Welcome to the new school year!

Tēnā koutou katoa. Tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou.

Haere mai and a very warm welcome to the new school year. I trust you had a safe and relaxing holiday with your families and are looking forward to the exciting year ahead at Halswell School. I would particularly like to welcome all of the new students and families who have started today.

We also have a number of new teachers joining our team this year. Welcome to Abbi Thomas in (Ōrongomai), Laura Eade and Fiona Virtue in Ōtāwhito and Michael Ruffell in Ōtūmatua. We are also delighted to have Madeleine Gillman and Reegan Smith joining our specialist performing arts team.

These teachers bring a broad range of skills and passions and I know that they will make a fantastic contribution to our kura. A full staff list for 2021 is available on our website. 

This afternoon you will have received a newsletter from your child(ren)’s Learning Centre Team Leader. It will contain a lot of important information to help get the school year off to a great start. I have also included a few reminders and requests below:

Covid-19

The recent community cases in the North Island have been a timely reminder that Covid-19 is still very much with us. We will continue to maintain the additional hygiene practices that were put in place last year including washing hands regularly throughout the day and encouraging children to sneeze and cough into their elbows. The school will also continue to have additional cleaning tasks completed on a daily basis. 

It is vitally important for everyone's health and wellbeing that anyone showing signs of illness stay at home until they have recovered. If a child comes to school exhibiting cold or flu symptoms, parents will be contacted to collect them immediately. 

Finally, we would strongly encourage all parents to use the NZ Tracer QR codes at the school entrances to keep track of your visits.  

Communication

The partnership between home and school is a vitally important one. If you have any questions or concerns about your child(ren)’s progress, your first port of call is always to contact your child’s teacher. Teachers are available to talk with parents before school from 8:30am and immediately after school. At times it may be more appropriate to arrange a meeting time with the teacher, which is preferably done several days in advance. If you feel that your concern needs further attention, a meeting will be arranged with the relevant Team Leader and beyond this a member of the Senior Management Team (Principal and Associate Principals).

In addition to meetings with staff, the school uses a range of methods to communicate with our families and the wider community. The Halswell School App is used to share important messages including information about emergency situations. It is very important that we have all parents registered for this app. For information about how to do this please see the article contained in this newsletter.

Electronic newsletters are sent out fortnightly during the term and full school assemblies are held every fortnight, usually starting at 9.15am in the Stadium. These assemblies are designed to help celebrate student successes and share learning. All parents are invited to come along to these assemblies. The next Assembly will take place on Friday 19 February (Week 3).

Our school website is a great source of information and includes links to our school policies and procedures, Learning Centre blogs and the school event calendar. I would encourage you to have a browse through our school website if you haven’t already done so.

School Uniform

Please ensure that your child comes to school in the correct uniform. Samples of the uniform are available for viewing at the Office. Additional information about the uniform requirements can be found by visiting the Argyle website.

Sun Safety

In Terms 1 and 4, every child is expected to wear a red bucket hat, which is part of our uniform. These are available for purchase from the Office. The wearing of sunblock is also encouraged while playing outside, particularly during break times. Sunblock is around the school but it’s also a good idea for your child to bring sunblock along to school with them. Roll-on sunblocks are often a good option as they are much easier for younger children to apply themselves.

Visitors to the School

All visitors to the school must sign in at the Office anytime between 9.00am-3.00pm. This is significant as the school gates will be locked after 9am for the children’s safety.

School Drop Off/Pick Up

You are welcome to use the area directly outside the school Office and across in front of the staffroom to drop off and pick up your children but please respect the fact that there should be no waiting in this area. This is critical to ensure a steady flow of traffic and reduce any health and safety issues caused by cars backing up. For health and safety reasons please do not walk through the car park with your child(ren), use the allocated paths.

Finally, I would like to wish your whānau all the best for what I’m sure will be a very exciting year. I look forward to seeing you at tomorrow night’s Welcome Back to School Picnic.

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal