Dear Parents / Caregivers,
I hope everyone is safe and well, continuing t o enjoy the daily interactions together. As you have no doubt heard, the Prime Minister announced yesterday that NZ will move into Alert L2. For St Martins School this means reopening for all children on Monday 18th May.
We understand there will be some variance across our community, from those looking forward to the return to school and some that may choose to continue to keep their children home. So we have some understanding of the number of children returning and those staying home, could you please complete the online survey https://forms.gle/
Teachers are preparing their classes for the return of your children. This week they will be working from home and school in preparation. A reminder that our last meets will be on Thursday this week. We will be following the Ministry of Health guidelines with a focus on continuing to ensure regular hand washing takes place and social distancing (in the school setting this is defined as the ‘moist breath zone’ rather than 1 or 2 metres). Your children will notice when they come back to school that they have been allocated a bag area and learning space. During Alert L2 we will have specific areas for children to sit and learn rather than the regular movement we would have had before the outbreak of Covid-19. Each class has a hand sanitiser available for children to use. As yet we have not received the Ministry of Education (MoE) allocation and are needing to source this ourselves. It would be very handy if you could provide your child with some if you can find it.
We ask that parents only enter the classrooms where necessary, if possible could you please farewell your child outside the classroom. We totally understand this may be more achievable for older children than younger. If you do enter the classroom please fill in the contact list as we need to keep a record of people that have been in each space. This will need to be done both before and after school.
From Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th May children can arrive at school between 8.30 – 9.30am. This allows families to have a staggered start to the school day if they wish.
Playgrounds are once again open at Alert L2 and children are allowed to play together. As usual we will have duty teachers, Playground Activity Leaders and Peer Mediators supporting the play in the playground. Team Leaders are finalising the eating areas for each team given the guidelines by the MoE.
Thank you once again for the wonderful experience you have provided for your child / ren during this time. This historic event will see many changes in the short term and may even affect us longer term. Thank you for the support you have given your children to continue through this situation not only with their learning but also the positive experience of being and interacting as a family.
We look forward to your child / ren returning and sharing with us the highlights of the experience of staying home and learning for seven weeks.
Could you please support us in the following ways on the return of your child to school;
- Discuss with your child / ren that school is a safe place to attend and once again learn and play with their friends
- Let your child know that there will be changes at school in how the environments are set out and how we move in the school
- Provide your child / ren with a named drink bottle
- Reinforce that food is not to be shared
- Provide hand sanitiser for your child / ren if possible
- Return any school owned devices that your family has been using
- Enter the classroom to support your child if needed – complete the contact sheet in the classroom
- Remind your child / ren of the types of positive behaviour needed in a school setting with larger groups of people
Thank you for your ongoing support – see you next week.
Regards,
Andrew
