Coronavirus: Focus on wellbeing, not academia, for some schools during Covid-19 lockdown
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
For some schools making sure their students' basic needs are being met during the countrywide lockdown is more important than students making academic progress during the four weeks at home.
Huntly College is one of many schools in New Zealand set to receive food parcels delivered by KidsCan to help families.
There are 3000 food parcels being delivered around the country, which will provide food and essential items to help support a household of five for two weeks.
About 40 families were receiving the pack from Huntly College, about 20 per cent of their school, deputy principal Sharon Moller said.
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* Children are missing school rather than turn up without lunch**
They had been on the KidsCan waiting list for more than a year and from next term would be a new KidsCan school, so would be receiving regular food and supplies when school re-opened.
She said for their community, school isn't just a place of education; it's also a place of warmth, safety and community.
Having worked at a higher decile school in Auckland previously, she said there was a stark difference between the students' experience.
'[At the Auckland school] they go home to a warm house, they have their own bed and bedroom and you can't assume everyone in New Zealand has that at the moment.
'Kids are waking up in their own beds, they have a full fridge and pantry and that doesn't [necessarily] happen for all the Huntly College students.'
There could be two to three families in one house as a large bubble, which was a lot of mouths to feed, Moller said.
Some teachers were in regular contact with a group of families and Moller said their main worry was the health and wellbeing of students and making sure their basic needs were being met.
'The academic can take a back seat.'
The feedback from families receiving parcels was positive.
'Some families don't have vehicles, they have really large bubbles and don't want to go to the food bank or go to WINZ in case they are bring Covid back to their bubble.
'These food parcels will help relieve some stress and anxiety.'
To donate $19 – or what you can afford – visit www.19for19.co.nz