A New Paradigm

Steve Venour - Head of Secondary

OK, our Grade 3 daughter seems to be into Mathletics, unless she has already worked out how to ‘alt tab’ her screen and is really watching Ladybug Girl and Cat Noir. Mathletics isn’t really part of the plan but we need to park her somewhere whilst I help our Prep child who is clamouring for attention and appears to be grouping matchsticks in tens. At this point I don’t quite care what our  grade 3 child is doing – she is quiet. If Ladybug Girl can achieve that, all power to her.

The dog has stopped barking which provides some relief and our teenage daughter is migrating between rooms trying to find a place that connects to the internet and is relatively quiet. I am feeling guilty that I haven’t checked Microsoft Teams for 10 minutes and am now counting matchsticks whilst part of my brain is mapping out an upcoming meeting. I caught my wife this morning looking at stuff on Instagram and when I helpfully pointed out that it looked pretty superficial, she muttered through clenched teeth: "I have been home schooling for three days after having the kids at home for four weeks. I have had very little sleep and it has not been pleasant. If I want to take five minutes just once in my day to look at something that brings me joy, I WILL!!!  

There is no question that there are some hard yards in front of us this term, much harder still for those who have all this and are additionally worried about their small business or their need for non-COVID medical support. I don’t feel remotely qualified to speak into these spaces except to say that from a teaching perspective, feel no additional pressure.

We are aware there is a range of expectations in our parent community – some want their children to have more work and many may be concerned about the unexpected exhaustion that accompanies too much focusing on a screen. We want to engage kids and keep the wonder of learning alive, to provide meaningful activities that can give them structure for the day. We still want to challenge them but are still trying to gauge the workload - we don’t want you to feel you need to push and push. Do what you can do – if something can’t be submitted, we will all survive. In our enthusiasm to promote learning and provide work (and I am incredibly proud of our staff), I don’t want that to be interpreted as additional stress – there is enough on your plate.

Staff will contact you over the next week to get a sense of how things are playing out ‘at your end’. The purpose of this is not about your child’s academic progress or subject specific questions but rather getting a broad sense about what is working well and what is proving to be more challenging than anticipated – for you as a family and for each child. This feedback will help us adjust our pitch if we need to. From a school perspective, staff are also working hard. The complexities of the technology have presented challenges and there is lots of ‘problem solving on the run’. As we overcome the challenges of basic operations, we are moving more into how we improve our pedagogy rather than simply transplant typical lessons onto a digital platform. We miss the kids – the interaction, repartee, the ability to gauge their understanding in real time and seeing their ‘Ah-ha’ moments of grasping a new idea.

When pastors talk of representing Christ in adversity the reference is often around something dramatic – conflict, tragedy, abuse, addiction or poverty - and the wearing grind of something like managing kids and online learning at home can catch us out because there is a kind of unspectacular ordinariness to it. But perhaps for us now – this is what adversity might look like. I hope you and your families are doing okay and, despite everything, a restful grace can permeate your day (and mine!) and we can be God’s people to the world.