School photos

If you wish to order school photos by cash in the envelopes provided, please have these into school by 3pm on Tuesday 14th September.  We will not be able to accept any orders after this date.  

Thank you

Sorry for yet another message but we just want to thank you all so much for returning the devices that were handed out.  We have had about 95% returned today and we really apprecaite this.

Please remember to return all devices provided by the school to the office this morning.

COVID19 Update 8 September 2021

08 September, 2021 

Kia ora Parents and Caregivers, 

The following are additional points of further clarification to yesterday’s communication. This comes as a result of having received additional MoE information yesterday evening: 

·        All the required safety precautions for Alert Level 2 will be in place which include following all the recommendations from the public health experts. This means we will regularly clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces, encourage everyone to frequently wash their hands and cough and sneeze into their elbow.

·        While physical distancing is not a requirement in schools, we will be doing our best to keep students from congregating in very large numbers and keeping spaces well-ventilated.

·        Face coverings are not required to be worn in school. The Director General of Health has recommended that children 12 years+ wear a face covering at school – just as older children are required to wear face coverings in some other places.  The decision to wear a face covering is up to you and your whānau, whatever your decision it will be respected.

·        Please observe social distancing practices when congregating at school crossings with student road patrollers

·        Respiratory viruses can travel through spaces far more easily than first thought so the school will be following all Ministry of Health recommendations to ensure a safe working and learning environment for students and staff 

ALSO FURTHER REMINDER

·        That If you received a school device to support your online learning, please note that the device/s and charger/s are due back at school on Thursday (tomorrow) morning. It is really important that we receive all the devices back promptly as they all came from our senior classes and will be needed immediately by individual students. 

Staff are really looking forward to seeing all our students back at school tomorrow. 

Ngā mihi 

Luis Echegaray

Principal

Amendment to the communication today

I have just sent an updated version of the communication sent earlier today by email and also as a newsletter in the school app.

COVID19 Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

Many of you will already have heard the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the change to Alert Level 2 on Wednesday, with school’s opening up formally on Thursday. 

I’m currently waiting on additional relevant information from the Ministry of Education before being able to make fully informed decisions. Please keep your eye out for a communication from me tomorrow morning by 10am, outlining how we will be reopening the school to all students. 

Thanks for your patience.

Luis

Important update regarding level 3

Please check your emails for the latest update regarding the move to level 3.  

Teachers only Day 27.8.21

Just a reminder that there will be no on-line learning tomorrow due to teachers only day.  Enjoy some quality time with your families.

Staff only Day – Friday 27 August 2021

Kia ora koutou Parents and Caregivers, 

This short correspondence is to let you that at last night’s school Board of Trustees meeting, our school Board approved a Staff only Day to be held Friday of this week. Therefore, please note that there will be no school online teaching/ learning programmes taking place on Friday 27 August. 

The day will be utilised by teaching teams to further plan for and prepare additional online resources. This will allow staff to be even better prepared in the event that we are required to continue delivering distance teaching/ learning programmes at an Alert level 4 or 3. 

Staff have done a remarkable job in, being prepared for a lockdown, the speed of resource distribution, the efficiency of putting their distance teaching/ learning programmes into action, and, in the way that they have delivered and engaged with students. This Staff only Day will go a long way in supporting our staff to be able to continue the great work that they have been doing with their classes and our school community. 

Take care

Luis Echegaray

Principal

Remaining at Alert Level 4

Kia ora koutou Parents and Caregivers, 

I think we had all anticipated a further extension of Alert Level 4, and the Prime Minister has confirmed this. The Alert Level will be reviewed on Friday afternoon, but for now Alert Level 4 will remain in place until 12:59pm Friday 27 August. 

Despite this news, it is really pleasing to see Alert Level 4 is having its impact on the number of confirmed cases, with numbers not dramatically increasing as they would likely have done if we had been at a lower Alert Level. 

And so our distance learning programme will continue as it has been.  Please note. it is only in very limited circumstances that students, parents or caregivers are allowed to come to the school grounds. So please do not come to school unless you have been individually contacted by us to do so. Otherwise, you will be in breach of the COVID-19 Health Response Order. 

You may be wondering how, with so many contacts being identified of confirmed cases, we aren’t seeing bigger case numbers identified. Just like the Delta variant is different, so has been New Zealand’s response. Previously we might have moved to Alert Level 2 or 3 if there was a new COVID-19 case in the community (which happened most recently in Wellington). This time we moved immediately to Alert Level 4, after only one case had been identified. 

Health authorities are also casting a MUCH wider net to determine who is a contact of a confirmed case. People who previously might have been considered a casual contact are now being treated as contacts. Where schools may have closed for three days while contact tracing was undertaken, they are now closing for 14 days with staff and students all self-isolating for that time. As a result, there are more than 13,000 close contacts being followed up by health authorities. 

