After a couple of months out of school the majority of students are returning back to see friends and catch up on the latest gossip.

Hand sanitizers adorn every house and no breakfast in schools programmes are running to meet level 2 criteria, but apart from this much has stayed the same.

Many students have said they had missed the structure of school and are glad to be back, as they had found it difficult to be online during set times with the distractions of home life.

Most have reintegrated back well and seniors are excited about the reduced credits required for NCEA achievement.

When asked about their experience of lockdown most students respond with ‘boring’. The common feel is that everyone is glad to be back at school and are waiting for sports to start back up again!

• Kat Birdling is one of Challenge 2000’s Social Workers, based in Porirua College.