Online Learning – Letter of Introduction

Rewa Rewa School Covid-19 Update 3

Online Learning Introductory Letter

9 April 2020

Kia ora koutou e te whānau

Welcome to the introduction of the first 100% online learning platform for all students at Rewa Rewa School. We are excited to be bringing this learning environment to you and hope that your child will love it also! We will be offering a range of ideas and learning tasks for students to enjoy whilst they are in their home learning environment – how you use these resources is up to you and your family.

We would love some feedback as to what is/is not working for you and your child, as well as any suggestions you may have – please email your child’s class teacher/s directly to do this (see below or the Our People page of our website). Our teaching team has been working very hard in the background, as you can imagine, as this is the first time that we have used a 100% online learning platform. So, we are definitely learning as we go. There are bound to be wins, as well as a few ‘oops’ moments and we ask for your patience and understanding as we all learn to navigate this new working environment.

On a personal note, please be mindful that our teachers have families also. When learning resumes on Wednesday 15 April, staff will still need to exercise some flexibility to stay refreshed and up to date, whilst providing care for their own loved ones.  We will be working hard to provide a balance and ensure everyone is well supported.

General

Online learning for all students nationwide, including Rewa Rewa School, is due to begin on Wednesday 15 April. Each family can choose whether to access this learning some of the time/all of the time/none of the time. At times, during the day, students may work with or view their teacher ‘live’, as well as having the opportunity to work independently or with a family member. Our Yr 5 – 6 students will also have the ability to choose to collaborate with each other through Seesaw or Hāpara, if they so wish. Yr 1 – 4 students can use the Seesaw platform to connect with others in their class.

Initially, the online programme will begin with 2 days when teachers will be available online at stated times each day. This will be followed by a non-contact day, when teachers will be unavailable, to allow them to update their programmes for the next 2 days. Once we have this streamlined, we will be looking at the next step! Rest assured, access to your child’s programmes will always be available, even on non-contact days. We are aware that some families may be sharing use of the same device for work or more than one child’s online learning. To work around this, teachers have selected different times of the day to be ‘live’ online. Seesaw also enables users to record events, so that you can view teacher sessions at a later time. In this way, families will be able to timetable their day to suit individual needs.

Online Protocols for Your Child/Family

BEFORE your child goes online, we strongly urge all parents to explore your child’s class programme first. Think about what may be appropriate and decide when and for how long the online session should last for your child.

THEN discuss your family protocols with your child – e.g. 10 – 11am online, 11am – 1.30pm offline etc. If devices are being shared with other household members, this will also need to be factored into your family’s timetable.

ENCOURAGE your child, but if they are not interested or have had enough, we advise that you don’t force them to continue. We recommend that you take each day as it comes and judge what is right for your child on any given day – going outside and building a fort may be a better option!

How to Access Online Learning for Your Child

Online instructions for how to access learning will be emailed to you by your child’s class teacher before Wednesday 15 April.  Please follow these instructions to access your child’s learning programme and timetable each day. If you have any difficulties, please email charlotte.hills@rewarewa.school.nz for assistance.

Online Cyber Safety Tips – Staying Safe Online

We encourage you to discuss internet safety with your child. Our Digital Safety Agreement (pg. 5 of our Enrolment Form), is available on the Information tab of our website to help with this. Agree what they can do online, including sites they can visit and appropriate behaviours.  Consider this useful checklist for parents:

• review and approve games and apps before they are downloaded
• review privacy settings of sites and apps
• check children’s profiles and what they are posting online
• check sites your child is accessing – each child at Rewa Rewa should only be  accessing their own class site unless the learning is shared as a whole-school activity, such as a shared book reading
• remind children that anything that is posted online will be permanently on the internet
• take time to understand what sites they are visiting, who they are communicating with online and check in regularly
• most social media sites have age restrictions to join, check these before letting your child use them or join them
• monitor your child’s use of the internet and consider them only being online in a common use area of the house, eg. the living room, rather than a bedroom
• make sure your child knows to report any activity they don’t feel comfortable with to parents and caregivers straight away.

Netsafe provides comprehensive information for parents and caregivers and have published top tips for online safety during the lockdown.  To report an incident to Netsafe, contact them via this link: https://www.netsafe.org.nz/reportanincident/  If you think a child in your care is the victim of online exploitation or abuse, report it to the NZ Police. If you or your child are in immediate danger or a crime is being committed, call 111.

If we all work together to make sure children are safe online, we can make the internet a great resource for people of all ages.

From the team at Rewa Rewa School, we wish you continuing good health and hope that you and your family remember to focus on the positive things in your lives – just watching so many families re-connecting by going for a walk or a bike ride together is so special. Capture those special moments for family memories of these times.

We miss you all, but look forward to seeing you online soon.

Arohanui,

Avi (avi.jayasekara@rewarewa.school.nz), Helen (helen.pine@rewarewa.school.nz), Ana (ana.kawenga@rewarewa.school.nz), Charlotte (charlotte.hills@rewarewa.school.nz) and Jan (principal@rewarewa.school.nz)