School District 69 (Qualicum) is looking at ways to continue education without classes, after an announcement was made by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation that all teachers will return to work after spring break.
Students won’t be in school and what teachers will be doing while working isn’t clear yet.
SD69 superintendent Keven Elder said teachers are working on ideas about how to connect with students and parents after spring break.
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“Next week will look and feel a fair bit like this week did in terms of schools being places where there are very few people,” he said. “We’re going to treat next week in much the same way.”
Elder said after teachers are able to make a more concrete plan for how to reach out to families once they’re back to work on Monday.
“We have our district learning team working on communication with teachers to help teachers be ready to start planning on Monday, not to start working with families on Monday because we didn’t want them to spend their spring break doing prep,” he said.
Elder said this will not be home school, parents will not be acting as their children’s teachers or administering lesson plans. Classes are still 10 per cent suspended.
“The opportunities that families and students will have to continue with learning will be more related to ensuring that they can carry on with literacy and numeracy and activity and skill development without it being tied to curriculum,” he said.
Parents should expect to hear from teachers, who will reach out to parents directly.
The other update Elder pointed to is to an announcement that schools would be involved in providing childcare to children of essential workers. The district has sent out a message to parents asking who this might apply to, but they don’t have an idea of what that would look like or what the exact demand is at this time.
“We have some real concerns about what it would mean to have schools open for childminding in an era when we’re supposed to be maximizing isolation, so those details are yet to be worked out,” he said.
