Advice for students, parents and whānau

Advice for students, parents and whānau

1. A package of options to support students’ learning at home when Term 2 have been developed. It involves the education system working closely with schools. In the first instance you should contact your schools about any upcoming issues or are anyhow concerned about your child’s learning at home. If you have difficulty contacting your child’s school and the teacher doesn’t contact you back due to any reasons please get in touch with your nearest office of the Ministry of Education.

2. Online resources are made available which include a range of resources for parents and whanau, teachers and leaders for early learning through senior secondary. Consult your teacher and discuss about what resources are right for your child.

3. Access to devices and internet have been worked upon with principals to identify students who are likely to need additional resources, devices, internet connectivity or hard copy learning materials also, to continue their learning from home when the school terms resumes.

4. Two television channels are being started from April 15 and will broadcast education-related content- one for English and another for Maori medium including content targeted for Pacific and other communities. The broadcasts will run over six and half hour during the day and will include specialised content to support your learning. th

5. Technology is great whether it’s for information, learning, or even keeping connected or for games, music and videos. This is also a reminder about how to keep young people safe in an online world where, unfortunately there are predators too.

6. Advice for parents who are essential workers: Essential workers will need to use their existing networks for in-home care, for example a neighbour, relative, friend or current carer/nanny who can come to their house or provide childcare inside their own home.If essential workers are unable to access childcare, the government will fund other licensed childcare providers to necessarily provide in home care to the children aged 0-14 of essential workers.

7. Advice for unwell students: If you have a particular concern about your child or even yourselves, Healthline has a dedicate line set up for COVID-19 enquiries with translators and interpreters available 24/7 in around 150 languages.

8. Talking to children about COVID-19

Children look up to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events such as COVID-19. Parents, caregivers, whānau and teachers will have a particularly important part to play in reassuring children during this time.

What are my options for accommodation during self-isolating?

Self-isolation requires that you have accommodation that is stable enough and that you limit your contact with any other people living in the same dwelling; for e.g. a separate room and, if possible, separate bathroom.