This week saw the country move out of Alert Level 3 and into Alert Level 2, which is fantastic. Fantastic not only for the children returning to school, but also for our many local businesses that can now get up and running again.
Our new ‘normal’ will look different for some time yet, but it will be important for us to keep to the new guidelines that represent Alert Level 2.
Now that we have moved out of the constraints that were Level 3 and 4, I would like to acknowledge the superb effort of those of you who have been flying the ‘home-schooling’ flag during this difficult time. For surviving the tantrums (I’m sure there were none!) and having the tolerance to Keep Calm and Carry On. They do say that teaching isn’t for the faint-hearted and the staff and I have been truly in awe of how so many of you have managed to maintain a balance, and a sliver of sanity throughout this time.
I would also like to acknowledge the staff for their continued resilience and the mammoth effort that they have taken on, in providing your children with daily remote learning opportunities.
We came through this together as a school and a community and we can make it through this next phase too!
Below I have outlined some important processes for us moving forward so please take the time to familiarise yourself with them ahead of our grand reopening on Monday!
Have a wonderful, remote-learning free weekend everyone.
Arohanui
Keri Steele
Each week we have shared some of the student’s remote learning activities so this week, we thought we would change it up a bit and have a chat to the teachers about their time during ‘lockdown’.
Mrs Steele… “I have to admit, having breakfast at the leisurely hour of 8am was quite nice, and cooked lunches became the norm (I’m going to starve when I start back!). I really enjoyed spending time with my teenagers - they didn’t have a choice as none of their friends were in our bubble so Mum and Dad became pretty cool to be around! In the first 2 weeks or so it was baking, board games and cleaning aplenty. Then the novelty wore off slightly and I blamed the lack of yeast on my lack of baking and delegated cleaning to other household members. My knowledge of digital tools grew a huge amount and I started dabbling in creating my own activities on Seesaw. I have to admit - like many, I am sick of looking at a screen and can’t wait to get back into it!
Mrs G…
Mrs Lutton…
My high has been the simple pleasure of enjoying time with my family - without the need to rush, or be somewhere at a certain time. It has reminded me of just how much the little things count, and how lucky we are to live in a country like New Zealand.
Mrs Schlosser... My highs were having more time to spend with my family without having to rush anywhere. I feel very fortunate to be living in the country with big wide open spaces. I enjoyed having more time to cook and go for leisurely walks.
Sign In Procedures - please see the information included in the newsletter around electronically signing in using our School App. Throughout Alert Level 2 pick up and drop off will look quite different. Under instruction from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, we need to limit outside access to the school grounds. Please familiarize yourselves with the following guidelines:
One parent present for drop-off and pick-up
Do not enter the ‘cone zone’ unless you are intending on entering the school grounds
IF you are entering the school grounds youmust first: electronically ‘check-in’ via the School App and show the teacher on gate duty OR you need to fill in the register (both on entry and exit)
The car park will be coned off to all vehicles before and after school. The carpark will become the pick-up and drop-off pedestrian waiting zone. (A reminder that this area needs to remain dog-free).
In the morning say goodbye to your child/ren in the carpark and they can then enter the school through the ‘cone zone’.
In the afternoon children will be released from their classrooms (if they are in Kōhanga or Ruru) once the teacher has seen a parent waiting in the carpark. Piwakawaka children will continue to be brought out to the bell.
Walking children will be sent as normal with the bus line.
For those of you with children who need to be brought to their classroom in those first few days you will be able to bring them to the classroom door after following the above procedures for entering the school. A teacher will then assist you to leave your child with us. Parents are not permitted in the classrooms at this time.
Protocols for Alert Level 2 Children who present as sick in any way are not permitted to attend school until they are symptom free. If their symptoms are in line with Covid-19 symptoms, they will need a negative test prior to returning to school. If anyone in the family is suspected of being positive for Covid-19, the child/ren must remain at home.
If your child suffers from allergies, please provide the school with a letter from the doctor. Due to the time of year, we cannot risk having children sneezing and snotty at school, so if is in an allergy, we need confirmation of this.
If your child becomes ill at school, you will need to come and collect them immediately.
During this time, staff who become unwell, even with a simple cold, will also stay away from school.
A reminder with absences, you can use the School App or phone/text into the office.
Under Ministry of Health guidelines, our school is considered one bubble.
We are allowed to use all equipment and work around each other. Our daily routines will look a little different with hand sanitizer being used when students/staff come into a room or when they leave a room.
Staff will clean tables, door handles and light switches throughout the day and our normal daily cleaning protocols have been amped up accordingly.
If your child is not able to use the hand sanitizer provided, they will be washing their hands instead.
All students will be continuing to wash their hands as they normally would, and hand sanitizer does not replace this.
As mentioned in my letter earlier in the week, we strongly discourage the use of face masks at school.
Remote Learning For those students who are not returning to school on Monday, remote learning will be available from Monday. There will be communication from your child’s classroom teacher giving further detail on this.
It is expected that if your child is working from home, they are accessing their learning every day and completing everything that is set for them. If they do not complete the work on any day and you have not let the school know that they are unwell, they will be marked as ‘truant’ on our register.
For anyone who has a child/ren not returning who hasn’t made contact with me,please do so before Monday.
Sports Events for Term 2 All Malvern-wide activities have been cancelled for the remainder of this term. We will run our speeches and cross country later in the term and preparation for these events has already started. We will be back into our fitness runs on Monday! Our school cross country will be run here at school and the aim will be for children to achieve their personal bests. We will time them all this week and they can make personal goals for how they will achieve their personal best over the term. Kapa Haka will not be taking place but we will have hui every second week here at school.
Each week we will have rotations on a Friday that give the children the opportunity to engage in some collaborative art, singing or hui and sport.
Library
Students will have access to the library but books will not be issued or sent home for the remainder of term 2.
SchoolApps NZ App Please ensure you download the SchoolAppsNZ App by Monday if you haven’t already done so to be kept up to date. If you have any questions about the app, please contact Kylie.
To download the School Apps NZ app please click this link: https://springfield.apps.school.nz/install/ Here is a link to a video tutorial to help download and begin using the app -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45QOeaaORFc
SchoolApps NZ have also set up a new electronic contact tracing module allowing us to track parents and other visitors when visiting the school. Click here to watch the video and see how it works.
This poster will also be displayed at the school entrance.
You will need to show the teacher at the gate that you have checked in. If you haven’t, you will either need to step outside the ‘cone zone’ to do so, or fill in the paper register.
Winter Uniform It's coming up to the time of year when students will start wearing the winter uniform.
Please email the office if you would like to order the long sleeve or short sleeve polo shirts and or merino jersey and cardigan's. The remainder of the school uniform items are available to be purchased in store or online at The Warehouse.
This is a timely reminder to ensure your child/ren are wearing the correct school uniform. Plain blue polo shirts are not part of the Springfield School uniform. If wearing the polar fleece, please ensure they are the plain blue ¼ zip schooltex polar fleece. Socks must be white or navy blue (not knee high).
Please see below for school uniform items available from The Warehouse:
Schooltex Drill Cargo Pocket Shorts Schootex Kids' Polar Fleece Top
