| Thursday 31st March 2022 | Term 1 Week 9  |
Kia ora e te whānau,
As we approach the end of week 9, we’re seeing a trend of students returning to school following a period of lower attendance. We have a few students with active covid or recovering at home, a few isolating with positive family members, a few with medical conditions that require protection at this stage (as well as a number of families who have taken a cautious approach to school at this phase). Our attendance has returned to approximately 70% of the school each day. At the time of writing, in the student population there have been 28 confirmed covid cases and in the staff, 2 cases. I have been advised that South Canterbury is believed to be at the peak of cases, by the time we get into Term 2, we should be observing a significant downturn in cases. The MoE advice indicates an expectation of full return to school from this time as well as a reinstatement of normal attendance procedures, policies and requirements.
Thank you to the parents keeping us informed of attendance and isolation needs, it helps us to plan effective responses and to provide notifications to the community. Just a reminder; if your child tests positive you need to either leave an online absence response, call us during school hours (03 425 0650) or email [email protected] out of hours. The day your child tests positive is considered their ‘Day 0’, they can return to school after 7 days of isolation e.g. if you test positive on Thursday, you can return to school on the Friday of the next week. If you’re unsure of what you need to do, flick us an email and we can help.
This week, we are excited to be launching our very own school app! If you’d like to ‘give it a go’ you can check out the app instructions in the article below. This can replace any previous download of the Kamar app - you can remove that from your phone if you’d like. The Twizel-specific app has much greater functionality for whānau.
Next week, I’m looking forward to joining Room 5 on a visit to Te Maiharoa Pou. We’ll be learning together about our local history and immersing ourselves in Te Ao Māori. This visit is amongst a number of planned trips to the Pou for our junior classes.
Year 11-13 teachers are currently writing their first mentoring reports for the year, parents should expect delivery of these through the portal at the end of the term (the same as the delivery of the Settling-in Reports earlier this term). This process will include individual meetings with learners and their mentors to set progress goals for the next term.
Looking forward to next term, we are very likely to be able to host the Southern Area Schools’ Tournament given the changes to the traffic light system. The Tournament will go ahead from 18th-20th May if we are able to meet the ‘guidelines of the day’. Attached in this newsletter is a quick survey to establish the number of students we’ll be able to billet. Please complete the survey if you are able to host students from the other Southern Area Schools during the tournament period - your support is greatly appreciated!
He waka eke noa,
Kate Staniford
Tumuaki | Principal
Head Student Louie Skinner has some updates from around the school to share, including Sheilah Winn and the Junior School class trips to Lake Ōhau.
We are now ready to launch our new school app...SchoolBridge. The app works seamlessly with Twizel Area School’s web portal, using the same username/password already in use.
Room 9 tamariki have, this week, been making flags for Sophie's cousin who is rowing in the Maadi Cup at Lake Ruataniwha.
Room 13 students went to visit Mrs. Holden’s class to see her turtle, Chaos, last Thursday. After their visit, the class wrote about Chaos and their thoughts. Here is a selection...
This week M2 ākonga were involved in a live event hosted by Cyclone Computers, with other schools around the country. Cyclone are running a series of four workshops for students on Active Citizenship using Minecraft for Education.
Here is a quick survey to establish the number of students we’ll be able to billet during the Southern Area Schools tournament. Please complete the survey if you are able to host students from the other Southern Area Schools during the tournament period - your support is greatly appreciated!
If your tamariki tests positive for COVID-19, what happens next and how do you self-isolate for the required amount of time?
Read here for information regarding 2022 Junior Miniball registration, including dates and contact info.
All the information you need for the upcoming netball season is here, including registration, teams, and costs.
There will be a lot of unexpected ‘firsts’ you will encounter as a parent. There will also be moments you just won’t be prepared for but you can be prepared for the day when your child comes home from school and asks for their first phone.
The aim of the Home Learning section is to group all the relevant information and support that students, parents and whānau may need. You will find teacher contact details and student learning packs, along with links for resources and support for wellbeing, among other things.
The annual LJ Hooker Easter Colouring-in Competition is open for entries. Click on the image above to download or you can collect an entry from the LJ Hooker office.
Entries can be dropped off at the LJ Hooker office, with the winner being drawn on Thursday 14th April.
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