COVID-19
Friday 27 March
Covid-19 update 4:05 pm
Kia ora family and whanau
This week has been such an interesting time as we moved into lockdown, started our learning journey on line and now NZ being declared a State of Emergency.
This is meaning many different things for our community but I want to reassure you that our teachers are here to support you, as am I and Pip Grey. Please do get in contact if you need something from us. I’ve been spending some time commenting on learning posts, it’s great to see how well your children have been doing. The posts show how much time you’ve spent engaging with and supporting them. Thanks so much for this.
I know that some people are worried about Milly our school cat and the three chooks as well. I have obtained special permission from the Ministry of Education for Mrs Cowley to go to school every second day to feed our pets. Mrs Cowley has to do this by herself and she has to wash her hands before going to school and when leaving school. Thank you so much Mrs Cowley for looking after our pets.
I know that you understand the importance of routine for your family. All of our routines have been shaken up, we’re having to spend all day at home which has its challenges when we are used to being out and about, meeting friends, working and shopping! Routines are reassuring, and promote good health and physical wellbeing. The holidays are a good time to get a family routine in place. It can be very simple, make it with your children so they feel part of what is happening and they can tell you when they would prefer to do things. I’m getting up at my usual time and sitting at the dining room table focussing on school things. I make sure I stop for a morning tea and lunch break and I am finding it a bit more challenging to work in the afternoons so I take some time out to connect with my two grandchildren in Rotorua. We read stories together through Facebook Messenger. I’m sure that there will be some challenging times for you all as well and you will have developed some good coping strategies.
I’m also missing the staff and seeing your children every day. Our staff have had an online meeting and we will have our next one on Wednesday 15 April, the first day back on line after the holidays.
Please remember that you can contact me during the holidays, these holidays will feel very different for all of us and I just ask that you stay in your bubble, get outside in your back yard for fun activities, connect on line with friends and family and enjoy your time together.
Nga mihi nui
Janice Gulbransen
Principal
Wednesday 25 March
Covid-19 update 1:03pm
Kia ora family and whanau
As we are now becoming adjusted to the new ”normal” for the next few weeks I hope that you are feeling relaxed about how things will work for your family. My family are all over NZ and my son is in Melbourne, last night we had a group call on messenger – it was great to see everybody managing in many different ways! I hope that you are able to connect with your family members who are not in your “bubble” at this time.
Keep a regular routine and also enjoy the fun moments, become engaged with your child in their learning. If using the On Line School on our website please be sure that your child logs in often. Teachers are keen to support individuals as well as the whole class using on line programmes, this is a great opportunity to be creative! Also remember that the learning activities will not replicate a school day and you are advised not to try and replicate the school day at home but rather enjoy the teaching and learning times, whenever they best fit for your family, yet also supporting your child if their teacher has indicated a google meet time.
It is also important to remember that many of our teachers will also have their children and partners at home, which will no doubt present some interesting moments as they continue to work from home and care for their children - a true balancing act!!
Remember that the school holidays have been brought forward and will now be from 30 March through until 14 April. Distance learning will cease on 29 March and will resume on 15 April even though teachers will not be on site.
During our nationwide lockdown if you need to contact me for anything please use my email
principal@naylandprimary.school.nz or call me on our school cellphone 021629 635.
Unless there is anything urgent my next email will be on Friday.
Take care and if we can help don’t hesitate to ask.
Ngā mihi
Janice Gulbransen, on behalf of our staff
Tuesday 24 March
Covid-19 update 12:19pm
Kia ora family and whanau
Thank you for your support today. We had only 8 children come to school and five of those were collected before lunch and the remaining three will be with us again tomorrow. We are really pleased that you are following the Prime Minister’s guidelines.
At school we are managing well and focusing on setting up for distance learning opportunities. Our aim is to make this as easy as possible for our families both for on line learning and for those of you who will come in and pick up home learning packs from 1pm today.
It is important for you to know that the learning provided will not replicate a school day and you are advised not to try and replicate the school day at home. The learning activities provided will engage your children in learning and we think that the opportunities that distance learning will provide will be interesting in the weeks ahead. To access our On Line School go to our school website, www.naylandprimary.school.nz. after 1pm today and click on the On Line School tab, read all of the information provided and then your child can click onto their class and see what they can do. I’m looking forward to following their learning through Hapara, Google and SeeSaw.
