Amesbury Digest - 7th March 2022

Kia ora koutou,

These are indeed strange and uncertain times. We are experiencing new situations we have not faced before - Covid spreading across the motu, families needing to isolate at short notice, violent clashes at parliament, and people divided on some key issues. I would like to take this opportunity to show our support for families in our community who have family and friends in Ukraine. I am really saddened by what is happening in Ukraine, and our thoughts and best wishes are with you all.

There are also some bright spots - our borders are opening up, enabling families to be reunited again; people finding ways to support and help neighbours and friends, and the sense of community and connection that comes from needing each other to help us all through this.

As a school I am very grateful for our flexible and collaborative teams, as they are great at pulling together and keeping learning going for all students in each team. Our current situation with Covid-19 is that we have two staff members who have tested positive for Covid. One has been away for two weeks and is due to return on Monday. The other staff member tested positive late last week and will be away next week. Both are doing okay and have experienced symptoms similar to a heavy cold, with tiredness and fatigue, and some breathlessness. We are keeping in close touch with them both and they are okay and have good support systems in place. We also have two students who have Covid-19. One ākonga is in Pōhutukawa Hub. The second ākonga is in Koru Hub, but has not been at school for the previous two weeks, and was not at school at all during their infectious period.

We also have several staff members and a fair number of students who are isolating at home due to a household member contracting Covid-19. We wish all families who are dealing with Covid in their household the very best and a speedy recovery. Please do get in touch with us if there is anything we can do to assist.

Our biggest strength as a community is working together and supporting each other. For any families who are isolating, we will drop off resources (Chromebooks and books for Harakeke and Pōhutukawa students, and books for Koru students). For families who are able to do a contactless pickup, we will gather resources and leave them to be picked up. We will continue to provide all of the online learning through the learning websites, and the opportunities for daily connections with school - these are listed on the home page of each hub’s learning site. There is also an opportunity each week for parents who have tamariki isolating at home to connect with a hub teacher online. We have had a few parents taking advantage of this so far, and it has provided a chance for parents to ask questions about the learning, check the things they are unsure of and feedback any issues with the learning that they may be having. It is also a chance to connect and say hi, which can be good.

We are beginning to see the benefits of the hybrid learning system we have set up. We are seeing tamariki needing to isolate at very short notice, and the learning sites are a good way to ensure the learning they have been doing can simply continue. Conversely, we are now seeing students returning from isolation at different points through the week, and they can simply pick up the same learning at school that they were doing at home.

If you are isolating at home, or you are looking to prepare for needing to do this, and you have any questions about learning from home, please don’t hesitate to contact me or your child’s whānau teacher. Our goal is to have a flexible learning system that works for everyone who is using it - students, teachers and parents. Whilst we know we will not be able to provide exactly the system that each family is looking before, because our whānau are wanting different things, we are committed to adjusting and adapting it as we go to make our system as effective as possible, so please let us know if you can see adjustments that might help.

It is worth noting that many people in our community who are currently isolating needed to do so at very short notice. It is good to ensure you and your whānau are prepared for the possibility of needing to isolate for 10 days+.

Some useful links:

How to prepare to self isolate

If you test positive for Covid-19

Have a good week, take care and kia noho haumaru - stay safe.

Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham