NZEI Te Riu Roa Encourages Teachers And Parents To Be Easy On Themselves As Term 2 Commences

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Liam Rutherford is encouraging educators and parents to be kind to themselves and their whānau as Term 2 commences today.

“As Term 2 kicks off, parents and educators will be feeling anxious about how best to provide remote learning for tamariki. It’s important that we remember we’re still in the middle of a crisis that we’re each dealing with - we need to be kind to ourselves and be realistic,” he says.

“Learning and teaching within the lockdown will not look the same as a usual school day. Parents don’t need to try and replicate the classroom at home.”

Mr Rutherford says educators’ main focus will be the wellbeing of the families they are interacting with.

“School work in this time should not be creating more stress for families or educators. In fact, this is an opportunity to see how quality teaching and learning can exist outside of the formal curriculum. Kids can be challenged and engaged when involved in household activities like helping to cook or garden, playing games, discussing movies or reading favourite books together,” he says.

Mr Rutherford says that children with limited access to devices and internet connections and supporting whānau of children with additional learning needs will be the biggest challenges for many schools and centres during the lockdown.

“The Government’s investment in devices for learners is welcome, but as the Education Minister himself has said, there simply won’t be enough to meet the need completely. Schools and centres know their local communities and I’m sure they’ll be doing the best they can to support them.”

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