Corona class: Education through a crisis

AS TEACHERS, students and parents round up a second week of remote learning, Our Lady Star of the Sea’s (OLSOTS) principal Kerryn Sells wants everyone to know “we’re very much in this together”.
“Our community is very close, we’re very lucky to be a part of such a supportive group and I know that it’s hard for everyone at the moment. We feel for the parents as well, trying to manage this situation on top of life pressures that have fallen on everybody,” she said.
“Our teachers miss the kids the students miss their friends but the feedback we’ve received is that parents and children have been able to follow our remote learning program.”
She said ensuring the health and safety of the community was “paramount” so OLSOTS have tried to ensure the remote learning program is as close to school as possible.
“We want to provide learning as close to school so families feel confident staying home. It’s involved a lot of work, once we knew that we were shifting to remote learning we were grateful for the four extra days (given by the Victorian Government).
“The fortunate thing for our school is that we already work in teams, we already had a great collaboration and team structure, it’s something we do every day.”
Our Lady Star of the Sea has structured remote learning requirements for prep to grade 2 as such: literacy activities that total 45-60 minutes, numeracy activities 30-45 minutes and additional learning areas, play-based learning and physical activity of about 30-45 minutes.
For grade 3 to 6 students: literacy 45-60 minutes, numeracy 30-45 minutes, physical activities 30 minutes, and additional curriculum areas 90 minutes.
Many of the online learning platforms used by OLSOTS were in use by teachers and students, with a new “Learning from home” website set up for weekly sessions.
“We felt very fortunate we had Seesaw for preps. We’re using Google Classroom for grade 3 to 6, and Google Hangouts. Parents are blown away that their young children know how to get on and off Seesaw,” Ms Sells said.
“It’s really important parents and students remember we’re here on the other end. Teachers are back at work full time, they’re available as they would be face to face from9am until 3.30pm.”
For the small percentage of children on campus (vulnerable children and children of essential service workers), the school has strict protocols in place in line with coronavirus restrictions.
“We’ve got sanitiser everywhere, we’re following all the health guidelines as far as social distancing goes, there’s no more than one to eight children in any classroom.
“We’re communicating as much as we can. Remote learning is all about being flexible with your time, and what works for your family. If you’re working, you might be able to find time over the weekend.”
For the Andrews family, led by mum Taryn, her experience as a teacher comes in handy but is still navigating the challenge of teaching three children (Kenzie, prep, Sonni, grade 4 and Tannah, grade 6) simultaneously.
“When you teach, you never teach three different grades at the same time. I’m spending so much time with my prep, but my other two still need guidance through their lessons also.
“I feel for parents that have never had teaching experience it can be very overwhelming, but I would encourage them to be flexible.
“We start early so we can finish early and go for a bike ride. Kenzie is up at 6.30am in the morning, so I do her reading then in bed with her. It frees up more time later in the day for the other two.
“I try to look ahead I get together whatever materials we might need the night before so I’m not running around looking for things during the lessons.”
Ms Andrews said her biggest piece of advice, not only as a former teacher but also as a mother, was for parents to be gentle on themselves.
“Doing something is better than nothing with your kids. If they’re stressed or upset, stop and start again another day or at a later time. Go for a ride, or read a book, do something different.
“Sometimes real-life learning can be more beneficial then something in a workbook. Homeschooling can be hard, but parenting can be hard in general. So, just enjoy the extra time with your kids and try and do what you can.”