Back to school – what to expect?

As Jewish schools across the country begin the year amidst a second wave of COVID-19 and a new variant of the virus, educators are confident that they can overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

Meanwhile, parents are divided over the delayed start of the academic year.

“While the new strain of COVID-19 does appear to affect young people, our clinical advisors have indicated that the interventions needed to prevent the spread are identical to that of the first strain. Mask wearing, social distancing, and hand sanitising are equally effective in curtailing this new strain,” says Rabbi Ricky Seeff, the general director of the South African Board of Jewish Education, which oversees King David Schools.

“As such, aside from being very vigilant in adhering to these protocols, the schools will rely heavily on families to remain at home if they present with any symptoms and not take chances,” he says. “This second wave has spread primarily through social events. We can have a successful school year if we stay vigilant under all circumstances.”

Regarding online learning, he believes “it’s very effective in delivering curriculum to students, however, this can be more difficult in the pre-primary schools. The challenge with online learning is not the delivery of content, although there is always room for growth. The challenge is creating and sustaining meaningful relationships and connection with pupils, and creating opportunities for socialisation, which is a critical part of our schools.

“We are blessed to have such a dedicated and professional complement of teachers,” he says. “They dedicated themselves in 2020, and improved throughout the year, and we are confident now in our ability not only to teach but also to use ways to engage with our pupils more effectively. Having said that, there is no replacement for face-to-face learning.”

Andries van Renssen, the executive director of United Herzlia Schools (UHS) in Cape Town, says, “The way the virus seems to spread and the preventative measures basically stayed the same. The only thing that changed is the fact that younger children seem to be affected much more now, so our approach to prevent the spread needs to be extra vigilant.” Regarding online learning, he feels it was “hugely successful for those pupils who had access to devices and were old enough to manage it or had help”.

However, one parent says she is “outraged” that online or hybrid learning wasn’t mentioned as an option when the UHS leadership communicated with parents about delaying the start of the year to 19 January.

“This implied that the hybrid/online teaching isn’t an option anymore as a choice,” she says. She won’t be sending her children back to school on 19 January because she feels it’s unsafe.

Says Van Renssen, “We have learnt that face-to-face teaching is by far the best experience. Full online works well, but also creates tremendous challenges for many parents and especially younger pupils. A hybrid system is where the teachers have pupils in front of them and pupils at home who are trying to follow what goes on in the class via their computers. For that to be a good experience, specific hardware is needed. We did hybrid teaching towards the end of 2020 with limited success, and we will be doing that again at the start of this year. We are also looking at systems that can enhance the user-experience. It’s costly and not easy to get in place quickly, but we are working on it.

“We will make the hybrid option available as best as we can, and support parents if they feel they don’t want to send their children to school yet.”

Says another parent, “I’m happy with the delay to 19 January. It gives more time for everyone to stay safe and be ready for the new year without any glitches.

“I’m totally for kids going back to school 100%. Our children need social interaction, the mental stimulation of proper teaching, and physical activities. They had a very challenging year, and will most likely do a lot of catching up. I can see from my youngest who is going to Grade 2 that he has fallen behind. I’m not a teacher. I would much prefer my child to be taught by a professional. Plus working from home and trying to assist two young boys with online learning puts a lot of strain on family dynamics. Having said this, I’m fully aware of the nastiness of COVID-19, and would trust that our school provides all the necessary checks and personal protective equipment.”

Rebbetzin Natalie Altman, the director of kodesh and ethos at Yeshiva College, says in light of the new variant, “We are going to be even more vigilant knowing that the kids can get sick and ensuring the highest standard of COVID-19 protocols. We will be doing more spot checks and ensuring that teachers are even more vigilant.”

She believes that online learning was very successful last year, “however we learnt that children with learning difficulties in general found Zoom very difficult. Almost all children had ‘Zoom fatigue’, even if they were strong academically. We also learnt that online learning requires a different pedagogical paradigm and approach, and we are in the process of giving our teachers training from experts in the field.

“There needs to be a strong balance between independent and live learning,” she says. “Flipped classrooms [students learning independently and the class becoming about analysing issues, debating further, and giving individual attention] is a much better way to teach online. We learnt how our teachers and students can be incredibly resilient and flexible. Necessity brought innovation.”

Says Rob Long, Yeshiva College’s director of academics, “We also learnt the importance of ongoing student evaluation and continuous staff development.”

Aimee Chiat, the principal of Salisbury House, a new progressive Jewish school in Cape Town, says “Since we’re a small school and have less exposure because of it, we’re starting on 13 January. At the same time, with the new strain becoming more prevalent, it’s imperative that schools remain vigilant.”

Describing a number of safety measures at the school, she says, “Children emulate their parents’ actions. If a parent goes in public without a mask and complains about restrictions, so too will their children. It’s important for everyone to understand that this is a community problem.”

Looking ahead, Seeff says, “Educational institutions are being forced to re-evaluate our pedagogy, and when the dust settles from this terrible pandemic, I believe we will have gained tremendous skill and insight to better prepare our students for the future.”