School management teams (SMEs) around the country, except for KZN, reported for work on Monday, 25 May.
Toti teams were scheduled to return to work on Monday, 11 May, but the date was postponed by the Department of Education.
In a statement, the department said that although sufficient personal protection equipment was delivered to districts and circuits, it has not been sent to all the schools. As a result, the decision was taken to postpone to return of teachers to schools. The postponement does not include circuits managers and principals. School management teams and teachers are expected to return on Thursday, 28 May. Grade 12 to Grade 7 learners are set to return to school on 1 June.
The SUN asked Kingsway’s heads how they have been coping during lockdown with keeping their learners up to speed with the curriculum. “We are in the fortunate position of having adopted e-learning as part of the curriculum, affording us the opportunity to allow our learners to keep learning from their home,” said academic head and acting deputy principal, Carl van der Merwe.
The school has its own learner management system called the KHS Portal, which uses Chamilo as the learning tool in which work is uploaded, content is covered and assessments carried out. Direct contact through the Chamilo messaging system allows learners to make contact with their teachers, as each class in each subject has their own course. A summary of the work is also posted on the school’s D6 communicator application.
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“Our staff have reached the curriculum goals through subject WhatsApp groups and subject heads discuss issues and challenges through a designated WhatsApp group as well. The school portal also has a talk radio that has a weekly live session, offering support, encouragement and messages from teachers, learners and the school governing body.”
Daily contact between management and staff is done via WhatsApp, where encouragement and support is given as well as teaching material received from the Department of Education, such as daily radio and TV programmes, work guides and so on. Our challenge is that our e-learning platform is not zero data rated and the added data costs this has placed on learners, teachers and parents.
“We are confident that the 2020 academic year can be successfully concluded. Many of our staff are involved in measures that are addressing the issues, some in subject committees with the National Department of Basic Education and others in their teacher unions, and some serve as national examiners for the NSC Examinations. Together the wealth of knowledge and skills of the entire staff will allow Kingsway to meet the challenge.”
Principal Sandra du Toit said the postponement of management teams to return to work was due to unforeseen circumstances, deep cleaning and health-related issues not confirmed at all institutions by the Department of Education. Kingsway is concerned with the level of academic commitment of its learners while working at home; accessibility of the school’s portal and D6 application; social distancing; and health risks to teachers and learners once schools re-open.
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“We are also worried about the financial impact the lockdown will have on the school and we urge our parents for their support. The financial impact on parents and the Toti community is massive. We have empathy for the situation and invite parents to contact the finance department, who are all working from home, for any support.”
The school is awaiting a sanitising team from the Department of Education to deep clean the premises and to meet several other non-negotiables demanded by Educator Trade Unions. “Until then, we have no indication on when SMTs or teachers will be permitted to return to school. The health and safety of staff and learners is priority. We will adhere to all guidelines and instructions given by the department to ensure, to the best of our ability, the safety of our learners.”
Although the school has made provision for masks for teachers and learners, the responsibility will lie with parents and learners to wear them at all times, and to sanitise as often as possible.
The school is hoping its matric dance, initially scheduled for Saturday, 13 June, will still take place. “Although we have paid the deposit for the venue and attended to other arrangements that needed to be booked in advance, it is very difficult to make any final arrangements in this regard. We are negotiating to postpone the date until the end of the year, but nothing can be planned, as today’s plans are irrelevant tomorrow.
All other events for the rest of the year have been put on hold. “Our main aim and priority will be to attend to the academics of our Grade 12 learners and phase the other learners back into the system once we have received the go-ahead and possible ‘trimmed’ curriculum guidelines from head office.
It is very hard to speculate on either the safety of our learners or the recovery of the academic year. As a community we are in these challenging circumstances together and we all have to take responsibility and play the Covid game by the rules, as a team. The game plan is debatable at this stage though. The Kingsway family wishes all teachers and learners from neighbouring schools all the best during these trying times.”
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