On Tuesday 26 October, Raglan Area School, along with all other schools around the country under level 3, welcomed back year 11-13 students in preparation for end of year exams.
At alert level 3 the school has been running classes for children of essential workers. The return of year 11-13 students has relieved some pressure off parents helping their children, but younger students are still learning from home.
The Chronicle spoke to local tech guru Jake Fyalka to hear more about online learning.
What is your role with supporting online learning while local students are required to learn from home?
I am in charge of devices and the platform that our online learning sits upon. We use google workspace with google classroom. As a parent and a co-worker, I’m really impressed with how organised and thoughtful online learning has been.
What have been the challenges we face as a community for this to work successfully for everyone?
The main challenge that we have had in the community is accessing the devices and the internet. As a facilitator, creating individualised support has been a challenging but fun part of my job. It’s really rewarding finding creative ways to support learning online in the community.
What advice do you have for parents at home with their children trying to make this work?
Be patient, don’t push, let students work at their own pace. The school is here to help; ask for advice.
Would you benefit from any community support? How can people help?
The main thing I think the community can do as a whole is to support their learner. Make sure they are OK and have space and time to transition to online learning. This is a challenging time to grow up; give them time and space to breathe.
