Absentee

Week 1 in Level 2

22 May 2020

What a great week we have had  - it has been so lovely welcoming everyone back to school! Our students have shown they can manage themselves well - coming into school and sorting their gear for the day. We have loved the smiles at the gate and the children have been very happy and settled in classes.

Thank you everyone for your part that you have been playing in supporting this system. We will be continuing this next week. 

Looking ahead there is rain forecast next week so make sure the raincoats are ready and the umbrellas dusted off for pick up and drop offs.

Have a great weekend everyone -I think everyone is really looking forward to this one!

Kind Regards

Julie Hepburn

Principal

Red Beach School

Getting Ready for School on Monday - Level 2

14 May 2020

Dear All

We are really looking forward to seeing all the children on Monday - as we move into our ‘new normal’, and get back into routines, share all our Covid19 stories and just enjoy being back together.

Many of you will be excited to send your children back to school and many of you will be excited but also worried.  We understand that, and today as a team, we have confirmed how we will operate so that Red Beach School is a safe place for all - children and staff.

Some of these changes we have signalled to you in our previous email: in this letter we would like to confirm how school will “look”.

As we look forward to Monday can you please help your child prepare for this by talking through how pick up and drop off will now work. Talk about how this will play out - one suggestion is if your child is anxious about Monday, perhaps do a practise run over the weekend. 

Hopefully in a few weeks we will be able to welcome everyone back onto the school grounds.

But for now, we have all worked hard to get to Level 2 - no-one wants to go “back”!

Thank you for the way you have so positively supported our staff as they have operated their distance learning programmes. I think that you and my staff are awesome - each and every one of you! 

I feel very privileged to work in such a caring and supportive community.

I look forward to when we can eventually all come together to celebrate all the wonderful things that makes Red Beach School such a special place! 

Please note: We originally had a Teacher Only Day planned for May 29th but have postponed this as we believe it would be too unsettling for students and our community and our top priority is just getting back into the routine of school. There is a roll on effect from this decision with one of the key effects being that our reporting to parents schedule will have to be reorganised.  We just need to get through these next few weeks before we can start to look at how we might organise such things.

See further details below as to next week.

Ngā Mihi

Regards,

Julie Hepburn
Principal

Key points to note:

UNWELL - If your child is unwell they must stay home if they show any signs of illness. If a sick child comes to school, we will contact you so the child can be picked up immediately.

PHYSICAL DISTANCING - Though very hard to manage, we will be talking to students about the importance of breathing space to allow each other a personal space and help stop the spread of germs.  

TO ENABLE GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES:  

• A strong emphasis on thorough hand washing and drying. Bathrooms and classrooms will be provided with paper towels and soap. 
• Each class will have hand sanitiser.
• Cleaning products for high touch surfaces and digital devices will be in each class.
• Coughing into their elbow.

Drop Off and Pick Ups

Under level 2, all schools need to be able to identify and contact trace anyone that has been on site through a Contact Tracing Register and we are obliged to eliminate transmission risks where possible. Therefore, we have organised, a drop off and pick up process, that will mean no parents can enter the school grounds at these times. 

Please note the diagrams as they highlight the only entry and exit points to the school for our students.

We will have a number of staff up at the gate and path near the bus shelter to welcome the students. We encourage the Year 1 and 2 students to enter the ground by the path near the bus stop (B).  For Year 1 this would mean a short walk directly to their classes. We encourage parents to talk positively to their children about this and settle any worries they may have before Monday so that this new process is not a surprise to them.  This is the very best thing you can do to support your child, even if you are feeling anxious yourself.

Parents picking up a child during school hours will need to come to the office as no parents will be allowed beyond the office to the classrooms. Adventure playgrounds will be closed before and after school and the school grounds closed at the weekend.

Further Planning and Requirements:

Digital Devices Year 3 to Year 6: If possible, it would be very helpful if the children can bring their own device to school as the school devices cannot be used by multiple students due to this becoming a high touch surface that is difficult to continually clean throughout the day. 

After School Care (Kelly Club) - will be operating, they will be contacting parents directly about processes that they need to follow. You can contact them at - https://www.kellyclub.co.nz/

School Lunches: will be available to order online

Sports Ball: Unfortunately, at this stage, children cannot cannot bring sports balls to school.

Wednesday Coffee group: will not be operating until further notice.

Drinking fountains will be covered and closed, so children will need to bring their own named water bottles to school.

Updates on interschool sport - inquiries to date have informed us that ripper rugby has been postponed and the other codes have yet to make a call as to what they plan to do for this season. We will let you know as soon as we hear anything.

