Well, it has been an interesting Week 6 of Term 2. We returned to school this week to a new kind of normal. Here are some of our Level 2 changes:
- Te Pihi kids were excellent at sanitising their hands as they entered the class and also as they left the class.
- Only one person in the toilets/bathroom area at a time.
- Most came to school in cars, and were picked up by parents or grandparents in the afternoons, as the adults were encouraged to stay in their cars and not to come in to the classes. Some of our kids had to be very brave coming into class all by themselves and they did it!
- When the parents picked up their kids, they drove around the cones on the field to the pickup point.
- The bus brought a few children to school and they had their own assigned seats. Sir was also travelling on the bus to and from school.
- School hours changed too. We started earlier at 8am, had a shorter, earlier lunch time and finished at 2pm.
- When we arrived at school, we all did quiet colouring in instead of playing outside.
- Playtimes were divided into Junior and Senior times, so there was enough room for everyone to have plenty of space in the school playground. We had to keep a metre away from everyone else whenever we could, even when we lined up.
- Morning tea and lunch were eaten inside. Then we went outside for some fresh air and a quick play.
- Instead of all sharing the equipment like Lego and blocks, each child chose a container which they played with and then kept in their bubble for the whole day.
- We did our reading online with our i-pads, two people at a time with the teachers.
- Home reading was from our online PM readers.
- No full school assembly. We had our own class assembly on Friday afternoon.
- When we were in our class, there was no big furniture! The kids sat in their own taped 'square bubble' on the floor with a cushion, a toy, their book box and a plastic bag of their own work books, pencil, rubber, colouring pencils.
