He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa - Warm greetings to all.

Welcome to Term 4. I hope you managed some time with your children over the break. As per usual we have a very busy term ahead even with Alert Level 2 so please keep an eye on the calendar.

We are in Alert Level 2 - while in this Alert Level there are a number of restrictions including

• Drop off and Pick Ups at the gates - these will continue. If you must come onto school grounds please wear a mask.

• Children traveling on buses are encouraged to wear masks. Parents must supply these if they want their child to wear a mask.

• There will be no assemblies under Alert Level 2 - we will inform you of any alternative plans for end of year assemblies shortly if they are necessary.
  

• Tamariki are to stay at home if sick
  

The term started off with a bit of a bang with swimming. It is great to see our children enjoying their swimming experience. Every year I watch them brings to mind that we can only do 9-10 lessons a year and for a country surrounded by water this is not nearly enough. We are so fortunate in Somerfield to have Pioneer Pool close by and they regularly run lessons. If you want to invest in anything this year, teaching your kids to swim I believe would be an investment priority!

Teacher Only Day this term

As part of the Teachers Contract we have a number of Teacher Only Days we can take. Teacher Only Day this term- Friday 3 December. SCHOOL CLOSED.

Rainbow Flag

You will see that this week we are flying the rainbow flag. As part of our commitment to inclusion and equity we want to support gender and sexual diversity. The new guidelines from the MoE include supporting gender and sexuality and are included in our relationships and sexuality programme where appropriate. See the Health Consultation in another article. I have also included some information about supporting LGBTIQA students in another article if you wish to read further.

Placements next year

Planning is well underway for 2022. Although staffing has not yet been finalised  we are now looking at the class placements for next year.  Although some classes may move through together placements are not set in concrete. When deciding on class placements we take into account teacher and parent thoughts.

It is time consuming getting the student combinations right so if you wish to discuss your child's placement for 2022 please contact me NOT the classroom teacher, they will be consulted as part of my process. I'm happy to discuss student combinations but will not enter any discussion into staff requests. Please see me before Friday 29 October. After this date it will be too late.

There may be some events that don't take place in the normal way this year. It might be disappointing but the "R" in SMART is all about resilience. I have included the Ministry of Education information in the Important Dates article.