Newsletter - WE 15th May 2020

Amuri Area School Newsletter 15th May 2020

In three short days we see a major step in the return to normality. We should all be proud of our efforts as nation to getting us to this point where we can return to school and get some much-needed economical activity underway. For our part we are ready to go and our teachers are really looking forward to having students in front of them again. We have learned many lessons from this experience and it is fair to say some students have coped incredibly well with these circumstances however it is clear that for some it has been a real struggle.

Our main focus in the early stages of next week will be student wellbeing. We are aware there will be anxiety around returning to school, anxiety around leaving parents, anxiety around being behind and not able to make up for time lost. Rest assured the whole country indeed most of the world is in the same position. We will take the time next week to work out how things are for your child, make a plan and get on with the core business of teaching and learning because that is what we do.

Later next week I will be sending out a survey for you to complete about your distance learning experience with Amuri. This will be used as part of our self-review to evaluate how we went and what changes we need to make should we be required to once again move alert levels in the wrong direction! Please take time to complete this if you can.

I will finish this week with thanks.

· Thanks to all our wonderful parents for ensuring your children maintained a learning programme in these difficult times.

· Thanks to our community for respecting the closed playgrounds and facilities and supporting our school in a multitude of ways.

· Thanks to our teachers and staff who have tried their very best to make this work over the past weeks.

Kia Kitea Toikaka

James Griggs Principal

Dairy Changeover

If you are intending to move away from the area for new employment opportunities, please contact the school on 033158233. Likewise, if you are employing staff who are moving into the area and who have children, please ask them to contact the school for an enrolment form. Advance knowledge helps us to plan for and to transition our new pupils. Thank you.

Immediate changes to NCEA

• External NCEA examinations and New Zealand Scholarship examinations will be

delayed so they start on 16 November instead of 6 November, allowing further time for

teaching, learning and internal assessment in Term Four. Examinations will now end on 9 December instead of 2 December.

• The requirement for NZQA verification of Level 1 and 2 Visual Arts portfolios will be waived, giving students more time to complete their portfolios and teachers more time for marking.

• The submission date for subjects which require students to submit a portfolio, such as Design and Visual Communication, is being extended from 28 October to 12 November 2020, giving students more time to prepare.

Extra Credit Opportunity

We have arranged for an outdoor first aid course to run at school in the first week (6th and 7th) of the July Holidays. This will be paid for by the school with a limit of 10-15 students.

· 6400 Level 3 2 Credits

· 6401 Level 2 1 Credit

· 62 Level 1 1 Credit

· 424 Level 3 5 Credits

Students must commit to BOTH days and to completing pre-course material with preference given to year 11, 12 and 13. Expressions of interest will be taken early next week.

Covid Level TWO Notice re School buses.

During level 2 there can be no extra pupils on school buses.

Please do not request this as we hate to say no.

Written Reports and Parent Teacher Conferences

Written reports have been deferred to term three for year 11-13 and term four for years 1-10. Parent teacher conferences will still occur as usual at the end of this term and it is likely these will be conducted by video conferencing.

As ever we strongly recommend communication with your teachers if and when you need it. As we return to school please do not wait until June to have any queries answered and feel free to contact teachers directly as required.

From Kylee Habgood

Dear Parents and Whanau

The Year 1-8 teaching team are very much looking forward to the return to school on Monday. Whilst technology has been a necessity throughout the last nine weeks, and we have found our jobs much easier for it, it has its disadvantages. One being that there is nothing like a good old-fashioned face to face interaction between teacher and student for everyone to know that they are on the right track. And this is the one thing that has been missed by staff and students alike. It will be great to see all the students returning on Monday.

Thank you to all our parents and whanau for all your home-schooling efforts during the lockdown. Those I have talked to have told me that they were surprised to discover their child as a learner as opposed to their child as a person and how they are more aware of how their child learns. Some of your children have been telling me of the advantages and disadvantages of being home schooled and they have been very positive. Well done parents! This has been a real team effort between teachers, parents, and students and I would also like to thank the staff, who have gone above and beyond to support their students via distance.

For the next two weeks we will be following protocols to ensure safety of students and staff.

· In Year 1-6 we will not be sending home any reading books until further notice. Reading lessons will continue as normal in the classroom and the books will remain at school to track and contain items. We apologise for the inconvenience, but I am sure you are aware that books are quite hard to sanitise and keep intact and it is easier to track them if they remain at school.

· We are asking parents to complete a contact tracing register if they wish to come onto school grounds and, also not to wait within the school grounds at the end of the day. Please wait outside the gate if you are collecting children.

· The playground will be closed after school as this will need to be cleaned and sanitised, so we ask that children do not remain after school to play there.

· If you have any materials, school equipment or books at home, please return these as soon as possible.

· There will be no primary assemblies until further notice due to crowd restrictions.

So, it is back to school but not quite as normal for now!

Over the last nine weeks we have had five new students turn five and on Monday we will welcome Jackson, Fergus, Willow, Ollie and Kadmiel into Room 1 with Mrs Johnson. We also welcomed Vitalli, who joined Mrs Davidson and Room 3 before the lockdown.

