Have an amazing holiday break!

Dear parents/caregivers

It has been a wonderfully busy end to the term after a myriad of cancellations and restrictions.  On Tuesday night we congratulated many of the 220 students that gained endorsement in their 2021 NCEA qualifications.  Although delayed and broken into smaller groups to meet Covid regulations, it was exciting to once again welcome parents into the hall.  The previous weekend we also had the regional Shakespeare Festival in our Performing Arts Centre.  We are very proud of all the performers who did exceptionally well, with a group of 10 students selected to now compete at the National Final in Wellington.  You can read more about their successes here.

Yesterday we held one of our first student-led events of the year under our new student house leadership model. The A&P Show was a resounding success, with a huge range of student led activities and stalls including face painting, gumboot toss, tug-of-war, hobby horse obstacle course... we even had farm animals on site!   

Change of traffic light setting

You’ll be aware that Minister of Education Chris Hipkins has announced the move to 'Orange' from today.

At Orange, face masks are no longer required at school. However public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors and Nayland College will be following this advice. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whānau, wear a mask whenever they are indoors on school grounds.

We also ask that students continue to bring a mask to school every day.  If there are a high number of cases at school or in the community, we may ask that masks are worn in classrooms for a time.

At Orange, students aged 12 and above are still required to wear a face mask on school or public transport.

We will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can and, most importantly, staying home if we are sick.

Please note that you are no longer to contact me directly should there be a positive case in your household. However, could you please email away@nayland.school.nz so that we can continue to monitor Covid's impact on our school community, including during the holiday period. 

We are looking forward to a few less restrictions and returning to school life that is a bit closer to normal. 

Matariki Celebration

As part of my role this year I have been leading the Stoke Tāhunanui Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning).  As a collective we are planning a Matariki Celebration for Tuesday 28 June on the Nayland College site.  This is coming together well and will be a fabulous occasion with stalls, food trucks, performances and art displays.  If you would like to be involved in the planning and/or running of this event please contact me. 

As mentioned in my previous newsletter, next term our focus will firmly be on ensuring as many students as possible are back in class learning.  We will be working through processes to support all students to return to school and firmly believe that the school environment is the best place to continue to learn.

Ngā mihi 

Daniel Wilson

Principal