Welcome back to Term 2! Here is some detailed information for you around our plan for learning from home beginning Wednesday 15th April.

Principles of East@home learning

• keeping it simple for the students so they can structure their day.

• keeping it simple for teachers to manage, and have time to learn new ways of working.

• following an asynchronous approach (students doing different things at different times) with some synchronicity through Ako

• being realistic with the learning that will take place @home.

We will follow a daily East@home structure.

Constructing timetables

During the East@home learning time, we are encouraging students to be more autonomous and self managing with their learning. This includes deciding what to study and when (apart from possible Live Times). Students do not necessarily need to work on a 9am-3pm basis. This approach to teaching and learning needs to work for the range of students and their situations.

However, some students do need some structure and guidance to support them in their learning. Therefore we have provided guidance for the number of hours students should engage in learning and we have developed the following information to help students in this process. Year 10 students will engage in approximately 4 hours of learning per day, plus ako. Students can organise what they learn when they learn.

The first Wednesday of term (15/04) and subsequent Monday’s students will be supported to construct their timetable for the week, using the templates and information to help.

Please click on the links to videos and templates which guide students further in constructing their timetable.

To check which class your Ako group is timetabled for please check here.

• Video

• Planning your week - 10AAA, 10BBB, 10CCC, 10DDD, 10EEE

• Planning your week - 10FFF, 10GGG, 10HHH, 10III

Teachers will be posting learning on Google Classroom and they may offer ‘Live Time.’ This is when the teacher will connect with students through a variety of ways such as email/Google Meet/Google docs. The intention of this time is to make it more interactive, answer questions and give feedback. Subject teachers will communicate when this might happen.

The schedules below show possible Live times. The year levels have been split into two (blue and pink), to give greater flexibility for departments to have teachers available

Year 10 Live time Schedule

Across the week we are asking students to engage in:

Year 10: 3 hours of English,‌ ‌Maths,‌ ‌Science,‌ ‌Tikanga a Iwi and 2 hours of PE/Health and each option subject.

Year 10 Options

There are 20 sessions (hours) for students to schedule this learning. Students may split what they study in the sessions, for example they may schedule short bursts of regular learning for one of their subjects. Students may wish to study outside of these typical school hours. If there is no Live Time, students can prioritise other learning here, although we recommend students still scheduling their subject in this session.

It is important that students consider their hauora during this time, and prioritise times to look after their own wellbeing. This includes physical activity.

To support home based learning you could help with the following East@home habits:

• Ask students if they have checked their email every morning - this will be where students find notifications from teachers in the form of emails and Google Classroom notifications

• Ask students to share their daily timetable with you - make sure to include regular breaks, make space for exercise, creativity and device-free time

• Where possible, provide a quiet place to work - a space that is comfortable, well lit and where they can work without distractions. We prefer that students work on a laptop or computer

• Make sure they have a support person - This is a new way of working for a large number of our community. The reality is that many of us, students and adults, need someone to hold us accountable to deadlines. As a parent you may wish to make sure students have a work plan, or see if they have buddied up with students in their class to check in with each other. You can request (by contacting the ako teacher) to become a guardian on their Google Classrooms so that you can view the learning they are expected to undertake. For students who can easily spend hours on games or social media, a support person will be essential to ensure good timetable habits and help with managing screen time. During school closures our usual support networks will be available. You can find contact details for teachers, deans and Guidance Counsellors at https://www.wegc.school.nz/our-school/staff.