CHARLOTTE Lakmaker's simple home desk has transformed from a science laboratory to an artist's studio and then a designer's workshop in a matter of minutes.
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The year eight Medowie Christian School student, 13, has been attending school from home since Tuesday.
While classes continue at the campus, the school has invited students who wish to stay home in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to use online learning management systems MCS+ and Seesaw to continue their studies.
Charlotte's mother, Nicole, said Charlotte has been using Google Meet on her iPad to see her teachers and classmates and Google Classroom on the family's PC to do school work.
Charlotte is hearing impaired and has been using bluetooth to connect her hearing aids for Google Meet.
"She's enjoying it," Mrs Lakmaker said.
"She and the other teenagers are enjoying not getting out of bed quite so early too.
"I haven't made either of them [son Harrison, 15, is also learning from home] wear the uniform, I'm comfortable with them just wearing something nice on Google Meet."
All four members of the Lakmaker family are living and working under one roof all day and so have divided the house into sections so they can concentrate.
Nicole's husband Shane has set up his office in the middle, Harrison is studying at the front and she and Charlotte are based at the back of the home.
Mrs Lakmaker said Charlotte attended her first assembly via Google Meet on Wednesday and follows her timetable closely.
Her teachers use Google Meet to mark the roll and say hello face to face, before proceeding with the lesson however they choose. If they go off camera, students can send in questions in a chatroom.
"It's huge being able to see each other," she said.
"I think it would be very difficult to continue long term without it.
"It would be hard to motivate the kids - they need that connection to help them focus and to feel they are part of a learning environment. In my mind, the other style would be like doing homework 24/7.
"If all they were doing was endless worksheets and not connecting it would feel like five days of homework, from 8.30am to 3pm. It would almost make me become the teacher."
For science, Charlotte has followed along with a school-provided workbook and watched as teacher Marita Lofthouse performed an experiment using bread and orange juice to show how the digestive system works, in front of students still on site.
Charlotte then repeated the experiment using items from her kitchen and filled in a worksheet.
For her double period in history the teacher was on camera in front of the whiteboard the entire lesson and invited students to throw him questions.
For her double period in design and technology the teacher gave instructions for working on process diaries to accompany the pinball machines each student is making - the machines sit almost completed at school - and was then off camera, but available for questions.
Mrs Lakmaker said apart from helping Charlotte ask her art teacher for more guidance about a task, she has let her daughter take the reins.
"She loves the Google Meet aspect of it, seeing her friends and classmates," she said.
"I think if they did not have that it would be a very lonely learning world.
"It would play heavily on their minds.
"They definitely miss their friends and miss having the lunchtime conversations out of the classroom, talking about what they're doing on the weekend.
"That's what they're missing the most, that social connection outside the classroom where they can just download to each other."
She said while Charlotte had been texting and using Facetime and her friends were considering setting up their own Google Meet to socialise, it was not the same - "there's always ears in the house".
"That's the biggest part of what's missing and it's no different whether you're six or 16," she said.
"Friendships are what everybody really holds fast to at school, I think that's probably going to be the biggest challenge. Now it's still fun and novelty, by Easter they'll be desperate to see their friends."
But there is support available. Mrs Lakmaker said students in Charlotte's grade had received an email from their "mentoring teacher" saying if anyone was feeling blue they could chat in their own Google Meet.
Mrs Lakmaker said she had encouraged her children to cycle on Tuesday and spend lunch outdoors. In the afternoons they've been playing charades as a family.
"People might forget to take a break and move outside and enjoy some fresh air. You have to have defined time to get outside and do something else."
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Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
