Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. Greetings whanau,students and members of the Crawshaw School Community.

The staff of Crawshaw School are enjoying a feeling of normalcy with the shift to Covid-19 traffic light orange setting allowing us to open our school gates to whanau & the community. It is great to see whanau taking the opportunity to do morning student drop offs at classrooms where they are able to chat with teachers and see current learning. Students are relishing the freedom from bubble school and making the most of access to the basketball court and bike track where the action is at.

Breakfast in School is run by Whaea Kathy and is available between 7:30 - 8:15 a.m for students who like to get to school early and occasionally skip breakfast in doing so. The menu includes, weetbix and/ or toast with a variety of toppings. Not only do students get to fill their tummies and stay warm, but enjoy the company of breakfast club friends.

We have had a fantastic start to winter sports with outstanding whanau support and high energy student engagement. A huge thank you to the coaches who are dedicating their time and enthusiasm to training our talented athletes and attending weekly games. Whaea Vicki has hinted that the wait is nearly over for the arrival of our stylish and unique sports uniforms. Not only will the students be remembered for their agility, speed and fair play, but also their eye-catching sports kit.

Friday whole school assemblies have made a comeback and let’s just say, certain staff members were ready with a microphone to officiate the event. There is a renewed sense of togetherness after being separated for so long in bubble schools and our fingers are crossed that we can continue this tradition throughout the remainder of the school year. Whanau are welcome to attend school assemblies which for now will be held weekly at 2:30 p.m in the hall.

This week we introduced a range of weekly structured lunchtime activities for students to opt into which are coordinated by staff. Choices include, dance, gardening, sport, indoor board games, lego and mindful colouring. We have noticed that many students have a creative flair for building lego structures and staff and students enjoy playing board games against each other….competitively. We have discovered that Matua Jacob can win a game of Connect Four in three moves, Whaea Kelly is keen to join a game of Headbands and Whaea Ange’s game of choice is UNO (she has a slight chance of winning). We will keep you up to date with changes to the structured play timetable.

It has been reported by concerned members of the community and staff, that many of our students are putting their lives at risk by crossing roads on blind corners or without checking for oncoming traffic. The safety of all students is of the utmost importance and so we implore you to use the patrolled school crossing to demonstrate road safety to your children. For our part, staff have been walking students through safe road crossings, Constable Tom will be at school on Monday 23rd to teach our junior students how to STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and CROSS and staff on our after school walking school bus keep a close eye on students crossing roads.

This week our Positive Behaviour for School lessons have focused on students being respectful by keeping hands and feet to themselves. The expectation of all Crawshaw School students is that we express how we feel by using kind words. A strategy to encourage your children to practise is to STOP when they can feel anger building, TELL themselves ‘I can be calm’, THINK about consequences and DO act. The goal is to extend the time between feeling angry and reacting so that safe, respectful and appropriate actions are taken.

This week we farewell Whaea Jojo, Prem, Whaea Wiki and Matua Jono. We would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their hard work and dedication to our school and we wish them all the best with future endeavours.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

The staff of Crawshaw School