GEKA Carnegie

Remote Learning Experiences 

Natalie Cross, Early Childhood Teacher

The 2020 GEKA kindergarten began like any other year for educators, children and families.  A sense of optimism, excitement about building relationships and many ideas about how we can offer the best learning experiences available. How quickly, this turned around for all us when a once in a lifetime pandemic changed all our plans and expectations, with no rhyme or rhythm about what the next month, week and sometimes day would bring.      

Through the uncertainty, we had to adjust and this threw up a lot of challenges for parents who had to work from home and become a teacher. Educators had to juggle how to cater for children still attending and those at home. I think it would be fair to say we had successes, challenges and good days and bad days.

The disconnection and the unknown was among the hardest. Many children have only spent 7 weeks at kindergarten. Others attended on and off and only had a few more weeks then that. For the handful of children that have attended all year, had to adjust to a changed setting and wondering why they were at kindergarten when others weren’t. Educators love working with children and their families and not being a part of everybody’s learning journey this year has been difficult to accept. 

The leap to technology as our only way to communicate led to inevitable breaks in communication. In some instances we were able to feed through remote learning options for families, knowing this was welcomed by some but added pressure to others, especially with other children having to juggle and working from home. We weren’t always sure what was working well and what wasn’t so we were grateful every time we got feedback to make adjustments along the way. What we have learnt through this pandemic is how critical open communication is, good internet and systems technology. Without the phone conversations, emails, apps and online meeting rooms we would have been reduced to zero contact and not been able to offer invaluable support to each other.   

Initially there were concerns of a learning gap being created at such a young age, but we are now reassured we have coped and learnt how to prepare for next year. First, we are a strong community and families have gone above and beyond for their children at a time of crises. It has been such a pleasure seeing your photos and emails telling us how you are keeping busy and what your children are learning. 

Families are the child’s first teacher and this has never been more relevant in recent history.  Being able to encourage families as educators, share our resources, ideas and concerns has built respectful and kind relationships into a timely reminder of how important it is that educators and families work together for the best interests of our children. Rolling out online meet ups, allowed us to reconnect face to face, remember our friends and faces we had forgotten. Sharing smiles and laughs that we would not have stuck out at home alone, made up for all the terrible technology moments and balancing who wanted to talk and who was happy just to listen. Isolation can lead to anxiety and other wellbeing concerns, so staying connected was the key to finding some positive experiences and motivation.    

In 2021, the Department of Education has agreed to put additional funding into prep next year meaning there will be a smoother transition to school as prep teachers will consider how to use play based learning to achieve learning outcomes and provide a secure social/emotional space that will be adapted to support children to catch up on both their kindergarten year and link in to the requirements of their school environment.  Families are asked to spend time on their section of the transition statement for their child because in many cases you will be able to tell next years prep teacher more about your child than the educators.  

I would like to finish on an optimistic note.  We have high hopes for a safe return to kindergarten in term four for all our children. It will be just what we all need to finish the year on a high note. If we can’t, we know we can cope. But this time together is something we deserve and would bring us joy and excitement about what the next year will bring.