From The Principal's Desk

Dear parents and caregivers

I would like to begin this email with a big thank you to all of our community. The way everyone has supported our children through this very unusual times has been fantastic!

We have been navigating so many scenarios and still continue to do so! It is amazing to think that we are now into week 11 of term 2 with only one week left of this term.

We have learnt the meaning of the word pivot in daily as well as weekly scenarios, we have been navigating new waters. We have weathered the storm so far and can now think about charting the way forward.

Wellbeing is still uppermost in our minds, that of our children and your whanau/family.

This was our focus for the first two weeks of returning back to school. It is now so wonderful to hear the voices and laughter of children. It is great to see our parents back in school. Along with the groups, assemblies and after school activities beginning again.

We are conscious that circumstances have changed for some families and may continue to do so, even for new families. Please do contact us or come and see us to talk with us, if you have any concerns about what is going on for you as a family or for your child.

I would also like to remind you, that if you ever do have any concerns or complaints our process and policy is on our school docs site.

We are having our parent/teacher sharing next week on Thursday 2 July. Hopefully you have been able to make a booking with your child's teacher. This is a time where you can talk about the transition back to school for your child. What is going on for them, as well as any family scenarios that are relevant. Your child's teacher will be able to talk about this same transition from a school perspective.

We know that many of you have been thinking about your child's learning over COVID. We are very proud of our teachers and the great work they do. They have been working hard over this time to settle your child back into learning. Learning can't happen without wellbeing in place. Teachers have been making observations and conducting informal assessments to gauge where your child's learning is at. We have designed a one page record of this teacher judgement in regard to the curriculum levels. This will be available at the parents teacher sharing and we hope you will find it useful. It will give you an idea of where your child's learning is now in reading , writing and math and where they need to be. We also know that the dispositions of our learner profile are important and you can to talk about these with your child's teacher. Your child will be able to talk their learning dispositions at the Student led sharing later next term.

We love having the children at school every day. Our attendance has been over 95% on a weekly basis as the children have returned. This week it has dropped a little due to families keeping children at home and we do appreciate this as there are a lot of colds and bugs around with the colder weather. Keeping your child home if they are unwell is what we ask and what we need to keep up, to ensure the health and safety of all.

We are still doing a big focus on hand washing and I know you will be doing this too for the health and safety of your families.

As we are navigating these times we have been guided by the Ministries of Education and Health and still continue to be. We value our community and want to ensure the health and safety of all. As we said, next week we will review our current situation, so that we can be ready for a new term of learning in term 3.

I do hope that you have a lovely break over the two weeks of the holidays and that you get away or at least enjoy the opportunity to spend quality time with not only your family but your extended family and friends. It has been so lovely to hear the wonderful stories that occurred over COVID for quality family time and I do hope these continue for you.

Fun times are important to share and I thought you might like to see these photos from our Fun Friday.

Ngā mihi nui 

ColleenMargison

Principal

Learning to Navigate our Changing World

Turnaround Bay Review

1.07.2020

Dear Parents Caregivers, 

The turnaround bay was originally closed due to Health and Safety for COVID. We have had a lot of positive comments about the success of this due to the improved traffic flow, whichis why we continued to trial it.

We are sending this out for your information and to gain parent voice on Thursday. This willsit alongside our own observations, Police recommendations and Auckland Transport advice and research.

We understand that the turnaround bay is convenient. Prior to COVID there were other Health and Safety risks that were of concern.

Safety

• Due to traffic congestion, traffic backs up Mellons Bay Road and is sometimes queued up around the corner. This is a concern because, with the traffic coming up the hill, if we ever needed (which I do hope we won't), to get an Ambulance or a Fire Truck down the road we wouldn't be able to due to the traffic build-up.

Congestion

• With the traffic trying to get down Mellons Bay Road, people often try to pull out of the queue in their cars and we have had near misses and traffic blockages with traffic coming up the hill.

Dangerous crossing

• Parents walking to school also see the traffic queued up and walk across the road through the idling traffic rather than using the kea crossing, which is unsafe and also dangerous for our students who watch this and think it is ok.

Frequent Near Misses

• When cars drive out of the turnaround bay turning right, we have had near misses with traffic coming down Mellons Bay Road.

All of these scenarios have stopped due to the improved traffic flow up and down the street.

Police Recommendation

The Police recommend that we close the turnaround bay and state that it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs. They have received positive feedback about the increased safety, parking, driver behaviour and visibility in and around Mellons Bay School. As they
have stated, we are also incredibly lucky to have a huge car parking zone fit for purpose, further down Mellons Bay Road. There are no other schools in our area that have thisfacility.

Auckland Transport 

Have suggested walking bus options. These have run well in the past. This would require volunteers to facilitate the walking routes.

We have noticed the increased resilience that our students have been displaying post COVID. We have observed greater independence, self-management and confidence whenour students are coming into school, both from parents and school staff. These dispositions embrace our values and learner profile and are known (through research) to set ourchildren up for success.

Turnaround Review
We are now at the end of the term, as indicated we are reviewing the turn around bay. At parent/teacher sharing on Thursday we invite you to let us know whether you think theturnaround bay should be open or closed and whether you would be interested in a Walking Bus option.

Nga mihi nui
Colleen Margison
Principal

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