School of LIFE

Helena Stickney, 36

Of all the memories Helena Stickney has of 2020, the one that is likely to linger is of the mum of one of her pupils who took her kids to the bus stop during lockdown to use the free wifi to download their schoolwork.

“She was constantly texting me about what they were doing, sending me photos of their work and asking for ideas on how to motivate them. She took them to the bus stop every day because they didn’t have wifi at home. This is what some of our families had to go through,” she says.

For Helena, who teaches Year 6 and 7 pupils at Randwick Park School in Manurewa, Auckland, maintaining contact with her students and their families was the biggest challenge during the lockdowns.

Many families whose children attend the decile one school don’t have computers or internet access at home, and had to eventually rely on equipment loaned by the school and Ministry of Education. Helena was fortunate because she was trialling a digital classroom when the first lockdown happened, so her pupils could all use those devices.

“We knew it was going to be hard to keep the lines of communication open, but being a decile one school, we are used to supporting our community however we can, whether it’s getting devices to children or making sure they’ve got enough