Newsletter - WE 22/05/2020

Janine Jack

— May 22, 2020

Tēnā Koutou

It has been such a great week for us to see our students back and have a living hum to the school again. Our attendance figures this week have been consistently in the very high 90% range and I thank you for sending your children back to school so we can get on with the job of teaching and learning.

Our focus as a staff team this week has been to take the experience of the past weeks and learn from this. To this end, I sent a survey link out to both parents and students to get feedback from you on your experiences and we as a staff, are having an ongoing conversation on how to take what we have learnt and make the most of these lessons.

Next week I will share some of the main findings from this process once the survey closes and we will continue to develop on these ideas throughout the coming weeks.

Community Sport
As we progress into Level Two, we are hoping that Monday brings an announcement that will allow some resumption of community sport. The 10 person rule does create issues for most teams and even a rise to 50 will make a significant difference to what can and cannot run. At this stage our Cross Country will run on June 24th without parents being able to attend and we are really hoping that this changes by then to allow this to run as it normally would.

Prizegiving
At this stage we are still hoping to be able to run a prizegiving at the end of the year and due to the change of NCEA exams, we are provisionally setting this at 11am on the 9th December.

Term Dates and START DATES for 2021 for your Diary!

Presently the term dates for the year remain unchanged. The next term break will start on JULY 3rd as planned.

In 2021 school will open for school leaders and Year 1-6 on TUESDAY 2nd February with ALL students returning on Wednesday the 3rd February.

Hardship Fund
The recent COVID event has significantly impacted on some families with loss of income and in some cases, loss of employment altogether. We want no child to miss out at our school and want to make sure you are all aware of our hardship fund that can be accessed by having a confidential chat with me. Our PTA and Board allocate money each year to this fund and it is there to support you when you need it the most for school related expenses.

Kia Kaha

James Griggs
Principal

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Senior School News

It is wonderful to be back at school, see the students and re-ignite face to face learning relationships. While there are a lot of positive aspects to on-line learning, nothing fully substitutes for the interactions enabled by a ‘real’ classroom. Online learning cannot replace all the functions’ schools play in our society, but that said, it still has an important place in our current class delivery and is an important feature when thinking about future learning.

We have also been impressed with the way the students are managing themselves and being respectful of new classroom layouts, hygiene requirements and the ever-present aroma of bleach!

Across all the senior school Years 9-13 teachers are establishing where students are at and planning forward from there. For all level’s students will have work to revise/ complete/and review on a very regular basis – so keeping a foot on the throttle is very important. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the bulk of the year is still ahead of us so in reality, very little should be lost, if anything, for those who have kept a regular level of learning up under lock down.

As NZ moves into a period of likely high unemployment the ‘where to from here’ question is important to think about. There will be new opportunities that arise and existing ones that are less viable, so it is important that students use their educational opportunities to put themselves in a strong and realistic position for the future. On that note, next Wednesday we have Lincoln University here to do a presentation to interested senior students so we encourage students to keep their options open and research their futures carefully – we are here to help with that process. One lesson from the last eight weeks is that a ‘golden industry’ can be decimated almost instantly so we all need to be prepared for a new employment normal.

Finally, for a global view we are very privileged here in NZ to be able have all our students and staff back at school - let us not squander the advantages we have.

Penny Mossman

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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