While our campuses are temporarily closed in line with the Government's Alert Level 4 lockdown, our priority is to deliver a full, dynamic and interactive e-Curriculum for all our students. By switching to live online lessons across every year level in Primary and College, our virtual classroom environment ensures our students will not miss a moment of their studies.

Uninterrupted learning

At ACG Schools, our teachers have become experts in creating a virtual learning environment, and their knowledge and understanding have enabled us to seamlessly transition back into the digital space. As such, our schools can respond to lockdown announcements with speed and efficiency to ensure guided online lessons begin the very next day.

"With experience and expertise gained from previous lockdowns, our teaching staff are confident in the virtual learning environment," says ACG Parnell College Principal Damian Watson. "Through our access to international best practice via our colleagues in the Inspired Education group of schools worldwide, we will continue to develop professionally to ensure lessons are purposeful, engaging and keep our students' education at the heart of everything we do."

"As twenty-first-century learners, flexibility is an important attribute, and we hope that by having our teachers model adaptability in their teaching practice, we can help grow our students into agile thinkers ready for tomorrow's workplace."

A full e-Curriculum

Our focus during lockdown restrictions is teaching, not simply allocating 'busy work'. That means our students maintain their current Cambridge and International Baccalaureate curricula studies at each year level.

During online learning, ACG Primary and College students follow a regular school timetable. They attend a full day of classes from Monday to Friday and receive coursework and instruction across every subject by a combination of live-streamed lessons and online assignments. This comprehensive programme ensures parents can be confident their child is in safe and capable hands – and that they are not required to take on the role of teacher.

"We have had overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents about our online learning programme," confirms ACG Strathallan Principal Danny O'Connor. "They appreciate the clear structure and that the majority of lessons are live face-to face-interactions with their child's teachers. It gives students a sense of accountability, and they respond to it in a positive manner to ensure that they continue to learn and improve in their respective subject areas."

Live and interactive lessons

The provision of live student-teacher interaction is fundamental to all pupils making progress, sustaining focus and achieving their potential.

At our schools, prioritising the availability of teachers throughout the school day enables students to submit activities for marking, ask questions and request further support, much like putting their hands up in class. Students love the immediate feedback and guidance they receive, and this high level of ongoing and direct engagement sees 100% attendance across the board.

ACG Primary and College teachers also set tasks and assignments to be completed in small groups, which helps students feel connected in the digital world, strongly benefitting their learning and reinforcing social networks.

"Our students and staff are well versed in the dynamics of virtual classrooms," adds ACG Sunderland Principal Nathan Villars. "Across all ACG schools, the quality of interaction, feedback and feedforward are now at a level where confidence is apparent that our processes are robust and will set students up to take on the imminent external assessments."

The care and wellbeing of your child

Lockdown restrictions can be challenging for young learners, so all ACG schools emphasise our personalised learning approach, which supports every Primary and College student both pastorally and academically.

Passionate about the importance of a holistic education, ACG Tauranga Principal Thea Kilian believes it is crucial to balance online learning with overall wellbeing.

"With previous lockdowns, we made some early, conscious decisions which paid off hugely," she says. "Alongside academic learning, we have made engagement, collaboration and delivering lessons in more creative and interactive ways a priority."

"Our core teachers focused on curriculum while specialist teachers used their subjects as vehicles to foster healthy habits and wellbeing. This balance is essential in keeping our students positively motivated."

Previous lockdowns have shown students easily adapt to this style of virtual schooling and enjoy online learning as their studies proceed at pace. However, if you find your child is struggling or needs further support, please don't hesitate to contact their class teacher or dean. The health and welfare of our pupils is our primary concern, so please keep us informed if your child requires assistance. We are here to help in any way we can.