Tens of thousands of Auckland students and teachers have swung back into a familiar lockdown routine, but some are taking a different bubble approach, with wellbeing a top priority.
One pair of year 12 students are doing something different this lockdown, moving in together before lockdown began.
"I think we've done differently is we've decided to lockdown together," Ngā Puna o Waiōrea student Aiorangi Melbourne-Morrison told 1 NEWS.
"In the first one we were with our whānau. This round we decided to lockdown together to try and push each other for school, in terms of mahi and terms of mentality, and just trying to get those kairangi [excellences] where we can.
"In terms of supporting... if she needs help, I'll help her because we take different classes, so it's always good to have different perspectives."
Across town in Onehunga, there were just a few children of essential workers in today
Principal Viki Holley believes most schools have got online learning down pat. She's also been preparing paper packs.
"This is what we know with our community, is that there are a number of our families, a big group of our families, where they might have some online access," she says.
"But there might also be a number of children in the house and it's just not going to be possible for them all to be working with a smartphone or an iPad, so this is to do the very best we can to ensure learning continues."
The challenge for school communities, managing the sense of being in lockdown limbo.
Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maquire says the biggest challenge for Kiwis at the moment is the uncertainty.
"Are we talking three days or are we talking much longer?" she says.
"It makes it quite difficult to plan and problem solve and what we know from a wellbeing perspective is that you want people to stay in the present moment ... if you jump too far forward, if you have people 'what if'ing, if you have people who are trying to come up with a solution to every possible challenge under the sun, that is very unhelpful to our stress levels."
A focus on child wellbeing is key.
"One of the things we need to do as children come back is absolutely focus on their wellbeing," Holley says.
"But also get children to go back to thinking about what it is that they need to do. Is it that they need to go for a walk, is it that they need to listen to some music, is it that they need to focus on doing bubble breathing.
"So children will have a variety of strategies already and our job as adults is about helping them is about helping them and reminding them to utilise those strategies."
New coping strategies are now at play for a now familiar scenario, for people like Aiorangi and friend Rhylee Adams.
"I struggled last lockdown having no friends or no support or no social communication," Rhylee says.
"We had technology, it just didn't feel the same because you go to school to do your work, but also to socialise and see your mates.
"And having your mate in real life in quarantine is just a much better approach to this lockdown."
It's a strategy to get the mahi done, together.
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