There is a lot we can all do to protect our whānau and community from COVID-19 including:

·         Everyone must continue to stay home in their bubble

·         Do not mix with other household bubbles – if they have COVID-19, it can easily spread to your household, and every other household they and you are connecting with

·         As new cases are identified, new locations of interest are added to the Ministry of Health website – please keep checking this. You can search by your location and they are sorted by date, so you only need to check the locations which have been added when you last checked

·         Wash your hands regularly, especially when you have been out in public
·         Stay home if you are feeling unwell and seek advice about whether you need to get a test
·         Wear a face covering when out and about, and you MUST wear a face covering in any businesses or services which are open at Alert Level 4 (unless you have specifically been exempted from doing so, which includes anyone aged under 12)
·         Keep a two-metre distance from people outside your household bubble
·         Check in using the NZ COVID Tracer App wherever you go or keep a manual record (a reminder the App only stores information on your own phone – no one else will know who it is that checked in, or when) 

You can go to the COVID19.govt.nz website if you would like more information on Alert Level 4 requirements. 

We can also make sure we are passing on good information. There is a very helpful article by Dr Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris in The Spinoff regarding misinformation and disinformation. 

Their red flags for how to spot bad information are particularly well-summarised. Bad information will:

·         downplay COVID-19 and the pandemic
·         focus on survival rate
·         ignore long COVID
·         emphasise individual freedom
·         try to sell you something
·         push simple cures/treatments
·         make you feel fearful or angry.

“Good information put out to help you make an informed choice won’t make you feel scared or angry. It’ll make you feel empowered.” 

Finally, we know some families in our community may be finding it difficult to access food and essential items such as medicine.  This information about how to access food or essential items summarises the supports that are available, including financial help to buy food. 

Please do take care and let us know how we can best support you and your whānau. 

Kia kaha!
Luis Echegaray

Principal

COVID update 18.8.21

Kia ora koutou

 We all suspected that we could eventually find ourselves back at Alert Level 4. I guess it is the speed at which it has happened that may have caught many by surprise.  

As we are now all in Alert Level 4 it means that West park School will not be open onsite today, for any students. This follows someone being identified with COVID-19 and who has been in the Auckland and Coromandel communities while believed to be infectious. 

It is really important we do everything we can to keep our community safe. Alert Level 4 means we need to stay home in our bubbles and avoid any travelling as much as possible.  Supermarkets, pharmacies, food banks, and other essential services will be open – but remember to wear a face-covering if you are out and about (even a scarf wrapped around your mouth and nose will help). Check-in using the NZ COVID Tracer App wherever you go and please also keep a distance from people you don’t know and wash your hands well and often, especially before and after using any public facilities. 

Our distance learning plan has been put into action which should see you all receive an email correspondence from your child’s teacher and or Team Leader. The correspondence will outline what your child can expect for their distance learning programme.

Even though the notice given to schools was incredibly short a small group of staff and Board members excelled last evening, distributing close to 200 packs to students and their families. Some packs had hardcopy materials, whilst others received devices. I know that there may have some who didn’t receive an expected delivery, however, we will be looking into what can be done, if anything to support those students and their families.

 Please go to the Ministry of Health website if you have recently visited in Auckland or the Coromandel region. There is a list of locations the confirmed case has visited while they were considered to be infectious. If you were at one of those locations and at the same time as specified on the website, then please follow the relevant instructions to isolate and potentially to get tested. Please keep checking that webpage as new locations may be identified over time.

 Our focus as always will be to support the learning, safety and wellbeing of our rangatahi and tamariki and we continue to be here to support you as well.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s kaiako or Team Leader, if there is something you need assistance with.

 Ngā mihi

Luis Echegaray

Principal

Device deliveries to families

Good evening,

If you are one of the families who indicated that you required a device, please help us by lsitening out for teachers who are delivering these now.  We do not want to leave these at your door and would appreciate you promptly answering the door.

Kind regards

COVID Communication to families

Kia ora West Park School whanau

Tonight you may have heard the announcement from the Prime Minister that the country is going into Level 4 lockdown from 11.59pm.

A number of teaching staff are now in the process of dropping off devices and packs for students that have indicated that they do not have a device at home. You should receive these packs over the next couple of hours.

School will commence tomorrow online. Your child will receive a communication from their teacher via their West Park School email address. At this stage, the lockdown is only for 3 days, so we will reassess things at that point, once we get further information.

We will continue to keep you updated through regular communication. Please contact your classroom teacher if you have any specific questions related to your child’s learning.

Ngā mihi
Luis Echegaray, Principal and Natalie Henry, Board of Trustees Chairperson

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Home and school committee meeting this Thursday 5th August, 7pm in the staff room. All are welcome and we would love to see you there.