July 4, 2022
Kia ora koutou
Welcome to the last week of term two. I would like to thank all our whānau and community for the amazing performances and workshops and kai and contribution made to our Matariki celebrations. It is a great reminder of how special the Ao Tawhiti community is. There will be photos in the newsletter which comes out at the end of term.
Just a reminder that we run our normal timetable from Monday to Thursday this week. Friday is IEMs, so there are no classes on Friday.
Here is the link to book an IEM
If you prefer you are welcome to ring the school and Beth (at the front desk) can make a booking for you. You can also contact your Home Base Learning Advisor and they can make a booking for you.
If your Year 1- 6 child needs supervision on either day then please complete the form found at this link Supervision Years 1 – 6 Booking Form
Again, you are welcome to ring the school and Beth can add your child to the supervision roll.
Staffing
Congratulations to Deb Dunlop. She has won the position as the ORRs specialist at Rolleston College. She will be missed and we thank her for the great contribution she has made to Ao Tawhiti over the last four and a half years.
Covid
Our Covid numbers continue to decrease, so again, I would like to thank everyone for their support of our public health measures. They do make a difference to the health and safety of our students and community. In the last two weeks we have had two staff members and four students test positive. There have been no positive cases reported to us over the last seven days.
We are still recommending that masks be worn for the last week of term, as numbers in Canterbury are increasing and we don’t want people to be unwell during their holiday break. We will continue to supply masks at the front desk.
If your child does test positive then please email us at covid@aotawhiti.school.nz. This helps to support our health and safety decision making.
Staff Absence
We had a high number of staff absences last week as flu and a gastro bug seem to be doing the rounds. I would like to acknowledge and thank all the staff who gave up their non-contact, or release time to fill in for absent colleagues. Staff normally use their non-contact and release time to plan and mark for their classes and this work still had to be done. I appreciate them enabling us to stay open by staffing classes.
I would also like to thank all our whānau who kept unwell children at home and followed the public health guidelines around slowing the spread of gastro, which is 48 hours after symptoms are gone.
Keep an eye out for …
On Friday Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) captured a story about Jon Jeet’s mobile carving studio and the kaupapa that surrounds this mahi with rangatahi in Ōtautahi. This program will showcase Jon, his partner Iri and four Ao Tawhiti students – so keep an eye out for this on Monday night.
Term Three Course Selection
Please encourage your children (years 7 – 13) to have a look at the courses available in term three. They can be found at the link below. Home Base Learning Advisors will be entering those selections this week.
Road Safety
Please remind your children to wait and cross the traffic lights on the green ‘walk’ signal – and to use the traffic lights. We have had a couple of reports of students running across the road on the ‘red’, or running straight across the busy city roads. We are a central city school which means that traffic can pose a risk for students when they are navigating their way around the city before and after school. We will do a reminder at school, but it would be great if this message can be reinforced at home as well. Please also remind your older children that they are role models for the young ones.
School Calendar for the remainder of 2022
Below are the dates for Public Holidays, Term Dates, IEMs and Staff Only Days for the remainder of 2022.
| Date | Event |
| Thursday July 7 | Last day of normal timetabled classes for term two |
| Friday July 8 | IEMs – supervision is available for students in Years 1 – 6 if needed |
| Monday 25 July | IEMs – supervision is available for students in Years 1 – 6 if needed |
| Tuesday 26 July | Term 3 normal timetabled classes begin for term three |
| Monday 22 August | NCEA professional learning day. Students in Years 9 – 13 will learn at home on this day as the Learning Advisors who teach NCEA will be off site. Online learning will be provided for students on this day. School is open for year 8 and younger. |
| Thursday 1 September | Staff Only Day – School is closed for instruction |
| Friday 2 September | Staff Only Day – School is closed for instruction |
| Thursday 29 September | Last day of timetabled classes for term three |
| Friday 30 September | IEMs – supervision is available for students in Years 1 – 6 if needed |
| Monday 17 October | IEMs – supervision is available for students in Years 1 – 6 if needed |
| Tuesday 18 October | Term Four normal timetabled classes begin for term four |
| Monday 24 October | Labour Day – Public Holiday |
| Friday 4 November | Last day for students in Years 11, 12 and 13 (NZQA exams start on Monday 7 November) Graduation at The Piano |
| Friday 11 November | Show Day – Public Holiday |
| Thursday 15 December | Last day of school for 2022 |
Have a great week everyone. Enjoy the holiday break and if you are travelling then please be safe.
Ngā mihi nui
Anita