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Strengthening the Bonds throughout the McGlashan Community
Dear McGlashan community, The effort of connecting and engaging with learning from home will have its stresses and the most important message I can give you is to keep things calm and in perspective. There is a plethora of helpful advice coming at us from every angle but please choose what is right for your family. The staff at McGlashan understand the challenges of distance learning. As I have said before, please stay connected with us and seek help if you are struggling. In the coming days and weeks, we will include more detail around what de-escalation looks like and how this might play out for schools. The complexities of returning to school and functioning at Level 2 or 3 have been communicated to the Ministry at a local level and they have listened. At every level, plans will continue to be predicated on student well-being and will support their need to be motivated and connected learners. John McGlashan College will continue to make decisions about how to best support students in a grounded and pragmatic way. Level 3 and University Entrance continue to be of key importance so that our students will be in a position to transition to their chosen next steps. There has been considerable discussion about how the qualification can be altered, amended or paused to help us respond to the consequences of the COVID-19 situation. We expect to hear more from the Ministry and NZQA about how this will affect any current practices. Our qualification system is both robust and flexible and any changes will have an international and generational impact so must be well thought through. Data from our first day of online learning indicates almost 100% take-up. Obviously, most of our students are eager to connect with their teachers and maintain their learning and our staff have responded in typical fashion by putting together programmes that are relevant, engaging and manageable. You may have seen Nigel Latta on Seven Sharp on Wednesday evening. He advised parents that the most beneficial approach to getting your family through the current situation is to promote a calm and settled home environment. Regards to you all. Neil Garry Principal *The information gathered here comes from the most recent communications from the Secondary Schools Principals’ Association of NZ.