Kia ora! What a fabulous day we had last Saturday at the school fair. There were so many things to see and do and the buzz was really exciting. A huge thank you to Stephanie Williams who spearheaded this, and to the team who supported her. The many hours put in prior to the actual event were crucial in ensuring it was so successful. Thank you to everyone who gave, who came, who bought and who joined in the fun. A thank you too, to the staff who gave up their personal time to be involved. Final figures are still being calculated, but we know there is a profit in excess of $20,000. Now to decide which sunshades we start on …

The Covid-19 situation is rapidly evolving and impacting on many aspects of our school. I do want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise any potential risks. I am in constant contact with the Ministry and am also receiving daily updates from the Secretary of Education. We have taken direct and appropriate action, with the health and safety of our students and staff uppermost in our decision making. Our cleaning company, have introduced extra daily cleaning and sanitising measures. All classrooms have hand sanitiser. All bathrooms have soap (checked daily) and paper towels. Teachers have been asked to remind students to wash their hands before morning tea and lunch eating every day. Any children and staff with a runny nose, sore throat or cough are asked to stay home. We are trying to minimise larger groups being in close proximity so assemblies, year level huis, and larger group activities eg kapa haka, choir, orchestra etc have been cancelled. The Year 6 camp, due to happen next week, has also been cancelled. While these measures create disappointment for children and staff, we take our duty of care very seriously. The Prime Minister has said that closing every school in NZ is not likely at this time. There would need to be evidenced community transmission before this is a possibility. At this stage only individual schools who have a confirmed case would be asked to close for 72 hours. In the event of just our school closing, we have a learning plan ready for each year level. More information on this situation will be emailed home today.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and have time to think about these three aspects of resilience that will help us all in these very challenging times:

Gratitude

Empathy

Mindfulness

Take care and be well.

Ngā mihi nui

Sue Cattell

Principal