Level 4 Update #3

Kia ora koutou

I am sure you will have all been listening to yesterday's 3pm announcement and will now know that we are staying in Level 4 for at least some of next week.

This means that we will roll out our Distance Learning programmes on Monday 23 August for all our students. 

As I have mentioned earlier we moved into Distance Learning seamlessly last year, our teachers are well prepared for this and I am very confident that our teachers and our students will be able to do this again. 

We have created a suggested structure for you to use at home - It is suggested because we all know every house will be different and some days it will work and some days it won’t and that’s ok. We know that many of you have work schedules to manage as well. This structure / timetable will be in place for all of next week. The timetables show when the teachers will be online to run workshops or to answer any questions. Year 3-8 students will be very familiar with this format and should be able to manage this independently.

Structure is good - as is setting routines if you can - but we don’t want this to cause stress for anyone. We also know that technology doesn’t always work when you need it to - there will be glitches - and that’s ok too.

Distance Learning will start on Monday for all Hubs with a connection meeting. In this meeting teachers will explain how the Distance Learning timetable will work. Most students in Year 3-8 should be very confident to access their learning independently unless they are new to our school this year. Learning can be accessed on the google site just as it is every day at school.

Each team will communicate with you before Monday letting you know the times of the first connection meetings.

Chromebook Allocation 

(repeat information from update #2)

We have a limited amount of Chromebooks that we are willing to loan.

We will prioritise giving students from Years 3-8 devices, as these students will require access to a device to complete some of their online distance learning.

If we have Kākano whānau, who do not have any access to a device at home we would like to support you if we can - please indicate this on the form below.

Please remember students can access their Google Drive from any device that you have at home that has access to the internet, so you will only need to borrow a Chromebook if you have no other devices available for them.

There is an agreement that will need to be signed about the use and care of the device. It must only be used for home learning. Chromebooks are not designed as gaming devices. The expectation therefore would be that they are not used in this way.

Please complete this Google Form if you would like to borrow a Chromebook. You will need to complete this today.

We will communicate with you over the weekend about pick up or delivery.

Whānau Kākano

Don't underestimate the power of play for these students. They are still learning when playing with Lego, playing shops, baking, writing lists etc It is absolutely ok to let your child play and just access what is on the site when you want to.

We know that you have work schedules too and that you won't always be able to sit with your child - most of the activities we have uploaded for your children on the Kākano site can be accessed at any time. Your child's teacher will email you before Monday with information about how to access these connection meetings.

Communication During Level 4

(repeat info from Level 4 update #2)

We will be using the community feed in Hero to send out all communication to you while we are in Alert Level 4. We will also post all whole school communication on our website under Quick Links/ Latest Updates.

All teachers emails are on the website and our school phone 03 595 0730 has been diverted and will be answered by Bev Sutherland should you need to make contact for any reason.