Buckie pictures inspire lessons in Oz
RAINBOW drawings by two Portessie kids aimed at brightening the first days of the Covid-19 lockdown have inspired primary youngsters Down Under.
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11 / 11In the April 7 edition of the Advertiser – just 15 days after the nationwide lockdown was announced – the paper printed a selection of rainbow drawings done by local children which had been placed in the window of their family homes urging people to stay safe and also praising the NHS. Among their number were ones by Portessie siblings Rory and Molly Wilson. The online version of the story was to attract the attention of Jane Van Herpen, who is a visual arts teacher at Beachlands Primary in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia, which teaches children aged four to 12.
She said: "My friend and colleague, Shannon Robinson, was helping me think about my on-line lessons and she suggested the rainbow idea.
"When I was researching that theme the beautiful photo and article from Buckie came up. We love to rainbow picture with Molly and Rory outside their front window and they have been our inspiration for the 'Rainbows of Hope' lesson.
"We already had the idea going in Australia but when we saw Molly and Rory all the way across the other side of the world we thought what a lovely idea to let them know their positive message and beautiful rainbow had reached all the way to our school in the Midwest Region of Western Australia thanks to the magic of the internet.
"I displayed their photo on the big white screen and we discussed what it might be like for the kids in Buckie and how we could let them know we are thinking of them, too.
"The younger grades made a collage of a rainbow and the higher year levels linked the rainbow to an Art colour theory lesson. Then they took a photo of their experimentation with the colour theory formula and used it as the background for their e-postcard. Except a few that were away, they just used a nice internet picture."
While many pupils were learning from home, they were still able to access the full spectrum of subjects, from visual arts to numeracy and music, to name but a few.
Western Australia took a slightly different approach to lockdown than that adopted here in Scotland, with Mrs Van Herpen saying that while schools did not completely close parents were given one of three possible choices: Keep their kids at home and participate in classes online; Stay at home and use the Take Home Learning Package that has been custom made by the classroom teacher for each year level; Return to school for regular in-class lessons.
The majority of schools reopened fully on May 18.
Continuing to educate young children in an environment which presented unprecedented challenges – and potential dangers – was one which proved to be an uplifting experience and one which has reflected Beachlands' proud motto of Caring and Sharing.
Mrs Van Herpen continued: "It seems like everyone – the students, parents and staff – realise how important it is that we all support each other at this time and everyone has really done an awesome job of working together and getting everything done to the best of their ability.
"There was some major upskilling by everyone really quickly, to provide lessons via different digital platforms. All the children have been very resilient and positive, too and seem to know that the adults are all working together and trying their best.
"We have a permanent cleaner on site now, constantly doing the rounds and wiping down all surfaces in the classroom and outside on the playground. Also after the [Easter] holidays a directive was bought in that no adults may come onto school property – the parents have been really helpful in respecting this directive, so we have everyone in the Kiss and Drop line in the parking lot and lots of teachers in hi-viz vests in the morning escorting the little ones to their class."
Outside the playground, the depths of the crisis saw Western Australia close its interstate and then regional borders in a bid to stem tide of the virus.
In Western Australia, the state's isolation actually acting to residents' advantage, with the interstate borders and then regional borders closed to good effect. Alongside the Stay Home message, social distancing of 1.5m was in effect, supermarkets became depleted of stock at one stage, restaurants moved to a takeaway basis and many businesses stopped trading.
However, as with Scotland the pandemic has brought out the best in people as well as the worst.
Mrs Van Herpen added: "The good side to all of this is that many acts of kindness have come to the fore.
"Lots of people checking in with the elderly, seeing if they need any shopping. People have been dropping off meals to those needing support. Some backpackers have been stranded here so some people are buying them groceries and offering them places to live.
"As well as the rainbows we also had some families putting teddy bears along their front verandah or in their front window too so people could go for a drive and see all the Teddy Bears like a little Bear Hunt."
Opened in 1956, Beachlands Primary is the smallest of the government schools in Geraldton with 120 Year 1-6 pupils and around 40 nursery and pre-primary youngsters on its books.
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