And to add further excitement to our restart, Gypsy Day is fast approaching. We appreciate knowing if you are intending to move out of the area in advance, please contact the school on 03 315 8233. Likewise, if you are employing staff who are moving into the area and who have children, please ask them to contact the school for an enrolment form. Advance knowledge helps us to plan for and to transition our new pupils.

He waka eke noa

We will all get through this together.

(And we have done a sterling job thus far!)

Kylee Habgood

A great piece of Writing by Rommie Murie!

This morning, I put on my magic light up shoes, and I became super sneaky and speedy! I was no longer at home, but in Dinosaur Land! The shoes helped me sneak around the dinosaurs. They helped me run away super-fast when I needed to get away from a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

While I was running on the grass, I heard a big RRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR! My shoes got me out of there super quick! I felt scared to see and hear the dinosaurs. I climbed up a tree and hid. I looked around in the sky, and saw pterodactyls flying. I also spotted a portal! Could this take me back home?

I heard a quiet noise around me. I had a problem. There was a little baby Giant sloth in the tree with me. One look at those claws, and I quickly got out of the tree!

Uh-oh! The T-Rex caught up with me! My super speed shoes helped me run swiftly around and around the T-Rex to make him dizzy! When he got so dizzy he fell over, and it made me laugh!

I started running as fast I could to the portal. When I got there, there was a stegosaurus blocking it! I kept running, and slid under the dinosaur’s tummy! Finally back in the portal!

Suddenly, I was back home. My shoes ran out of power and were not lighting up. I think I’m lucky I made it back home!

From Penny Mossman

Senior School News

The staff like so many of our students are very excited about getting back to school. Settling back into a familiar routine (with some extra health and safety precautions) re-establishing classroom relationships and enjoying the face to face learning.

The 7 weeks of lockdown will have been a time to reflect on many things, but it made us very aware of how much we miss the many things we can no longer do including school and hanging out with friends.

The overriding theme for Level 2 with everything that we do is staying safe. We know you will all have been much more conscious of, and paying attention to, simple things like hand hygiene, managing illness and personal distance – all factors that will be important in our daily lives at school.

NCEA changes have been outlined in this newsletter - these will be a relief for students and teachers alike. There could well be more to come depending on how the next few weeks progress. A key message we want to get across to students is the understanding that it is only May and that a good deal of the school year is ahead of us. With that in mind it is still very realistic to achieve academic goals – this will require an unrelenting focus on teaching and learning, concentrating on the must do’s, and for some students some course tweaking. Any course alterations will be done carefully and in consultation with students – our smaller numbers mean we can be quite individualized with this approach.

To all our wonderful parents and caregivers, we want to say thank you for the assistance and encouragement you have given your children with their online learning in these last weeks. We fully appreciate the challenges, frustrations, and hopefully magic moments you will have been experiencing. We also expect that there could be a collective sigh of relief on Monday!! There have been some real super star learners out there who can be very proud of what they have done and the self-discipline they have shown to get work done. Others will have struggled and that is OK you are not alone - Monday is a chance to start positively again.

Finally, to all our teaching team - thank you for the huge amount of time and work you have put into teaching, preparation, emails and phone calls. Life has not been easy for you either but together we have made a difference.

Penny Mossman

Supporting our students’ physical and mental health

Some students and families need more help. Below is a list of phone numbers that have been collated by school mental health professionals for you to access.

I Am Hope (Access Counselling; call 1737)

Rural Help – 0800 787 254

Crisis Resolution – 0800 920 092 (After hours) 7 days a week Urgent cases only. Run by CDHB

Lifeline – 0800 543 354 For every one.

Safe to Talk – 0800 044 334, text 4334 – If affected by sexual harm

Aviva – 0800 284 82 669 – Family Violence Service

Asian Helpline – 0800 862 342 Answer phone only. You leave a message and they will get back to you.

Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234 Available 8 – midnight.

Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202 Open 24//7

Samaritans – 0800 726 666

Need to Talk? – Free call or text 1737 support from trained counsellor

What’s Up – 0800 942 8787 (5-18 year olds) – Phone counselling M to F, 12 – 11pm and Sat/Sun 3pm – 11pm

Kidsline – 0800 543 754 for young people up to 18 years of age. Open 24/7

Thelowdown.co.nz or e-mail team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626

Anxiety New Zealand – 0800 269 4389

http://sparklers.org.nz/ - fun things to do

http://www.sparx.org.nz/ - help with anxiety and low mood

Child, Adolescent and Family (CAF) Emergency Team (Business hours) 0800 218 219 press 2

Rhona Roberts, Amuri Area School Nurse 027 808 7105 Please call or text

Liz Teulon, Amuri Area School Counsellor 021 0283 2918 Please call or text

School Playgrounds are now OPEN during the school day and closed after school. Hire of school facilities will be on a case by case basis by arrangement with the Principal. Play it safe everyone!

Contact Details

James Griggs Principal James@amuri.school.nz 02102479539

Penny Mossman Penny @amuri.school.nz

Kylee Habgood Kylee@ amuri.school.nz