Our team is standing by to attend to any trouble shooting needed with online learning. Use the trouble shooting page on the On Line School link to contact our eLearning team.
The school holidays have been brought forward and will now be from 30 March through until 14 April. Distance learning will cease on 29 March and will resume on 15 April even though teachers will not be on site.
During our nationwide lockdown if you need to contact me for anything please use my email
principal@naylandprimary.school.nz or call me on our school cellphone 021629 635.
Parents, caregivers, whānau and teachers all have a particularly important part to play in reassuring children at this time. If you haven’t already done so, you may wish to read the information put together by the Ministry of Education to support your conversations with your children – Talking to children about COVID-19.
As noted by the Prime Minister these restrictions are our best chance to slow the virus in New Zealand and to save lives. We all have a clear role here to slow the spread of COVID-19. Let’s do this the very best that we can. The other day I heard someone say, “Let’s be careful not fearful”. I thought this was very apt for the situation right now.
Take care and if we can help don’t hesitate to ask.
Ngā mihi
Janice Gulbransen, on behalf of our staff
Monday 23 March, 8:34pm
Covid-19 update
Kia ora family and whanau
WOW, what a very changed situation we are now working in. While at times it might be challenging we can all be kind to each other and ourselves by making the most of the time with our family.
With today’s announcement by Government, we are implementing with urgency our plan to support your child’s learning from home. We appreciate this is a sudden and significant change, and will be heavily disruptive to many people in our community.
For children of essential workers, we look forward to seeing your child here at school tomorrow morning from 8.30am. There will be no Breakfast Club. You may wish to check if you are considered an essential worker - https://covid19.govt.nz/government-actions/covid-19-alert-system/. however those roles include doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and police. We continue to ask that children who are not well, do not attend school.
For all other children, we will be supporting their learning from your home in the following ways:
- through online learning using a variety of tools that your children are familiar, including Hapara, Google and SeeSaw
- provision of a learning pack for those children who can not access learning on line which can be collected by an adult from 12 noon – 4pm tomorrow between 8am and 4pm Wednesday
- you can contact me or Pip Grey on our school phone, 03 547 7399 until 4pm Wednesday if there are any issues for your child. You can also contact me by email principal@naylandprimary.school.nz and I will answer your query myself or pass your email on to the right staff member.
Some teachers will not be at school tomorrow and Wednesday as they need to care for their family. All children of essential workers are asked to be at school no earlier than 8.30 and when the bell goes all children will meet in the Multi Purpose Space.
The school holidays are being brought forward so that they are completed within the 4 week lockdown period. Holidays will now begin from Monday 30 March to Tuesday 14 April inclusive (a reminder that the Tuesday after Easter Monday is always a closed day for schools). At the end of the school holidays, schools will be open for distance learning but not physically open for staff to work at the schools. We will update you on this on Wednesday 15 April. With the school holidays being brought forward teachers will implement some distance learning this week only and then again from Wednesday 15 April.
If you need to have your child cared for by someone else you will need to identify that person or people as part of your self-isolated group. This will need to be done by midnight Wednesday and the group must remain the same for the whole 4 week period. The caregiver’s own group (eg, their partner and children), your child and your own group (eg, your parents and other children) become one group. This group needs to be limited to minimise any risk of spread and should be no more than 20 people.
Your child will be looking to you for guidance about this decision. Parents, caregivers, whānau and teachers will have a particularly important part to play in reassuring children at this time. If you haven’t already done so, you may wish to read the information put together by the Ministry of Education to support your conversations with your children – Talking to children about COVID-19
As noted by the Prime Minister these restrictions are our best chance to slow the virus in New Zealand and to save lives. We all have a clear role here to slow the spread of COVID-19.
We will continue to communicate with you over the coming days. Thank you for your ongoing support of our school staff and school community. Be kind, be careful and most of all enjoy this unexpected time with your children.
