Amesbury Digest - 17th August 2020

Key links and numbers:

Healthline: 0800 358 5453

Ministry of Health site

Kia ora koutou,

Well, it was a week for keeping us on our toes! The Prime Minister's announcement on Friday has confirmed that we will be staying in Alert Level 2 until August 26th. This means that the systems set up since Wednesday will continue until then. The key aspects of this include:

- Regular and consistent hand washing / sanitising throughout the day in all teams. Students wash or sanitise their hands as they go out and return from breaks outside, before they eat food, and between major session changes (such as going outside for sport).

- Thorough daily cleaning of all hard surfaces and high touch areas has continued since we entered our alert system, with disposable cloths being used for each new surface area to avoid cross contamination.

- All parents and visitors must sign in if they come onsite. The red boundary line shown in the map indicates what it means to come 'onsite', given that our school grounds are open and include a public pathway along one end. The 'onsite' boundary line runs along the pathway between Romaine Road and Amesbury Drive, in front of the council playground and along the edge of the netball courts and car park. We ask that parents and visitors only come onsite past the red boundary line if it is necessary to do so.

- Koru Hub teachers will bring all students out to the far edge of the netball courts at 2:55pm. If you would like your child to wait in the drop off zone after school, rather than going to the netball courts first, please ensure you have let your child’s whānau teacher know. Please note that during Level 2 this will happen regardless of the weather. If it is likely to rain, it is a good idea to check that your child has a coat or umbrella with them.

- Please make a plan with your child/ren so that they know where to go after school. For older children, consider minimising congestion and help with physical distancing by having them meet you off-site or have them walk home by themselves, where appropriate.

- The school car park and drop off zone can still be used for dropping off and picking up students. If using the drop off zone, please remember to drive as far along in the drop off zone as possible, to allow other cars to pull in behind you.

- There will be teachers and leaders on duty in the car park area before and after school to help students entering and leaving school.

- Trips to ASB Centre will continue for all teams, and swimming at Johnsonville School Pool will also continue for Koru Hub. There are Track and Trace systems, along with sanitising routines set up in both places. In Week 6 swimming will start for Harakeke and Pōhutukawa hubs, along with visits to Waitohi Library as part of this. At this point these centres are still open and operating programmes. If this changes, we will let you know.

- People must stay away from school if they are showing signs of sickness. If any students show clear signs of sickness at school, parents will be called to pick their child up.

These Level 2 systems generally ran very smoothly last week. Thank you to you all for your cooperation and support with our systems - they help to keep us all safe and healthy. A huge thanks also to our fabulous and dedicated staff, who all worked hard to be ready for the quick changes that were needed. They all took the change in alert levels in their stride, and were very calm and practical about it - thanks to you all. Particular thanks go out to Brian, for keeping our school continually clean and sanitised - a never ending task!

Last week we welcomed two student teachers working with us for the next seven weeks: Onaitta Setefano is working in Pōhutukawa Hub, and Sara Jenkins has joined Koru Hub. They have both settled in very quickly and we are delighted to have them both with us.

Events coming up:

* New parent information session on Monday (17 August) in Kowhai (yellow carpeted area in Koru Hub) 3:30 - 4:30pm.

* ICAS external exams begin this week for students who have signed up for them. Please check the school calendar for exam dates and times.

* We will be holding student conferences in the last week of term. We will be sending out booking information for conferences later this week. At this point the conferences are planned as face to face meetings. However, if this needs to be changed to online conferences, that is manageable; we will make this decision a little closer to the time.

* Swimming / visit to Waitohi Library will begin on Mondays next week (from 24th August onwards) for Harakeke and Pōhutukawa hubs.

Have a lovely week, everyone.

Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham (Acting Principal) and John Bunting (BoT Chairperson)