Newsletter Level 1 9 June 2020

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families
Kia ora, kia orana, talofa, malo e lelei, fakaalofa atu, hello and greetings

From the Principal

Level 1 whoop whoop. I am so proud of our kids, parents, staff, families, communities and country to have done so well over what has been an extremely traumatic and unprecedented event. It is through our working together harmoniously that we have got through it all. Hopefully we will be back to total normality in a few weeks.

I have quite a lot to talk about in this newsletter so please bear with me. Firstly I would like to reiterate what was mentioned in the alert. Although we are at Level 1 it does not mean we are totally back to where we were before the initial lockdown. We will be continuing with our hygiene practices of sanitising, but not to the degree that we have been. We also ask that if you intend going into the classroom, that you sign in and out at the office. There is still a requirement of tracing, but obviously not as stringent as before. We have had some parents taking their children home without signing them out of the office. This is a health and safety risk, so please do come to the office first to sign them out.. This is an expectation that will continue even when we are back at no level.

I would also like to remind parents that school starts at 8:30am. We have a number of students who are regularly arriving late, sometimes up to over an hour. This will impact on a number of areas: your child’s attendance record; your child feeling embarrassed or upset that they are late which can affect behaviour and self confidence; your child missing the first important instructions of the day which can put them on the back foot. If there is an issue causing the lateness, please contact your child’s teacher or myself to see what help we can give you. Continued lateness will result in a phone call or letter from me at the end of the term.

Vicki has requested that you please contact the office in plenty of time to inform her of any changes to the bus roster. We have had a few occasions where students have gone off with other parents for play dates, or been picked up and we have no idea. That means we have to hold the bus up looking for the students missing, or making frantic phone-calls to find out where they are. This has a flow on effect for the parents waiting at bust stops to collect their children. We also need to hear it from you as the parents, rather than children telling us I’m going to …. today. Technically we are not allowed to let children go unless we have the parent’s permission to do so. I am sure you can appreciate where I am coming from regarding this, so your cooperation would be very much appreciated.

Speaking of the buses the drivers have also asked me to remind you to please not park in front of the old bus shed. It makes it very difficult for the drivers to turn into the bus stops when cars park there. So again your support would be appreciated. Cranky bus drivers are not a fun way to end my day!

The Helping Hands fridge died a messy death all over the floor during lockdown. Many thanks to Allan Peake for cleaning that delightful outcome up! It is used to store sausages, sauce and other items for fund raising ventures. We were wondering if anyone had a working fridge in respectable order, that could be donated, or sold to the Helping Hands at a reasonable price. If so please contact Anne Richards or alternatively leave a message at the office.

Now onto nicer things. I want to give a huge shout out of thanks to the following people who are donating their time and energy as coaches and managers of our Netball teams. You are wonderful advocates for your children. I hope to be able to come and watch some games this season. So THANKS TO: Nicola Murray, Arran Barnes, Tina Lusty, Talia Watson-Walker, Lorraine Brien, Shaz Glen and Eleanor Murray. YOU ROCK!

I have seen some great work from students this week. Nathan and Rylee-Jane from Room 2 shared their wonderful stories with me, Room 7 shared amazing poetry and Koen Hare allowed me to critique his novel. The work our Tomarata children are capable of continues to astound me.

Our staff spent four hours last night undertaking a First Aid refresher course. I am very grateful that they were willing to give up personal home time to do this. Not all schools expect all their teachers to have a First Aid Certificate. However I think it is important that everyone involved with your children are prepared for every situation they may find themselves in.

Thank you for reading this long newsletter. I know it has a few grumbles , but we all need to work together to enable our school to continue to be so amazing! Have a great rest of the week!