Kia ora Muritai whānau,
Thank you for your attendance at our learning conferences over the past two weeks, these are always so well attended, and we thank you for being a key part of our learning partnership. A written progress report will be sent home next week, which captures the progress discussed and the discussion at the meetings.
The last few days have meant a change for us all at drop off and pick up. Thank you for your attention to, and your support of our systems at Level 2. The last few days have been pretty settled with all things considered!
Can you please send drink bottles to school now that we are back at Alert Level 2 as our water fountains are temporarily turned off.
Please don’t underestimate the sometimes invisible toll that the COVID-19 experience has had on us all. We have all weathered this extraordinary experience over many months - staying positive, being kind, and getting through. We are now back to level two, which brings the uncertainty of how this will play out over the coming days, weeks and months. Many of us are ‘COVID-weary’; outwardly putting on the energetic, brave face in front of our families, workmates and friends. Underneath we may be weary, and a certain amount of anxiety is likely to be bubbling beneath the surface. So again, be kind to yourselves, and be aware we are likely to all be feeling this in our own way. Humans are fragile and a little TLC towards yourself and towards others will go a long way right now.
Preparing for Learning at Home
As a school we are ready for the scenario of being asked to move to Level 3 and the restart of Home Learning @ Muritai School. We continue to be prepared for a change in levels at any time, and we are all set to continue our Home Learning should the need arise.
Today we have sent home pencil cases and any personally owned devices for children in level 3-8, much like an ‘emergency kit’ preparedness message to all. (For the children in year 3 & 4, we messaged this by inviting them to take home a colouring competition sheet and their pencil case over the weekend.) Although we are very likely to be back at school in Level 2 on Monday, last time we went to Level 3 very swiftly, and there wasn’t much of an opportunity to take key things home. Please do send important bits and pieces back to school on Monday.
Level 3 - Who can attend (bubble) school on site?
If there is a shift to Level 3, Muritai school offers supervision for those parents who qualify as essential workers. If you are an essential worker, please email me directly if you will require supervision for your children from 9 - 3 to be able to continue in your role. We do not need to survey the entire community once again, as we anticipate a similar response. If you have any queries or you have had a change in employment, please contact me directly at Principal@muritai.school.nz
Face Masks
We have had a few questions about Face Masks being worn at school.
Face Masks being worn at school is not a mandatory requirement of the Ministry of Education at Level 2, or even in fact if we shift to Level 3. The current information that we have is that Face Masks are being encouraged when in public spaces where distancing is not possible. While schools are public spaces, we are able to maintain tight monitoring of who is and has come in contact with others. If you would like to wear a mask when at school, or you wish for your child to wear one, you are welcome to.
If the Ministries of Health or Education change their current recommendations we will take action immediately and communicate this with you as soon as we are able.
A request came to me today by a community member who was concerned about children being in the shops in the Village. You might have noticed that last time we were in Level 3 and 4, there was some of this chatter on local social media too. Some of our community members are anxious and are trying their utmost to follow the physical distancing rules. Please be aware of this outside of the school gates.
The current recommendations from the COVID-19 website are:
https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19/alert-system/alert-system-overview/
- Keep physical distancing of two metres from people you don’t know when out in public or in retail stores. Keep one metre physical distancing in controlled environments like workplaces, where practicable.
- People 7 years old and older may consider wearing a face covering when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
I wish you all a restful weekend,
Take care – be safe
Ngā Manaakitanga
Bec Power
At 12pm today we returned to COVID-19 Alert Level 2. This email is to remind you all about our processes and systems at Alert Level 2.
Our Learning Conversations are going ahead this evening as planned. The key requirements of contact tracing will be met by our established booking system, and we will also focus on physical distancing during the brief 12 minute meeting. Please do remember to physically distance from adults and children outside of your family when in the school grounds prior to, during and after your conversation.
Today we are setting up our classrooms and shared spaces for Alert Level 2. We know what to do at Level 2 at Muritai School, and our procedures for keeping our learners and each other safe have quickly kicked into gear.
This email contains important reminders on our previous Alert Level 2 preparations - especially in regard to the drop off and pick up of students. The School’s preference is that parents dropping children at school are encouraged to drop them off at one of our many school gates during Level 2, and not enter the school grounds.
We will have 3 stations available on the main school courts for signing in, if you need to come onsite to drop children off. We have printed out all students' class lists, and ask that you simply highlight your name if you have entered the school. You only need to highlight one child’s name, even if you have more children at Muritai. We do not need to collect any further details as we have all of these on record. If you are asking someone else to drop your child into the school grounds and they are not a current parent or caregiver, they will need to write down their name and phone number for contact tracing purposes at one of these stations.
At the end of the day, the stations will be back out on the courts, and we ask that you once again highlight your name (or write it if you are not a current parent) as you come into the school.
We will once again have several staff out in ‘high vis’ vests to support this process, and guide you to a station.
For our new entrant and Year 1 parents & children:
We understand that some of our junior parents may need to come onsite to drop off their 5 year old. Please make sure that you sign in when you come onsite and socially distance from others. To enable less congestion, we have amended the drop off points. Room 1 children are to be dropped at the Room 1 door, Room 3 children are to be dropped at the room 3 sliding door (by the hall), Room 2 children are to be dropped at the room 2 fire exit door by the junior playground. Please remember under level 2 we cannot have parents inside the classrooms.
For afternoon pick up the year 0/1 classes (rooms 1, 2 and 3) will be walked to the Oroua Street gate by the concrete wall. Classes will sit with their teacher and when teachers see you at the gate they will send your child to meet you. Thanks in advance for your help with this.
The key messages for parents/adults at Level 2 are all based on the Ministry of Education guidelines:
Wherever possible, please drop your children off at the gates rather than coming into school, or even better, have your child bike, scooter or walk to school to avoid congestion.
- Please do not send any children to school before 8:15am.
- Please pick a gate and stick to it for all of your drop off and pick ups. That means that your children will enter the school grounds through the same gate that you will leave through again each day.
- Our preference is that you do not enter the school grounds unless you need to. We have created this system to allow for those of you that need to enter.
- Please do not enter any classrooms, cloak bays, the hall or any other buildings at school. If you need to connect with the office, we ask that this is planned for via phone or email.
- Please do not enter the senior school at any time - check in to the main school if you need to access this site, and speak to one of our ‘high vis’ wearing staff, or call the school office.
- Adults entering the school grounds must maintain physical distancing from other children and our school staff as per the Alert Level 2 guidelines
- Once your child has arrived, they will head straight to class, where their teacher will be excitedly awaiting their arrival!
- After 8:50am we will be closing and securing all gates to ensure we have no additional visitors through them during the day. If you are running late, you will need to come to the foyer via the Muritai Road entrance and sign in through our electronic visitor sign in system. This is also the same with any children who are running late, they will only be able to access the school after 8:50am through the foyer
- Remember to stick to the rule and limit your time onsite to under 15 minutes, even if you have registered.
- Please do not congregate within the school grounds
- We will be encouraging all students to move off the school site by 3:15 unless they are attending Kelly Club
- Sick staff and children will not attend school under any circumstance
Once we are all in class, things are a lot less tricky, and we will be continuing to be ‘playing it safe’ by following our Level 2 guidance around staying out of breath zones, remembering cough and sneeze etiquette and keeping our hands nice and clean.
Take care – be safe
Ngā Manaakitanga
Bec Power
Principal
