The best things never change
Term 2 at Living Waters Lutheran School in Alice Springs has been quite different. Students and staff returning to school have had to adapt to social distancing.
‘We can’t drink from the bubblers; we fill our water bottles from the tap in the classroom, and we are washing our hands a lot’, one student says. ‘We still play games, but we’ve changed them so that we don’t do any physical touching. Before, we used to play handball, and now we play a chasey game we made up where we don’t tag each other.’
For the first week, we moved the desks apart. We spent some time in the hall, and then some time in the classroom. In the first two weeks of term, all of the learning was online using an app called Seesaw. We had to do online learning so that students could stay home if they wanted to.
Students have missed being able to go to whole-of-school assemblies on Wednesday and worship on Friday, but devotions and Christian Studies are continuing in the classrooms.
We still believe in Jesus. We do devotions, and every day we get together to worship in class groups.
Coronavirus hasn’t changed us as people. We are still the same, but the virus has changed what we can do. It’s a bit sad that we can’t visit the families we want to see, and this year we will not have a big NAIDOC week or family birthday parties. We miss being able to go to places!
Barbara Cybulka is the Coordinator for Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at Living Waters Lutheran School.
