School’s back - but lockdown baking stays

The smell of home-baked cookies is following students back to the classroom as one teacher incorporates those life skills into level-2 life.

As some children found their way around the kitchen for the first time over lockdown, teacher Sally Ratchford says it’s important to continue the hands-on learning.

Ms Ratchford held weekly baking lessons for her Year 7 & 8 class on Zoom so they did not miss out on their usual Monday afternoon technology slot.

Now baking sessions in class have slotted easily into their usual day with kids so far loving continuing their new-found skills in the kitchen, she says.

“One child clearly had never done any baking at home. Clearly. It took 2 ¼ hours to make biscuits when everyone else took half an hour. He had no idea where to find anything in the kitchen, and the mess he made, his poor parents...

“It's quite cool to be invited into their homes and see them in their own environment, and [teach them] skills they actually need as opposed to just multiplying decimals,” she said.

Principal Bryce Coleman says the first week back to school was “all about socialisation. It’s just about getting everyone back to school and reconnecting.”

He says playing games and activities like baking are a nice way to get to know each other again.

“Eight to nine weeks to us is completely different to how a child sees it. It probably feels more like three months to them.”

Mother and part-time teacher Lisa Cowley was surprised so many families did not engage with formal online learning, but says everyone experienced lockdown differently.

She says some children faced barriers that her own kids might never encounter, like access to good wifi.

“Some people didn't do any of the set work, but might have gone to nana's and learnt how to bake, or learnt other life skills”.

Ms Ratchford says some children did not complete the online curriculum work she set because there was so much holistic learning going on at home.

“It's not for me to come into your family and say 'no, you must stop that learning and do my learning',” she says.

“Two months out of the schooling system isn't going to break anybody in my opinion.”