What a great way to kick off the year.

Kia ora koutou,

Our students came up with so many creative ways to show kindness to others, as demonstrated in the photos.  What a lovely way to end the term on a high, with students feeling good about what they have created.  We are very proud of them!  

I'd like to acknowledge the amazing staff who have been so flexible and adaptable again, as we grapple with different ways of doing things on a regular basis at school.  They are very deserving of their Easter break!  

The Minister of Education Chris Hipkin's announcement to move to Orange is also very welcomed as a step closer back to normal schooling next term.  The decision to move to Orange has been made on public health advice and reflects that we are moving past the peak of cases and our health system is able to cope. We are seeing that cases are declining due to high levels of vaccination and natural immunity after infection.  

The school has had very low numbers of Covid cases, thanks to your support with keeping sick children home and following our Red protocols.  Thank you for your support in keeping us all safe.  

I wanted to give you an update on what the move to Orange means for our school for next term.

Drop-offs and pick-ups will return to the normal time for the whole school, with all of the school gates being opened at 8:30 in the morning, and again at 2:50 in the afternoon.  Parents are able to come back onto the school grounds to drop off and pick up their children.  At orange, we ask that you say goodbye to your child outside of their classroom.  If you need to talk with the teacher, please email or phone to arrange an appropriate time.  At the end of the day, especially as classes will have their doors open, we ask that you don't wait directly outside.  We appreciate your support with this.  

At Orange, face masks are no longer required at school. However public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whānau, wear a mask whenever they enter the school grounds.

We also ask that your child (if they are Year 4+) continue to bring a mask to school every day. We encourage students to continue wearing them if they are comfortable doing so.  There may be times that we’ll ask them to wear a mask, too - in higher-risk situations. For example, if there are cases alerted in a class.  Also, if the number of cases at school or in the community gets higher, we may ask that masks are worn in classrooms for a time.

We will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can and, most importantly, staying home if we are sick.

We are really looking forward to fewer restrictions and returning to school life that is a bit closer to normal.  A reminder of the protocols at Orange will be shared again before we come back to school, with any other details that may need adding.

Have a wonderful Easter break and stay safe.  I hope the Easter bunny is kind to you!

Kelly