Hero photograph
 
Photo by Mike Hart

Learning From Home (parents)

Mike Hart —

Kia ora,

Like me, you are probably looking at the emerging cases from this outbreak and thinking that some further time at Alert Level 4 was the best thing for our community.

Of course, that thinking was confirmed Friday when the Prime Minister advised that we will remain at Alert Level 4 until 11.59 pm on 24 August. We will learn more at some stage on Monday about what will happen next.

I wanted to reassure you that our school staff and board will continue to be available to support your child’s learning and wellbeing in the coming days.

Here is the link from our learning from home package:
Oxford Area School Learning From Home 
This landing page has directions for each class we have at school. There is a link to the online content and to the email contact of your teacher.
Also, you will find some tips on the page on how to use some of the tools our teachers use. Please respect the contact times the teachers will give you. This is to balance the demands of working from home with supporting their own families.

We also hope you are doing OK at the moment – but it is also OK if you aren’t.

As the Mental Health Foundation of NZ says, “it’s all right to feel a range of emotions right now. Going into a Level 4 lockdown is a big deal and it brings all sorts of different feelings to the surface, including frustration, worry and even gratitude. However you are feeling, know that you’re not alone – we’re all going through this together.”

If you need to talk, check-in with a friend or whānau member, or free call/text 1737 to chat with a trained counsellor. It's free and confidential. There are also a lot of other supports available to you, your whānau and your community if needed.

You will also understand the importance of routine for your family. If your routine has been shaken up, it’s good to structure your time. Routines are reassuring and promote health and physical wellbeing.

A big thank you to all of you for taking the lockdown so seriously – we’ve seen before that staying at home will break the chain of transmission and save lives. Breaking the rules could risk someone close to you and if the rules are not complied with, this could risk the lockdown period being extended or could risk the virus being spread to thousands.

Please keep checking the locations of interest and get tested if you were at that location at the specified time, or if you have symptoms that could be COVID-19.

And just a quick point – please don’t use our playground during the lockdown. Playgrounds cannot be used at Alert Level 4.

As always, please let us know if there is anything you need to support you and your tamariki during this time, ideally through your newly created staff contact person.

Ngā mihi, thank you,

Mike Hart
Principal