Please read our latest update carefully.

Dear parents/caregivers

Thank you all so much for your support over the past few days and weeks. We are certainly living in unprecedented times. We know that may of you have a very tough road ahead in terms of businesses and employment and as a community we will need to all pull together to support our most vulnerable.

The pandemic team met again this morning and I have just finished meeting with the Top of the South Secondary Principals Association. Below are some more updates to assist parents:

School timetable

Below is the school timetable as we understand it at this stage:

We should consider that term one ends this Friday 27 March and term two begins on Wednesday 15 April. In terms of work commitments during the four week period of school closure that means teachers are technically working from home for the remainder of this week and again from Wednesday 15 April to the end of the four week period, most likely Wednesday 22 April. 

Reports

As there is already a huge burden on parents we have decided to delay issuing our interim reports until next term.

Learning from home

On the days that are allocated as learning days (i.e. not allocated as school holidays) learning will be provided by subject teachers.

Teachers may email their classes with instructions or links but the other ‘go to’ place will be the Microsoft Office ‘Team’ for each class. Students can access these by opening the ‘Teams’ app on their device and looking in the ‘Shared with me’ section for the appropriate Team. Each Team includes a Onenote which is the digital equivalent of an exercise book for students and of the whiteboard for teachers.

In most cases teachers will set small, familiar tasks that don’t use too much data. This way of learning is comforting for students and will help them feel connected. Teachers will try to provide at least one face to face discussion opportunity per week for each class through a Teams video conference.

Learning can take many forms. We are all learning about how to deal with the current situation. It will be important to look after each other during the time at home. Get regular exercise both indoors and by getting out for a walk (only with people in your household). Household chores are a great learning opportunity!

If teachers get sick, they will need to pause the remote learning for a time. They will be in contact with you if this happens. If you would like to contact your child’s teachers the school email address format is firstname.lastname@nayland.school.nz.

Students with health concerns 

Ruth Rogers (School Nurse) is currently in the process of contacting families of students with underlying health conditions and other students she has been monitoring. She will ensure that these families are supported as best can be during this time.

International students

We currently have 69 students still enrolled at Nayland College and about to start isolation with host families. We are so thankful to have such wonderful host parents that are prepared to step up and support in a situation such as this. The International team will continue to work remotely through the holidays supporting these students.

Counselling
Our two school counsellors are contacting a number of students this week and will be working to support them remotely.

School Reception

Reception will be open on Wednesday 25 March from 9:00am-1:00pm; however, it will close on Thursday. We will continue to monitor school emails but the main school phone switchboard will be unavailable.

Website

We have set up a new page on our website for your information: Distance Learning & Covid-19

As we will be in shut down mode from Thursday and technically on holiday next week you will see the amount of communication from the school decline.  Please keep up to date with developments across the country at https://covid19.govt.nz/ 

Ngā mihi nui

Daniel Wilson
Principal