Ngā mihi
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday 23 March 2020 4:00pm
Dear Parents and Whanau
As you will be aware the Prime Minister has moved New Zealand to Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 4 in 48 hours. This means that staying at home is necessary and schools will be closed from tomorrow for everyone, except children of essential workers such as doctors, nurses and some others. Schools will be closed to all students from midnight on Wednesday, 25th March for approximately four weeks.
Tomorrow I will email information and place it on our website, on how our school will manage learning from home. There are many family learning activities which you can take part in including cooking, reading, puzzles and outdoor games at home. I know that this will create some anxiety for many members of our school community. I ask you to remain calm and support your children during this time.
Please share and discuss with them the Nanogirl video on COVID-19 that was in my email yesterday.
If I can help you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me at principal@naylandprimary.school.nz
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Previous Update (yesterday's email)
Sunday 22 March 15:28
Kia ora koutou family and whanau
While there is so much uncertainty and anxiety around our country being in a Level 2 Alert to prevent the spread of Covid-19 I am very conscious of the need to provide our school community with as much information as possible while maintaining a balanced approach to what we do.
Our Pandemic Plan is well in place! Supporting our students and their families is paramount. Please let us know if we can help you in any way. I suggest that you watch these two videos:
Covid 19 - Nathan Wallis and Ministry of Education Covid-19 information for parents where you can share the Nanogirl talking to children about Covid-19
We are making several changes to the way in which we do things at Nayland Primary until the end of term at least and ask for your full co-operation. Our planning clearly relates to the NZ Level 2 Alert as announced by the Prime Minister yesterday. At our Leadership Meeting this morning we have arranged the following:
All our students who fall into the High Level at Risk category have been contacted. Parents will determine if their child will attend school or not. If your child has asthma please ensure that they are well enough to be at school.
Our Learning Discussions were planned for April 1st and 2nd. We have cancelled these, however we believe that it is important that we share your child’s learning goals with you. As a staff we will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the best way to do this.
Ways to ensure learning can continue at home are being planned. Learning at home does not mean learning with devices all the time. As we work though the best way to continue class programmes at home I suggest that if your child is not attending school due to Covid-19 that you begin with lots of outdoor and indoor games, biking and scootering, puzzles, regular reading to and with your child, cooking and crafts. Activities that you can share as a family are a great idea!
Social distancing is at the heart of many of our initiatives. We will be ensuring that students are not sitting beside each other at lunch, and we will be encouraging students to keep themselves distanced from other when playing games and working in the classroom. This will be challenging at times but we will do our best.
Breakfast Club will continue this week. Any child not having breakfast must not come to school until 8.25am. While it might be a challenge for some of our families we ask that you adhere strictly to this.
The canteen will continue to operate this week. I will update you again later in the week if this is to continue or not,
When you leave school in the afternoons the pedestrian crossing can be very busy. Please stagger the time that you cross, before 3.15pm. Mornings are less congested so there are no changes for that time.
We know that many of you like to be in classrooms both before and after school and we appreciate this, however, from now until the end of term we ask that:
- if you need to come in to school to settle your child in the morning that you do so but stay for the shortest time possible
- after school you wait outside the classroom with social distancing
Due to the need to implement social distancing many of our programmes will be adapted, postponed or cancelled. We are also aiming to reduce unnecessary visitors to our school. Please support us in our endeavours. To date I can tell you that:
- Goofy Games on Wednesday are postponed however teachers will be encouraged to take their classes out to play a game each day.
- The Whenua Syndicate trips to Forest School this term are postponed
- The English as Second Language (ESOL) family dinner planned for Monday 23 March is postponed
- Kapa Haka is postponed for the rest of the term.
- Our Transition to School programme is postponed, in Term 2 we will decide with families how to best support new entrant children as they start school.
Please remind your child to
- Keep hands away from their mouth
- Wash their hands for 20 seconds after using the bathroom
- Try and avoid close contact with their friends
Devices and computers generally don’t like cleaning products therefore students will wash their hands before and after using a device. Please follow this rule at home also.
Extra cleaning of desk tops will happen before lunch and at the end of each day.
Our plan is to update you regularly by email and the same information will be posted on to our school website.
Please do not hesitate to keep in touch with our staff if you have any concerns and be very assured that we will be doing everything possible to keep our school community safe.
Nga mihi nui
Janice Gulbransen
Principal