Learning at Dio

LOCKED DOWN

BUT NOT LOCKED OUT

Two weeks into Term 3, the country found itself once again battening down the hatches against the onslaught of the Delta variant of COVID that found its way onto our shores. For Aucklanders, this turned into a protracted and frustrating period of isolation from the rest of the country and the denial of many daily privileges that we take for granted. Once again, Dio switched seamlessly from classroom to online learning. Head of Senior School Margaret van Meeuwen reports.

When we saw the back end of 2020, we all hoped that 2021 was a new decade, a new start and a goodbye to COVID. After the stuttering start to the school year (two short Auckland lockdowns, which cruelly cancelled EOTC Week) we were rudely reminded that COVID is the gift that just keeps on giving. And with the Delta strain, it’s an insidious tentacle that is proving harder and harder to break.

The impact of this has hit the Year 13 cohort the hardest. For the second year in a row no Winter Tournament Week, and no national representative status for those at that level. None of the big arts events like Big Sing, and internally, Year 10 Relay for Life again an online event (which did still raise over $50,000 for the Cancer Society.) Prize givings, arts and sports awards, the Leavers’ Dinner and the Graduation Ball all cancelled. As the lockdown proved to be anything but ‘short and sharp’ for Auckland at least, Dio teachers and students needed every ounce of resilience to make it work again. amazingly well. Classics and social studies teacher Katherine Woods described online learning as a bit like “trying to make your favourite cake but with a different oven, different ingredients and in a strange kitchen! The recipe needs to be adapted, substitutions made and sometimes a bit of luck thrown into the mix to ensure that it all doesn’t turn to custard.” Unit outlines have had to be quickly adapted: “Teaching World War I to Year 7 and not wanting them to be overwhelmed with images or activities that were too heavy, without teacher guidance, led to a range of new resources and activities being developed. We looked at food in the trenches and on the Home Front, the role of animals in the war and communication, leading to morse code messages and torch light signals at home.”

Similarly, science teacher Tessa Lambert reports: “The Year 8s were doing nutrition and so I sent them into their pantries to look at the food in their own homes. The Year 7s are doing ecosystems and so I recreated some of the lessons to get them out into their own backyards and explore the ecosystems there instead.”

The teaching staff were outstanding in their response to the suddenness of the lockdown, their willingness to adapt – their creativity in response to the challenges of online learning, and their energy and enthusiasm for their girls, sometimes when they were feeling anything but energetic! They managed this alongside their own family needs – Zoe Visvanathan said her two boys appeared so often in her new ‘classroom’ that the girls were disappointed if they didn’t appear to critique their new dance. As well, some staff faced considerable personal crises, and the generosity of their colleagues to take their classes, provide resources and keep things working was deeply moving and much appreciated.

The girls too have been amazing. Charlotte Hulme and Phebe Mason have been inspirational in setting the tone. Their daily Instagram posts and challenges on the DSC (Dio Supporters’ Club) kept us engaged and connected. Almost every prefect group has as a goal that they want to break down the barriers between the year groups, and ironically in the year where we have been more apart than ever because of the physical separation, Charlotte and Phebe and the whole Year 13 group have ensured we have felt well supported and together. All their initiatives really demonstrate that Ko Ta -tou is not an empty slogan, but a living, breathing approach to the way we need to live our lives.

Finally in Term 4 we were given the chance to have students back – the seniors for school examinations and the juniors for classes – and the playground was once more filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter and smiling eyes replaced the more usual grins. The senior NCEA students were not adversely affected by the loss of time at school because of the changes NZQA made, and we finished the year once again fully appreciative of the importance of the physical presence of school in our lives. Bring on 2022 – perhaps with less interruption – but whatever happens the Dio community will roll with the punches.

Doubling down on lockdown

Year 9 student Violet Tucker shares a student perspective on Auckland’s protracted lockdown and online learning...

Until the first lockdown happened in March last year, I never considered what it would be like to have my screen become my primary link with the outside world. Not that I can profess to being a screen agnostic, but this lockdown hasn’t just moved us from a classroom to a bedroom or a home office. Delta has completely changed the rules of the game and dealt a pretty average hand to all of us.

I have my own thoughts around online school, but I wanted to canvas my Dio friends on the matter. I received incredibly diverse responses, which show the big range of feelings that different personalities are experiencing with this lockdown. Some feel dislocated, while others like the pace and space of virtual lessons. A few clearly miss the face-to-face human contact, while others find the remoteness quite calming. The responses of my friends seem to be mostly focused on the challenges associated with motivation and feeling much more exposed when asking questions about parts of online lessons that may not be so clear. Maybe it’s because sometimes we can see ourselves and that’s weird. Perhaps it’s difficult to voice your opinions and questions when it’s strained through a computer microphone. Of course, it’s harder to read the room as well. When we’re all in class together it’s easier to assess reactions and there’s a flatness about online learning, which can be tricky.

I hadn’t thought much about the value of an environment like school, not just in an academic or classroom setting but, rather, the social aspect of it. The short exchanges in the hallways, sparking conversations during break times. Moving between classrooms and buildings. Collaborating on class projects without my computer as the gatekeeper of every single interaction. I think that teachers have recognised the difficulties that present themselves during online classes and have worked to minimise that stress. They have made an amazing effort to manage our ‘new normal’.

With online learning, I’ve learnt to readjust and to acknowledge that working online brings its own challenges. It’s fine to approach a situation with a completely different mindset. What has also really helped me with online school is accepting that I don’t have to do everything the same way I would in a classroom. You can get annoyed or adjust. Like many people, I alternate between both.

I’m glad my friends affirm this. It emphasises the idea that ‘we are all in this together’. We also agree that online school offers the ability to have freedom about how you learn, which is a valid silver lining for some.

As lockdown wears on and wears us down, I’ve opted for pyjamas over clothes and Uggs over sneakers. If I can take away one thing about this lockdown, it is that I think it’s time for me and my computer to start seeing other people. Actual, real people.