Teachers Share Their Experiences About Stage 3

There are so many positive stories coming from students and teachers across B.C. in the first week of the province's gradual return to schools for in-class instruction under new health and safety guidelines. More than 157,000 kindergarten to Grade 12 students, representing nearly 30% of B.C.'s total school population, were back in classrooms last week.

Much of the success can be credited to the extensive planning in schools, and educators’ efforts to prepare students, families and staff to return to class. For example, the team at Victoria's St. Patrick's Elementary School created this fun and informative video to help students and parents make the transition back to school.

With week two underway and more positive stories coming in from schools, we wanted to share some of your colleagues’ personal experiences about how Stage 3 is working in their classrooms.

“What made this week so positive was connecting with my students and colleagues. After working online for the past two months, it was so nice to rekindle all those relationships in person! It was a tricky shift to balance both an online platform and in-person instruction, and I was exhausted in preparation for this week. However, everyone in our educational community has pulled together to support one another, and this has made our job easier.”
- Doni, SD45: West Vancouver

“You could tell [on the first day back] the students were excited and nervous (probably equal parts)...I had very few students on Monday and Tuesday, and students were grouped by the letter of their last names... then we had Wednesday... attendance increased substantially, and many of the students in attendance were friends with each other. This led to a much more typical school day... My colleague and I agreed that it was the best day of school since March 13.”
- Ryan, SD27: Cariboo-Chilcotin

“I was impressed with all the information to prepare TTOC's to enter schools. I felt very safe and comfortable with preparations that had been put into place in the building. The children were amazing and aware of distancing and handwashing and covering any coughs and sneezes. The janitors were on-site and doing sweeps of rooms throughout the day. Very impressed. Well done, Surrey SD 36.”
- Vicky, SD36: Surrey

For more stories like these, please visit the Ministry‘s Good News in Education webpage. 

How have the first couple weeks back gone for you and your students? We'd love to hear your story and perhaps profile it in a future edition of Learn. Drop us a line at educ.learn@gov.bc.ca with the details.