It is great to welcome whānau back into the school grounds again during the morning and afternoon drop-offs. Life at school is starting to resemble pre-COVID19 conditions.

Since returning to school we have been reflecting on some of the positive and interesting observations we have made over the last two months. A couple of strong themes that have emerged have been resilience and independence. Our children are remarkably resilient and continually surprise us with their achievements. They have adapted quickly to new challenges and demonstrated acceptance of why we had to do things differently. We have been reminded of how children enjoy having ownership of their learning. When they have an element of choice and can make decisions independently they demonstrate high levels of engagement.

Our collective challenge now is to continue to foster independence and risk-taking with our children. As a school, we are always reflecting and evaluating the effectiveness of our practices. As parents, I encourage you to continue to foster your child's independence. As our lives get busier again - encourage independence in preparing for school each day. Depending on your child's age - involve them in getting their bag packed and lunch ready. Older children can do this independently. When coming to school, get your child to carry their bag, hang it up in the cloakbay upon arrival and take out their book bag. If you don't need to see your child's teacher or have a look at something in the classroom your child wants to show you, wave goodbye to them at the gate or classroom entrance.

Reminders now we are Alert Level 1;

• Start of day and end of day routines are back to normal. This means that if you arrive after the 8.50 am bell your child will need to collect a late slip from the office. If you need to collect your child earlier than 3.00 pm you will need to collect a blue slip from the office.
• We will continue the routine of children waiting in the sheltered walkway until the 8.30 am bell rings. This new routine is working well.
  
• Our drinking fountains will be open again next week but we will still encourage children to bring their own drink bottle and use the refilling tap at the fountain.
• School assemblies will take place again. Our first assembly for the term is this Friday. Whānau are welcome to attend.
• Please be respectful of our neighbours and council rules when parking - avoid blocking driveways and parking on yellow lines.

Ngā manaakitanga

Andrew