Tena koutou katoa. Nga mihi nui atawhai.

‘Teachers are doing well to help us cope with the work load.’

‘A little bit stressful, but I’m coping’

‘I think that it has been hard trying to adjust back into the real school life, especially as we have a lot more pressure to get things done. I know that credits have been reduced but in reality it hasn’t actually relieved much stress at all.’

‘I feel that by being back at school it has really helped me get back in track.’

‘I much prefer being at school because I enjoy keeping busy and I thrive off being in a class environment.’

‘I want to go back home now’

These are some of the comments from our students as they respond to our currently live AskYourTeam survey. We had surveyed all the students about their responses to online learning just before we came out of lockdown and we are now re-surveying to see how our students are coping with the return to onsite learning.

Although the survey is not closed yet, we can see from the comments so far that there are a wide range of responses – from those who are finding learning at school easier to those who would prefer ‘to go back home.’ What we are working on is discerning where each student is in their learning and how we can support them to make the most of their ongoing learning opportunities. We encourage our students to participate in this survey if they haven’t already completed it so we get a full range of responses.

In the next few days, student reports will be published with identified ‘cause for concern’ for some students in particular areas. For those students, the teachers will be making contact with the parents to discuss these concerns and ways that the students can be supported to resolve these concerns.

“Sometimes we need someone to be there with us – not to fix the problem – to simply be present with what we are feeling, to show up and acknowledge what we’re going through and hold a supportive, safe space for us to be with what’s showing up for us.”

amihappy.com.