This whakatauki talks of community and collaboration. It acknowledges that everybody has something to offer, a piece of the puzzle, and by working together we can flourish and therefore thrive, this refers to us all working together.

COVID -19

The second week of Level 2 at Te Kuiti High School has not provided issues for us. Students are complying to the protocols put in place, although at times they need reminding. The effect can be felt in other ways however. We have been asked to complete an Attendance, engagement and well-being survey by the Ministry of Education. The following are our responses.

1. How would you place the current well-being of your students since the beginning of Alert Level 2? LOW IMPACT

2. What number of students were absent on Monday 17 August? 43

3. What number of staff were absent on 17 August? 6

These numbers are above average however sickness and whanau commitments were the main reasons for absences.

Following are three of the major effects of being at Covid-19 Level 2.

SPORTS

Our sports teams have been given permission to continue their competition games in the weekends with the proviso that there are to be NO SPECTATORS anywhere on the High School grounds when they are playing. Please respect this rule as it may result in the games being stopped. More information following.

WAIWAIA

With the uncertainty of whether we are going to stay at level 2, go back to level 1 or going to level 3 the Maniapoto Secondary schools Kapa Haka festival Waiwaia, which we were hosting this year has been cancelled for 2020. It cannot be postponed to term 4 as NCEA exam preparations and other end of year school activities have to take precedence. We will host it in 2021.

ASSESSMENTS

The re-emergence of Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of being ready in the event that our students are unable to complete their full programme of assessment. This means teachers need to be collecting valid standard specific evidence that can be used for derived grades or Unexpected Event Grades. This may be collected using practice examinations, extra assessments or by using NZQA-provided evidence gathering templates. Collecting this evidence will ensure students can be assessed for these standards if COVID-19 disrupts their external assessments. This means that students need to be at school, they need to be completing work set by teachers in a timely manner and at the same time prepare for November's NCEA external exams.

Thank you all for taking the time to read through these messages and I hope that you keep safe and have an enjoyable weekend.

Pai marire

Papa Thomas