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Students return to Auckland classrooms on Monday morning, but principals say anxiety is high and they hope some families will keep children away.
As Auckland progresses to level 2, students will return to school after more than two weeks of remote learning.
The president of the Association of Secondary Principals and principal of Onehunga High School, Deirdre Shea, said that level 2 this time brings “additional anxiety”.
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
The school children return to Manurewa’s Finlayson Park School on Monday.
“We have been here before, the recent group is local and we are at the end of August, with especially senior students, much closer to the end of their academic year.”
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However, he said schools wanted to assure students and families that health advice is being followed and that schools are safe places for students and staff.
Haare Popata teaches 6th and 7th grade classes and leads the traffic patrol outside Finlayson Park School in Manurewa, south of Auckland.
He said the number of children arriving was “far below” normal.
The children were still not sure to return because the families were too: “How is 2.5?”
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
Teena Tuimauga was concerned about sending her son back to school, but she did not have the tools for homeschooling.
“All we can do is make sure they feel safe.”
A hand sanitizing station had been set up just inside the school gates and there were also trays to sanitize shoes.
Mother Stephanie Bidois was leaving her children, ages 5, 6 and 10.
She said that although they were eager to return, she was “scared” by the health risks.
Teena Tuimauga echoed that, saying that her oldest son, who is 10, “loves school” and wanted to go back.
He had been hesitant about going back to school, but said he didn’t have the tools to continue homeschooling.
Manurewa High School principal Pete Jones said that upon leaving level 3 last time, only about 60 percent of students returned in the first week. I expected the numbers to be roughly the same this week.
Jason Dorday / Stuff
Directors expect attendance to be lower in the first week.
“The feeling is that the whānau in our community are anxious, Covid feels closer this time and there are still cases that crop up.”
He said comments from students had been that many were not attending school and were concerned about getting their grades and what to expect when they finished school.
Students couldn’t be expected to maintain physical distancing without creating a highly regulated and controlled regimen, he said, which would only increase levels of stress and anxiety and not lead to a positive learning environment.
Hobsonville Point School staff have been busy making masks, Principal Maurie Abraham said, which they would wear Monday.
“We will strongly encourage our students to wear masks and the best way to do that is to model it ourselves.”
Masks are not required by staff or students at school, and children on school buses are also exempt from wearing masks.
However, experts have advocated the use of masks for ages 10 and up, and a Dunedin school has introduced “Mask Monday” to normalize the use of masks among students. =
At Newton Central School, Principal Riki Teteina said he anticipated that several families would be eager to go back to school.
The school made sure that students sanitized their hands at the school gate, and hand washing and physical distancing would be a central focus, he said.
