POST COVID-19 REFLECTION ST. JOSEPH’S SECONDARY SCHOOL

By : Mereoni Matanitobua

The closure of schools due to the COVID 19 pandemic has had far- reaching negative impacts on schools throughout Fiji and St. Joseph’s Secondary School is no exception. 

This re-entry reflection serves to prioritise the safety and well-being of our teachers and students following the COVID 19 pandemic. The aim was also to nurture the holistic development of teachers and students so that they will acquire the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to meet the demands of the new norm. It was also to accommodate a smooth and receptive transition for both teachers and students into the new term.

SCENARIO 1 on ‘Normal school operations are able to resume’ from the Archdiocese of Suva Proposed Framework for Catholic School’s Re-entry – Post Covid 19 was modified whereby the ‘one week prior to the re-opening of school’ was staged for ‘TEACHERS REFLECTION DAY.’ It was encouraging and enriching to have our teachers voluntarily walking into the school hall on the morning of Wednesday 24^th June 2020 for this reflection. This reflection process was facilitated the School’s Spiritual Director – Sr. Lusiana Matai.

The morning began with a hymn and devotion led by the school Assistant Principal – Mrs. Matanitobua. This was followed by Sr. Lusi taking the teachers through ‘personal reflection questions’.

We looked at ‘What we had been through?’; ‘What changes do we want to keep?’; ‘What hidden talents or resources had we discovered?’ Our reflection reading was from a write-up by a French parish priest, Fr. Pierre-Andre Chevaux, on how the Holy Spirit had acted in our lives during shelter-in-place orders. Moreover, through the reflection reading Fr. Pierre urged us not to treat the months we had spent confined in our homes as a ‘parenthesis’ in our lives, after which we return to the way things were before.

The reflection also challenged us teachers that in order for this experience to help us grow, we needed to reflect on our personal experiences over the recent months especially focusing on what decisions and resolutions we could make for the future.

While comparing the period of home confinement to a kind of exile through Fr Pierre’s reading, Sr. Lusi invited the teachers to examine our relationship with God, and to recognise the presence of the Lord in our lives whereby “God is with us during all the events of our life and He gives them meaning.” However, we have to take the time and the distance necessary to reflect on these events.

Three levels of reflection were proposed by Sr. Lusi: 1. our relationship to/with ourselves; 2. our relationship to/with others; and 3. our relationship to/with God. 

Sharing amongst the teachers was deep, thoughtful and solemn and tears flowed as we looked at our experiences, our extended families who are affected and more so our St. Joseph’s family – children and parents who are facing hardships. This healing process assisted us to be stronger adults ready to accept and receive all our students back into the new term and the new normal.

As I look back and ponder on all that has transpired in the past two weeks of our students’ school return, I am grateful that as a team of teachers we had undergone the process of healing and reflection before the return of students. 

Our girls at St. Joseph’s Secondary School walked in on the first day of school to a totally new and renewed program. The school devotion was led by Sr. Lusi. This was followed by a ‘story-telling’ or ‘talanoa’ day facilitated by their Form teachers. As teachers we felt that there was also a great need for healing, affirmation, companionship and of course moving forward by our students. We applied the ‘LOOK / LISTEN / LOVE’ concept with our girls. Girls were greeted with hot cups of Milo from the teachers. Feedback from the teachers after the class sharing was encouraging. Like the sharing of the teachers, our girls laughed and cried together in the midst of their sharing sessions.

On the week of our Teachers’ Reflection, the school also collected data on students who are affected by parents losing employment as well as having reduced work hours. We are grateful to our ‘Good Samaritans’ for assisting the school in providing for our girls whose parents and guardians are affected by the COVID pandemic. 

The school has its own COVID-19 prevention procedures and together with our ‘holistic readaptation’ programme, we are ensuring that our students are adapting to the new normal and I am grateful to my colleagues for allowing these processes to run smoothly. Of course we are not qualified or professional counsellors and we can only do so much; but then again as professionals we know the signals and when to refer our girls to our spiritual counsellor. I am happy to say that we have our referred cases who are going through their own personal counselling with our Spiritual Director.

In conclusion we are also following in the footsteps of the Cluny Sisters and founder Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey in the mission of Jesus to evangelise, heal and liberate all people, especially the poor – ‘the Least, the Lost and the Last.’