Dear Parents,

Welcome to The Whangaparaoa Home Learning Hub. This hub is a place where you can find resources to help your child connect with all kids of learning during their time at home. 

No doubt there will be adults and children in our community who are feeling anxious about the idea of home learning. Please know that as a team, the staff at Whangaparaoa School are here to support you. We are feeling anxious about the changes too, but are committed to making this a positive experience for our tamariki. Many of our teachers have young families of their own, so will fully sympathise with the adjustments needed in routines in the home. They may have some great advice for you, or they may be in search of some great advice from you! This is one of the ways we can all support each other through this new experience. 

The title 'home learning' can conjure up all kinds of thoughts of nightmare homework sessions stretched from an hour after school to the whole day! That is far from the experience we want you to have with your children. You can start slowly and build up a great routine that suits the rhythm of your family routine and commitments. 

We understand that in some households, parents have pressure to keep up work appointments online and childcare may be juggled between different family members. We have tried to keep this in mind when planning the Learning Hub. Expectations will vary depending on the age of the children but rather than laying out very detailed plans for each day, we are encouraging teachers to set a small of 'Must Do' tasks and some suggestions for other 'Can do' tasks. It is our hope that having some things children must do, will help support parents in establishing some routines as you will have the backing of the teacher checking in on those tasks to help get some settled learning time into the routine. By also leaving time for some can do activities, children will hopefully feel they have choice and some control over their learning and can engage in tasks that are of interest to them. 

Every family is different when it comes to technology expectations, tools available, limits and boundaries around screen time. By having a small number of must do activities, parents can set boundaries around screen time and get children out and about , making, doing and creating in a balance that suits your family. 

Our teachers want to stay connected with their class. They care about how everyone is getting on  and are there to help children get involved with learning experiences. This will look a little different at each level and for each class, but all teachers will do their best to connect with you. We have chosen Zoom as the tool to connect with.  Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that can be used for video conferencing meetings, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat. Initially, our teachers will touch base with your child in a 1:1 call. They will check in to see how things are going and to help you use the basic tools on Zoom. You can download Zoom on www.zoom.us    The teacher will make contact with you soon after school closure begins to offer you a convenient time to meet online. 

Once children are up and running with the tool, the teacher will evolve the way this tool is used, gradually including small group meetings, or perhaps  running workshop teaching groups. We hope this tool will help people continue to feel connected even when they are a little isolated! 

Likewise, the content on the hub will change and grow gradually as time goes on. With uncertainty around the time-frame these measures will be needed for, it is difficult to say how developed the site will become, but it will be evolving and we hope that it meets your needs throughout this time. 

We really feel strongly that our main job is to connect and to engage children in a way that keeps them happy and productive. With this in mind,  we plan to focus strongly on relationships and connections as much, if not more than the production of work. We hope to bring some fun and laughter through the site and give children the chance to send in ideas, work, videos etc., and have a platform for sharing these amongst their class or the school. All submissions from children and families are welcome by emailing connected@wgp.school.nz . We will do our best to share them in the appropriate forum. 

For the first week or so, explore the Learning Hub with your child. Try out some activities and connect with your teacher. Doing all these things will get you off to a great start with home learning. 

Stay healthy and happy!

The Team at Whangaparaoa School