One Hobart primary school is equiping its kids for the future

One Hobart primary school is equipping its students for home learning by giving every child a MacBook Air or iPad, and a 50 per cent term two fee reduction for their parents.

Siblings, Georgia, 12 and Amy, 10 Thurling of Bellerive both attend The Cottage School in Bellerive. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

GEORGIA Thurling may be only 12, but she has her own department of education email address.

The grade six Cottage School student – along with every student from prep up at the primary school – was also allocated a school MacBook Air or iPad for online classes, including her sister Amy.

“We’re on Zoom three times a day on a normal school day and it kind of does feel like school,” says Georgia.

“It’s cool that we can see each other and talk to each other. It’s different but still very fun.”

School leader Julie Leitch said that as an independent school it had the resources to equip every student with a device to take home or for the kinders, a learning pack.

“The purpose was so the teachers could stay in touch with the children, but also for the children to stay in touch with each other,” she said.

“The kids did get ahead of us with the tech for a while, but I think we’ve caught up.”

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The small, community-run school at Bellerive has been on the front foot amid the pandemic. It was the first of the Hobart schools to close its campus and has since announced a 50 per cent fee reduction for Term 2, a 75 per cent reduction for preps and zero fees for kinders.

“The school doesn’t want to put any financial or resource pressure on the parents,” Ms Leitch said.

“Our sense of community is what makes us different and it’s about dialogue. It was a community decision to close the school and a collaborative decision to reduce the fees as significantly as we have.”

At home on school holidays, Georgia has been using her laptop to catch up with friends.

Mum Melissa Thurling, who works as a teacher’s aide at the school, says she’s impressed with the way the school has handled the crisis.

“I think the school has set the kids up to take control of their learning. It’s really empowering for them to have the ability to contact their teachers and to teach the rest of us what they know,” she said.

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