St. John's parents supportive of education plan, but questions remain

Some parents in St. John's say they are happy with the government's back-to-school plan for September, as long as things stay on track.

"I was super nervous before the announcement, because I really didn't know what path they were going to take and what approach," said Gillian Pearson, a mother and founder ofParents for Affordable Childcare NL.

"But I'm super happy that they've announced a pretty fulsome plan at this point to ensure that if the COVID numbers remain the same, that all the kids can go back at full capacity."

The province's education plan is split into three scenarios. The first would seeschools openand instruction resume almost as normal.

The second features schools being partially opened, and focuses on keeping kids from kindergarten to Grade 6 in the classroom full time. Under that plan, children of essential workers who were required to report to work under alert levels 4 and 5 will receive priority.

Thethird scenario involvesfull timeat-home learning.

Jennifer Rose, a registered nurse who has a son entering Grade 2,hopes the province can follow through on plans to have studentsin the classroom.

"Virtual learning for a six-year-old I mean is not really existentwithout guidance from parents," she said. "And I can't work from home because I work at the hospital.In terms of trying to establish a learning routine, it was next to impossible for us. So I can't see how that's going to work for younger children."

Rose also worries about how younger children like her son could be affected socially and emotionally if in-person classes don'tcontinue.

"He's already lost out on a lot of socialization," she said. "I think children that are that young are developing their conflict skills, their communication skills.

"It's really going toaffect him in terms of being separated from his peers and not getting all those soft skills," she said. "You can probably get hard skills through online learning, but you can't get soft skills."

Brian Warr, the province's minister of education and early childhood development, said the plan to keep students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 in the classroomwas made to help younger students find structure that may have been missing in recent months.

"[Students] want to get back to school. They want to get back to a regular structure," Warr told the media following the announcement in Springdale. "Students are all about structure, and the more that we offer them a structural environment, I think the better off they're going to be both socially and emotionally."

Although things will likely be more strict in the classroom as a result of COVID-19 guidelines, Warr said the goal is to tryto keep learning fun for younger students.

"K-3 is all about play-based learning, and we're going to continue to encourage that," he said. "I think that's a big part of learning, a big part of the education system."

If not 2 metres, how much?

In regards to physical distancing in the classroom, the province's plan states "the greatest possible spacing is recommended" for areas where two metres of distance cannot be reached.

Pearson said in schools with large populations and a younger demographic, distancing will be an issue.

"My oldest is going to kindergarten at St. Peter's Primary this year. They have 700 kids from kindergarten to Grade 3," she said. "I don't how much social distancing is going to be possible, and kids are going to be kids."

During the press conference following the announcement, Premier Dwight Ball said there will be times where having two metres of distance between students will be "literallyimpossible."

"We just want to make sure that safe physical distancing will be important in areas where we cannot maintain that safe physical distancing," he said. "So if there's a situation where this cannot be done, it will be stressed that there [are] safety issues, [and] that other things can be done as well to address that."

Pearson said there are some things she would liketo see ironed out as the calendar moves closer to September including a more detailedplan as to what willhappen if the province hasto move to thethird scenario, and move all education online.

"They need a plan right out of the gate," she said,"to see what they can do to ensure that we don't get into this situation again where families are in this unsustainable situation where they're trying to work and school their children."

She also hopes teachers will be able to have more input in future plans, as many said they first heard about the news at the 12:30 p.m. press conference on Monday.

"That's very embarrassing for them, because they have a lot to offer," she said. "Co-ordinated communication is so important when it comes to having these plans that are actually going to work in the real world. It's one thing to formulate them in a department, it's another thing to implement them."

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