Kia ora koutou
Welcome back to the final term for 2021. I hope that everyone has had a fabulous holiday break and is looking forward to a great term four.
DATES FOR TERM FOUR and TERM ONE, 2022
Monday 18 October – IEMs no classes are running this day
Tuesday 19 October – Classes begin for all students
Thursday 11 November – Last day for Year 11, 12 and 13 students
Monday 22 November – NCEA examinations begin
Thursday 16 December – Last day of school for the year
Thursday 3 February 2022 IEMs – No classes running that day
Friday 4 February 2022 IEMs – No classes running that day
Tuesday 8 February 2022 – Classes begin for all students
VACCINATIONS
The Government has made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults who work with our students on site. The rationale behind this decision is to protect our younger children who are unable to be vaccinated, protect the students in our classes, protect each other and protect our broader school community. As a kura at Alert Level 2, all of our staff are required to have received our first COVID-19 vaccination by 15 November, 2021, and we all, including our volunteers, need to be fully vaccinated by 1 January, 2022. The scope of this requirement is broad and includes all of the people who work at our school/kura, such as teachers, support staff, contractors, visiting Ministry staff and volunteers. This also includes our fabulous parents who come onsite to support their children, our teaching programmes and our Special Character. Our kura will be required to keep a record of the vaccination status of people working and volunteering on site. This will be done under the guidelines of the Privacy Act, in a similar manner to the police vetting checks that we do.
We will be in touch with whānau when we have more detail about how this will work.
While there is no requirement for students aged 12 year and over to be vaccinated, there is a requirement to record their vaccination status.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this.
ALERT LEVEL TWO
We are still at Alert Level Two and we will continue to follow the Alert Level Two guidelines to keep everyone safe.
We ask whānau to (where possible) pick up and drop off their children outside the building.
If your child is in the Year 1-3 community then we will ask you to drop them off outside 1C – this is Charis and Niki’s Homebase space. The doors to 1C will be open and the lane will be blocked to create a drop off space.
If your child is in the Year 4-6 community then please drop off and pick up at the Dance Room. The roller doors will be open. If you have siblings across communities then please head to the pick up site for the youngest sibling. We are aiming to avoid the congestion that occurs at the front door at 9am and 3pm.
While we don’t have to maintain physical distancing for students, we do ask that parents maintain physical distancing while picking up and dropping off their children. The Government has also asked that parents wear masks when they are picking up and dropping off their children.
If whānau are coming on site then you will need to sign in. Please do this on School Apps, as we won’t have our signing in devices available. We have attached a pdf instructions on how to access the COVID check in on School Apps. If this doesn’t work then please talk to Jonelle or Clint at reception and they will be able to assist.
At Alert Level 2 there is low risk of community transmission and it provides us with a lot more opportunities to engage and connect with others. However, there are still a number of public health requirements we all need to follow. Please continue to monitor your health and do not send your children to school if they are not well (and please seek advice about getting a COVID test).
For us 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.
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.
Students should continue to bring their own food, utensils, stationery and supplies each day. They won’t be able to access the microwaves and toastie-makers during Level Two. They must bring a drink bottle as they won’t be able to access the cups within the kitchenettes. They will be able to refill their drink bottles at the filtered taps.
Students will still be allowed to go on Trust License trips. Please talk to your child(ren) about the Level Two restrictions in the community, and we will do the same at school. They will need masks if they are heading into shops, or supermarkets, or the library. We don’t have spare masks at school, so please remind your children to bring their own masks. They will need to be able to contact trace. Parks and playgrounds are open at Level Two and they will need to maintain 1 metre distancing between themselves and other people.
If you are not sure what all the rules are for alert level 2 when you are out and about, then the following information may be useful to you:
• COVID-19 Alert Levels summary table
• COVID-19 Alert Levels detailed table
SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Christchurch City Council travel survey. The next step in the process is to form a small working group to develop a Travel Plan for our community. This travel plan will help inform Council decision making about travel in the central city and our immediate environment. If you are interested in participating in this working group then please email me and I will organise a time to meet in week two of this term.
NCEA UPDATE
NZQA have updated their 2021 provision for students affected by Covid19 lockdowns.
You will recall that after the 2020 Lockdown, NZQA put in place a provision by which NCEA students would receive Learning Recognition Credits to supplement their NCEA achievement. This was to acknowledge learning within the constraints of the Covid19 Lockdown.
This year NZQA has reactivated this provision. And as of today it has been refined to recognize different challenges faced by students in different regions.
This is a summary of the 2021 provision:
Students who have had their learning disrupted by 16 days of Covid19 lockdown in 2021 will be eligible to receive Learning Recognitions Credits (LRCs) at a rate of 1 LRC per 5 credits achieved through assessment – up to a cap of 8 LRCs at NCEA Level 1, and 6 LRCs at NCEA Levels 2 and 3. UE requirement remains the same as usual for students who have not had learning disrupted for 20 days.
It is important to note that the LRCs do not appear in Kamar or NZQA logins until after the final qualification is calculated in January 2022. So students will need to keep track of this themselves.
If you have any questions, please come and see Brent Silby in 2C (or email brent.silby@aotawahiti.school.nz). He is setting up an NCEA helpdesk at 1pm Fridays, which he will run in tandem with his Hapori group.
Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Home Base Learning Advisor or Community Leader if there is something you need assistance with!
Ngā mihi
Anita
15 October 2021