From The Principal's Desk

Dear parents and caregivers

I would like to thank you for your support during Alert Level 3 and thank you for the wonderful care and guidance you have provided for your children over the past few weeks. We know that these have been very tricky times for many and we now want to work together with you as we navigate the next level of COVID-19.

It's great to have our students and staff back at school. They have been very busy with their distance learning and we now look forward to this next transition. The wellbeing of your family and our students and teachers is important and will be our focus as we come back to school life.

The Prime Minister has emphasised the importance of focusing on the three areas of;

• Space • Hygiene • Tracking and Tracing

For the latter we are required by the Government to record daily, every adult that enters and exits our school and the time and details involved. This is so that we know who is at our school, who our staff and students have been in contact with and when. We can then take appropriate measures to keep everyone safe. For this purpose, we request that parents only enter the school grounds if it is absolutely necessary.

Under Alert Level 2 parents and caregivers will be discouraged from coming on site unless absolutely necessary. Parents will be able to "drop off and pick up" their child/ren from the Mellons Bay Road entrance or the McMillan back gate at the staggered times below. Where possible it would be great if one person is designated for pick up and drop off. We want to avoid congestion and therefore will be staggering the time for this according to the first letter of your surname.

Entry: Surnames beginning with A-K: 8.20 - 8.40am and surnames beginning with L-Z: 8.40 – 9.00am
Exit:    " " "                                    A-K: 2:40 - 2:50pm " " " "                                        L-Z: 2:50- 3.00 pm

If at all possible walk to school with your child, or park and walk further to avoid congestion. Please consider other options for your child, if you yourself need to leave early, can another family member or neighbour bring them to school later.
For pick up we will shut off the drive-through. Both barriers will be closed. Parents can stand in the car park, for Alert Level 2, please do remember your spacing and please do not congregate. If at all possible please meet your child at the beach car park.
Two members of staff will be at the gates to ensure your child enters or exits our school site safely.

If your child is a new member of our school you will need to go the office and sign in on the register outside the door. Many of our new learners have been given a time to do this, again to avoid congestion. Please remember this is just not "School Rule" it is for the safety of you and your family. If you have any queries please ring the school office to make a time with someone who can help you. Two New Entrant visits have been planned and you will be emailed to confirm your date.
Small Fry's will begin in Alert Level 1.

Uniform orders are available through Kindo, the Uniform Shop will not be opening at Alert Level 2. If you have any sizing issues please call the office for advice. We are in a transition time for uniform as well, winter uniform does not need to be worn until after Queens Birthday weekend.

In regard to hygiene, each class has been given a pack of cloths and disinfectant to wash all hard surfaces. Along with gloves, hand sanitiser, tissues and posters for the classroom. These posters will also be used as teaching tools as we want to make our expectations clear and explicit to the children. In line with our MBS way we want them to be doing the right thing, at the right time and in the right place. This will involve lessons and reminders about good hygiene practices. They will be encouraged to wash, wash, wash their hands at every opportunity. When arriving at school, when leaving and entering the classroom, before and after breaks, when going to the toilet and when touching equipment. This also includes the playground, students will wash and sanitise before and after playing on the playground.

Along with good hygiene please organise a water bottle for your child as the school drinking fountains have been covered up. Lunch orders will not be available next week until we have checked that the Health and Safety practices meet the regulations.

We have had assurance from the cleaning company that the cleaners will go through all school areas and make sure the school is properly cleaned and sanitised for the school opening on Monday. During Alert Level 2, the cleaners will keep sanitising daily the high touch surfaces, such as door handles and around, bathroom fixtures, sinks, hand basins, and light switches etc, with their regular cleaning.

Mr Costello will check all toilet areas daily, after the morning break times and Learning Assistants will monitor these areas at morning break times to ensure good hygiene practices are in place.

We would like to remind you that fogging has taken place across the school that lasts 3-6 months.

Please keep your child home if they are sick. This will also apply to our staff, if they have a runny nose or a sore throat. We are putting steps in place in monitor access to our sick bay. The office staff will ring you if your child shows these symptoms and you will be asked to take your child home. Again for the safety of all.

We have been advised by the Minstry of Education and the Ministry of Health to avoid close proximity. This will be tricky at school but we will monitor, teach, encourage and remind our students to be aware of each others' space. The advice is to stay out of each others' "moist breath zone".

We will not be having any full school assemblies for the next two weeks. This is the time where we want students and staff to settle back into school life and feel comfortable returning to school. We thank you for your support at this time and remind you and our staff, that children take their cues from the adults around them, so the more calm and positive we can be about this siutation, the better it will be for them. If you do have any concerns about your child returning, please contact your class teacher.

We do want your child to be at school. If you do have a concern or a changed situation at home that will interupt this process, please let your child's teacher know. We will be marking the roll as normal and we have a code to record if the comment is related to this COVID time.

The HomeLearning programme on TV will still be available and teachers will be able to access this at school. We will continue with online aspects e.g. Maths Whizz and Seesaw. The latter has been a great learning tool and opportunity to connect with you and gain your feedback. I think and hope it has been a reciprocal process for you. We will assess our numbers for children when we return and if for some reason your child is unable to return to school, the TV programme, the MOE online learning links and Maths Whizz are always available.

When children return to school in Alert level 2 their wellbeing will be our number one priority, before any academic learning and assesment take place. We will not be focusing on mid year reports and we look forward to our student led sharing in early Term 3, where your child can talk about what helps them learn.

Through this whole process all our community has learnt to navigate a changing world. I am so proud of our students and our teachers who have demonstrated our school dispositions. Many are now more confident with Seesaw and online learning, they have been able to connect and communicate with each other and certainly show creativity, while also caring about individuals and families. I thank you for this support and thank our wonderful staff. They have all shown responsibility, repect and above all resilience. Aspects we need to continue to foster.

Thank you again.

Kia kaha

ColleenMargison

Principal

Learning to Navigate our Changing World

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