Coronavirus: Majority of teachers think students will need more help when they return to school

Teachers say they're more than up to the challenge of supporting students when they return from their online bubble.

A new study has found 80 percent of educators believe students will need more instructional support when they return to school.

Point Chevalier School is back up and running - sort of. Seven of its 670 students are in class - the rest are still online.

Principal Stephen Lethbridge says the school's preparing for the big return.

"Learning isn't an isolation thing, when we learn we learn with each other. So activities have been designed to complete with older brothers and sisters, or parents," Lethbridge told Newshub.

The education sector has had to do things differently via distance.

Online platform Education Perfect turned the tables on teachers - it quizzed 3500 of them here and across the Tasman on how they've adjusted to online learning - and the challenges of what lies ahead.

The chief executive of Education Perfect says the speed at which schools have adapted is impressive. 

"Organisations take years to go on a digital transformation journey, and this industry has been pushed to do it in days," Alex Burke said. 

Eighty percent of those surveyed believed students will need extra support when they shift back to a regular classroom environment.

"We can't expect students to seamlessly return to the traditional classroom scenario without careful consideration and planning to fully support those teachers and those students," said Burke. 

Gladstone Primary teacher Kahlie Oliviera has gone from Year 3 to a bubble of three. 

She says educating parents through this has been just as important as teaching children.

"Touching base with them and saying, 'Hey how are you going, is there anything you need?'"

And both Lethbridge and Oliveira want to reassure students - you won't be made to stay after school or come in on a weekend if you've fallen behind.