We would like to acknowledge the ongoing patience and support of whanau as we navigate the changing and continued impact of Covid-19 on school life and the community. As with many schools across the city, we have a significant number of students, whanau & staff at home in isolation. We would like to reassure you that we are closely following the health and safety guidelines set out for schools by the Ministry of Education, to minimise the spread of the virus. Daily and monitored hand sanitising routines, the wearing of masks indoors (Years 4 - 8) and of washing hands for 20 seconds continues to be a focus for our school.

We are impressed with how quick Whanau has been to let us know of household Covid cases and return the student contact forms. We are also delighted with the positive feedback we have received about our home learning packs. The staff took considerable time with selecting activities and putting the packs together. It is lovely to hear that students are enjoying working through these at home with you. Whanau can expect to hear from their child's teacher once in a seven day isolation period, and home learning pack deliveries are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

At this stage the school continues to be open as we are able to manage staff absences with familiar relievers and moving students within their teams. If at any point, we feel that it has become too difficult to keep the school open, whanau will be given time to organise alternative arrangements for home learning.

Covid news aside, I would like to assure you that our staff are dedicated to ensuring that the students of Crawshaw feel a sense of belonging, and success on a daily basis. To share some of the students' experiences at school with you here are a few insights into our week.

If you are looking to start a vegetable garden, our New Entrants will be able to help. With the support and guidance of their teacher Whaea Kelly, they have collected fresh vegetables out of the school garden to make a tasty salad, and wrote a story about this experience. They are cultivating vegetable seedlings in the classroom and the watermelons and rockmelons are growing larger by the day.

Our talented Year 1-2 students' animal hand art is now on display at the office, which I am sure visitors to our school will admire. It certainly brightens up the area and challenges students to name a variety of animals.

If you happen to be walking past the school and hear waiata, it is the Year 3-4 students and staff singing to their friends and whanau across the school who they might not see throughout the day due to bubble school teams.

If you would like to see students calmly and respectfully eating their school lunches, you need not look any further than the Year 5 - 6 students. It is a pleasure to sit and chat with them as they enjoy the delicious and varied lunches provided by the Lunch in Schools programme.

Our senior school is making the most of the sunshine at break times and can often be seen playing games on the field. They are mindful of staying within their classroom boundary and wait patiently for their stray soccer & rugby balls to be thrown back by students in separate areas.

The students in Room 6 made yummy afghan biscuits and designed a thoughtful card for Prem, our caretaker who is on sick leave. The teachers and students delivered their presents personally to him which made his day an extra happy one.

We look forward to the time when we can open our school gates and welcome whanau and the school community back in.

Have a safe weekend

Whaea Ange and the staff of Crawshaw School

Caught Being Good Books