised the intent of how mask use needed to happen but, recognising that every school is unique, left the finer details to individual leadership to adjust as they needed.
Foxton Beach School opened its doors to returning students on Monday, January 31, with those in Years 4 to 8 having to wear masks indoors for the first time.
Principal Hamish Stuart said the transition to a new way of learning went a lot more smoothly than he expected.
“We have incorporated ‘mask breaks’ every 30 minutes to allow the students to get fresh air and have a drink,” Stuart said.
Where possible, during good weather, teachers at the school will take their pupils outside to allow groups of students to have extra mask-free time.
“We’ve also told the students to signal their teacher, much like when they need to go to the wharepaku, if they are becoming overheated or feeling claustrophobic [while wearing a mask], so they can take a quick break.”
Stuart is also a co-leader of the Horowhenua Ka¯hui Ako, a group of school leaders who work together towards common education goals for 19 schools and 12 early childhood centres in the Horowhenua.
“After the announcement we had a virtual meet with the ministry’s director of education for Wellington, Roy Sye, to help get clarification around what needed to be put in place,” said Stuart.
The local principals also met to ensure consistency across Horowhenua
schools in regards to what messaging was being given to wha¯nau and students as well as how they were going to be dealing with their individual schools’ needs.
Congdon and Stuart believed mask-wearing hesitancy from parents had generally been overcome with comprehensive communication from the schools.
However, some students’ families were either applying for mask exemptions or intended to have their children working from home until
masks were no longer required.
Both principals said it was an entirely different way of working for the teachers as well and added another layer of complexity in regards to dynamic engagement with their
students. “Academics might be our core business,” Congdon said, “but [being aware of] our students’ and teachers’ wellbeing is equally as important. [Everybody] deals with change differently.”