First things first – we are all in this together.

Te Puna Ako and Te Korowai Kahurangi are here to help you and your colleagues to do the best for our students in this ‘interesting time’.

With the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga at the forefront of our approach, there are four Key Guidelines to our academic response to this phase of our work:

• Students are at the centre of our decision making
• Semester Two dates will remain the same for 2021 at this current point in time. There will be some programmes, particularly those with internships and placements, where extensions to semester dates may be required or the delivery adapted. Where changes to delivery is required, these must be discussed with Te Puna Ako, in collaboration with Te Korowai Kahurangi, prior to approval by Academic Recovery Committee (ARC).
• There will be no changes to course Learning Outcomes.
• Significant changes to assessments will require Te Korowai Kahurangi approval.

⬅︎ Follow the links to your left and below ⬇︎ to access further support pages.

Please find information on our teaching & learning response below. We will be taking the same learner-centric approach, and following the same processes that we developed together during previous lockdowns. 

Thank you for your mahi and support for our learners, both in your ongoing work as usual and through our more unusual situations.

It’s very much appreciated.

Remote Online Teaching & learning

1. There has been no teaching today (Wednesday 18th) as learners and staff needed time to plan and prepare for lockdown. This decision was based on direct (and very clear) student feedback.
2. Teaching can move online Thursday and Friday at the discretion of and with the approval of Heads & Academic Programme Managers.
3. Our expectation is that all classes will be delivered online from the next Monday (23 Aug) where this is possible.
4. ARC needs to be informed where remote/online teaching is occurring from Thursday, and where this is not occurring from Monday next week.  

We will then manage the step down through levels when they occur, our return to campus, any potential teaching bubbles and so on in line with updated Ministry/TEC guidance.

Online Teaching Plans

As you will remember from previous lockdowns our Online Learning/Assessment Plan is used to keep learners informed of current changes to teaching, learning, and assessment for each of their courses. The first week of this plan should be completed and posted to Moodle by Monday 23rd August, with subsequent weeks planned in your teams and posted on Moodle if required. Te Puna Ako will send an updated template tomorrow.

Attendance Tracking and SEaTS

During lockdown student attendance records need to continue to be maintained by teachers for every class. For small classes teachers should ensure they are tracking attendance manually through SEAtS. For larger classes please export and save the Zoom participant list. Te Puna Ako will provide guidance on this process shortly. ARC and TPA are working to identify administrative resource to support schools with large cohorts & classes.

Assessment Changes

Our approach to any changes to assessment remains the same as in previous lockdowns. Where it is in the best interests of our learners to make changes to an assessment, please follow the guidelines below:

1. Significant changes to assessments – any changes that deviate from the course descriptor such as changes in assessment types, weighting, or shifting assessments online – need prior endorsement from Te Puna Ako and Te Korowai Kahurangi before submission to ARC for approval. Please use the Assessment Change Request Form. All such changes will need to be reported to NZQA.
2. Minor changes to assessments that do not result in a deviation from the course descriptor do not require ARC approval, but do need to be discussed with your Te Puna Ako Liaison.
3. Any and all assessment changes must be formally moderated with records maintained as usual.
4. Any changes to original assessment dates should be discussed and agreed with the Programme Coordinator and/or APM, and clearly communicated to students. These changes do not require ARC approval as long as the assessment is held within the original course end dates.

Access to campus & Equipment requests

Government rules are more restrictive than in our previous experience under Alert Level 4. As noted in the email from IMT today, our campuses must remain completely closed, with access authorised only to Security and essential workers. This means that, at least initially, we are unable to provide any pickup or delivery of any equipment and materials. If you are unable to teach from home due to a lack computer access or other essential equipment please contact your APM as soon as possible.

Partners to help you with this mahi