Dear Parents,

Welcome to week 2 of remote flexible learning.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge the support we have been getting from families as they navigate what this new form of learning looks like with their family. We know it will be different for each family and will support you in whatever learning you are managing.

Research from places such as Christchurch where schools were closed for several months suggest that time away from school with family won’t impact the long term learning of the students. Professor John Hattie was the adviser for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority that oversaw school examinations after the devastating Christchurch earthquakes of 2011. Schools were closed for weeks and most students did not have the opportunity for online learning or discussion with teachers. But results did not suffer and high school students did not drop out.

He said the difference was that once school returned teachers focused on "what has to be learned" instead of getting through a lot of curriculum.

Professor Hattie said Australia had the "longest school year and school day" of any country in the world. Even if 10 weeks were removed, he said "students would generally still be getting more classroom time than students in countries like Sweden, Finland and Estonia", which consistently outperformed Australia in maths, science and reading scores.

This did not mean students should not embrace online opportunities for term two and Professor Hattie said it could be a chance to better outcomes. "You have to be amazed what teachers have done to turn the whole system around so that kids can work at home doing various things," he said. "But my message is 'let's not get stressed about it'. "When we get back to the old normal the recovery will be reasonably quick." (adapted from article Sydney Morning Herald)

Leadership are meeting regularly throughout this time and discussing the feedback the teachers are getting.  You will have noticed that this week there are only 5 tasks being set home with one of them being the feedback task. We know each families circumstances are different and as such are supportive of whatever you are able to achieve within your family and managing the needs of your own work requirements. Even if you can only manage the feedback task each day that will be ok, in other words, be kind to yourselves!

Thank you to those families who have been able to change their work arrangements and/or find someone to help supervise their children. We know for some parents there is no other option but sending the children to school for onsite supervision must be a last resort.

Kind regards

Jodie