Dear Parents / Caregivers,
As advised in my last update on Tuesday, as the country moves to Alert Level 3, the College will be open to receive students in Years 9 and 10 only from Wednesday 29th April.
The key message from the government is that you should continue to keep your son at home. You should only send your Year 9 / 10 son to school if you absolutely need to, due to work commitments or personal circumstances. NB: legally 14 yr olds can be left unsupervised at home.
I remind you that in order to prepare for students returning, we need an accurate indication of who we can expect to attend by 4.00pm Thursday 23rd April. Please email tbc@tbc.school.nz to advise if your son will be attending school from Wednesday 29th - include their name, year level, form class, method of transport (bus number, parent drop off, walk, bike). NB: bus transport will be very limited due to the risk profile of drivers so parent drop off is the preferred method.
Thank you to those who have advised the College that your son needs to be at school from next Wednesday. It's important that those boys who will attend the College from Wednesday; wear school uniform, bring their own device and headphones, all food and drink they require, understand they will be supervised for online learning without access to specialist classrooms, the library, or the gym, and will be kept safe through strict health and safety measures prescribed by the Ministry of Education. We will email directly those students whose parents have indicated they need to be at school with instructions on the expectations for next week.
Be aware that Alert Level 3 is not intended for mass return to school. It is specifically for children who NEED to be at school, not for those who can continue to work on their home learning as they are now. Every boy able to learn from home enables the school to work with reduced numbers and therefore supports the capacity to implement social distancing. Online learning remains the method by which teaching and learning will be delivered. This will be reviewed once we move to Alert Level 2 however will continue until the majority of our students are back onsite. Currently, senior students and the majority of staff will NOT have access to the College site or facilities and only those students on our roll for Alert Level 3 will have permission to be on-site.
The College office will not be open for the community, however we will respond to phone calls and emails tbc@tbc.school.nz
I remind you of the contact details shared in previous updates if you have any concerns.
Academic matters
Pastoral Matters / Student Management
Guidance
Our School Nurse Vicki will also be available by email v.keenan@tbc.school.nz or phone 5784029 ext 236 for health-related matters.
I acknowledge the challenge of online learning for many of your sons and know that your ongoing support of him in this process is significant in ensuring his learning is not compromised. I do appreciate that many of you in our community have been severely impacted upon by this crisis and face huge challenges over the last 4 weeks through lockdown, and continue to be challenged. We will continue to do all we can to support your son in his learning over this time.
Although Alert Level 3 will not be significantly different for many of you, including our boys, hopefully, it will enable the economy to get back on track and the country to make progress to return to a new normality.
The key message for all from the Government for Alert Level 3 is: To stay home and to work and learn from home if you can. The Ministry of Education is clear stating "if your child can stay home he should stay home".
Thank you again for your ongoing cooperation and understanding over this challenging time!
Warm regards,
Robert Mangan
Principal
