It’s back to class for many students this week as schools and kura brace for the impact of Omicron.
St Bernard’s College year eight student Tenakee Love is excited to make up for time spent in lockdown.
“I’m just looking forward to all the new subjects cause I'm year eight, all the new classes, I’ll probably get mixed up and put with different kids and that will be a fun, new experience,” he said.
Tenakee’s hopeful he’ll get to attend touch tournaments this year after a December competition was postponed until March this year and has now been cancelled.
“We trained quite a bit and then it was devastating to hear it was called off… I hope that Covid doesn’t affect it as much this year because I reckon we can get some tournaments in, get some good games in and just have fun playing touch,” he said.
With Omicron in the community, students in year four and upwards and their teachers must wear masks inside and when in close contact with others.
These students must also wear masks on public transport and school transport from February 4.
“It's just crazy that before this hardly any kids around the world would have thought about wearing masks and now millions more know what they are and have to wear them on a daily basis,” Tenakee said.
Tenakee and his mum Tara Israelson are pleased school closures are unlikely this year, unless there’s a large number of Covid-19 cases in one school.
“The school has been really good about communicating all of their policies and procedures going forward and I do really trust that they are doing their best…” Israelson said.
“In his intermediate, he’ll be in the small class situation so I’m not feeling too worried to be honest, obviously hopeful we don’t catch Covid but I think in the long-run I’m very pleased we’re going through staying open rather than going through lockdowns after lockdown.”
Israelson said she’s not concerned about the impact of lockdowns on academic learning but worries about how children’s social development has been affected.
“The school that he was at during the first lockdown did send out a lot of stuff so we were able to stay connected with actual academics, but it was that sitting in a class and hearing your friends talking and sharing conversation that I think they really missed out on,” she said.
“The past year has probably been one of the fastest of my life and it’s because we did go into that lockdown… it wrecked my whole mindset, the year went by so fast and so I hope we don’t get another lockdown to ruin this one,” Tenakee Love said.
Schools are urging whānau it’s safe to send children back to onsite learning with public health measures in place to prevent the virus spreading.
“Parents need to understand that the school is open, we’re being as safe in our practices as we possibly can, please send your children back to school – they need each other and our teachers really want to see them in the classroom,” Howick Primary School Principal Leyette Callister said.
She said this term teachers are focusing on assessing students to identify which children need extra help catching up after lockdowns.
“Particularly our five and six-year-olds who’ve had two years of great disruption at the very beginning of their education - we want them to get a good start and so we're really checking closely.”
Schools are planning for a range of scenarios but some principals are calling for clearer guidance from the Education Ministry.
"The Ministry of Education are working incredibly hard, but they probably don’t have enough info given to them in a timely fashion as well,” Callister said.
Concerns remain about what to do if carbon dioxide monitors show ventilation in a space is not adequate.
“There’s no info at all about a timeframe around how that’s going to be rectified,” Callister said.
Whether all schools will be able to access the Government’s mask supply and whether the Education Ministry will provide extra funding for relievers if staff shortages occur are also issues.
“If a teacher gets sick and then has to isolate and then has that 24-day period, we don't know where that relief money is going to come from.
“We really feel we need clearer information about that,” Callister said.
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa chief executive Hohepa Campbell said kura would make decisions based on their communities.
“We have eight regions in Aotearoa and we have kaimahi (staff) of Te Rūnanga Nui working with our tumuaki (principal) and whānau communities.”
“Some of our kura have already indicated that if one member of the whānau was to contract Covid, they will close the kura but having said this, what will occur is home online teaching and learning starting to take place,” Campbell said.
He said if the country moves to phase two of the red setting, most kura are expected to be at least partially closed with only some tamariki attending onsite.
Currently 85 per cent of Māori in New Zealand have received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine to prevent serious Covid-19 illness.
Mr Campbell is calling for the Government to prioritise a vaccination strategy focused on the whole whānau, with sometimes four generations living in one kāinga (home).
“There are reports from some of our tumuaki that vaccination rates are nowhere close to 50 per cent,” Campbell said.
An Education Review Office report released this week found educators and iwi provided an exceptional level of support to Māori students during the latest lockdowns.
"Despite exacerbating social and economic disparities created by the 2021 lockdowns for Māori learners and their whānau, leaders and their communities went to incredible lengths to prioritise the wellbeing of kaiako, whānau and learners at every turn," ERO Deputy Chief Executive Lynda Pura-Watson said in a statement.
ERO found this around the clock support often came at the expense of the wellbeing of kaimahi.
"The significant pressures on educators cannot be ignored," Pura-Watson said.
Te Rūnanga Nui chief executive Hohepa Campbell said staff shortages are nothing new for kura.
“When we encounter difficulties we draw upon the strength of individuals in our whānau to take a leadership role.”
In a statement, the Education Ministry’s Sean Teddy Hautū said the agency’s immediate focus was supporting schools and kura to reopen and operate safely in the week ahead.
"Our regional offices will continue to work closely with local schools, kura and early learning centres to provide support," he said.
"Many schools and staff will have access to their own mask supply.
"For those that do need them we have secured an initial supply of appropriate masks for teachers and school workers.
"Our distribution channels are well established and can usually deliver within 48 hours of receiving orders…" he said.
Institutes facing staffing challenges are encouraged to contact their regional office.
Carbon dioxide monitors will be dispatched to schools and kura from this week, Hautū said.
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