A Christchurch school hopes to address falling attendance rates by allowing some students to work from home two days a week. 

The trial will be run by Hagley College, who will be offering 20 students the opportunity to do “hybrid learning”. 

Students will attend 16 hours of the core subjects —maths, science, and English— a week, with three days of in-person learning, and two days of online learning. 

Tim O’Connor, Headmaster at Auckland Grammar, told Kerre Woodham that Hagley is entitled to make whatever decisions they see fit for their school community, but from his point of view, they need students attending school on a daily basis. 

He said there’s much to be learned from being in a physical classroom, such as socialisation skills, routines and scheduling, and the Socratic style of learning that occurs within a classroom environment.   

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