Covid-19 Level 2 Update

11 May 2020

With the announcement, this afternoon that we are moving to Level 2, here is some information specific to our school.  On Monday 18 May we will be welcoming our students back to school.  Keeping with the Government’s requirements under Level 2 the following procedures will be in place.  All of these procedures are to ensure the school is safe and hygienic. We will continue to reinforce the key messages of good hygiene practices such as washing hands and coughing into your elbow.

Safe Environment for all:

• Children who are unwell are not permitted to come to school.  If your child presents as unwell, you will be phoned and your child will need to be collected immediately from the office.

To satisfy contact tracing requirements:

• No parents will be allowed onto the school property at drop off/pickup times
• Drop off and pick up will be at the path by the bus stop and by the front gate - other gates will be locked 
• Parents picking up a child during school hours will need to come to the office.  Children will be called to come up to the office as no parents will be allowed beyond the school office area.  
• Adventure playgrounds will be closed before and after school
• There will be no use of facilities outside of school hours which is after school and on the weekend because of tracing and cleaning challenges (except after school care).  The school facilities need to be available in a clean and safe way for students during the school day. 

After School Care - will be operating, they will be contacting parents directly. You can contact them at - https://www.kellyclub.co.nz/

School Lunches: to be advised

Digital Devices Year 3 to Year 6: If possible it would be very helpful if the children can bring devices to school as the use of school devices cannot be used by multiple students due to this becoming a high touch surface that is difficult to continually clean throughout the day. 

Wednesday Coffee group: will not be operating in the interim

Drinking fountains will be covered, so children will need to bring their own named water bottles to school.

Updates on interschool sport - inquiries to date have informed us that ripper rugby has postponed and the other codes have yet to make a call as to what they plan to do for this season. We will let you know as soon as we hear anything.

Online Learning - Due to staff needing to be onsite to prepare for the coming week there will be very limited online contact with staff and students on Thursday and Friday. There is a lot of preparation to do to welcome our students back.

We appreciate that school under Level 2 will be different (as outlined in the procedures above) but we are looking forward to having some fun together!

We have got so much catching up to do and so many stories to share!

In the interim, it is time to dust off those lunchboxes and dig out the school uniforms!

Warm regards

Covid -19 Update

08 May 2020

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

Like me, I am sure you all followed, with interest, the announcements made by the Prime Minister yesterday.

All things being equal, next week should be our last week of distancing learning. Thank you so much for all that you have been doing to support your child with their learning.

Zoom and other online meetings prior to Lockdown were a mystery to most of us - now it is part of the daily routine! 

Since then we have started to receive more detailed information from the Ministry of Education in respect of what moving from Level 3 to Level 2 will entail for schools.

It is reassuring to hear how well our country and community has done at minimising the impacts of COVID-19. Alert Levels 4 and 3 have not been easy, I thank you again for your ongoing support for the work we are doing.

The Prime Minister has advised us that in Alert Level 2 schools are safe environments for children, young people and staff and that additional public health control measures are in place to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing.

The good news is that when we are able to, we will be ready to welcome all students and staff back to our school site.

The key Public Health approach is to minimise the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and second to ensure we can identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with a person, if someone in a school is infected.

As we have done in Alert Level 3, you can be assured that in Alert Level 2 we will know who is at school, who our staff and students have been in close contact with and take appropriate measures to keep everyone safe.

Physical distancing is a good precaution to prevent the spread of disease. We do however know it is challenging in schools, so good hygiene practices and regular cleaning are even more important here. This includes staff and students coughing into their elbows, handwashing and drying and regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces.

Under Alert Level 2, we advise any students and staff to stay at home if they are sick, and we will send anyone home immediately if they show any symptoms.

Our school has safe and sensible practices to maintain the health and safety of everyone on the school site. As described by Dr Payinda in his NZ Herald article, “Covid's not measles or chickenpox, it doesn't hang in the air for hours waiting to infect passers-by. It travels on invisible drops of spit. You don't have to cross the street to avoid anyone. Just avoid getting in their 'moist breath' zone”. We all just need to remember to have some breathing space at Alert Level 2!

It’s important however that not just at school but at home, safe hygiene habits are practised by everyone, as this is essential to minimise the risk that someone gets infected with Covid-19.

For more information about the public health measures at Alert Level 2, you can visit the covid19.govt.nz website: https://covid19.govt.nz/

If you have any questions about our health and safety plan, or have a child who might be vulnerable to serious illness and would like to discuss a plan for them, please contact me.

We will be in touch again soon to update you on our plans.

Ngā mihi

Julie Hepburn

Hello from RBS

30 Apr 2020

As we are now settling into Covid Level 3 we hope you and your bubble are in good heart.

We are very proud of the amazing job that our staff is undertaking to support the distance learning of our Tamariki. We are all enjoying the sharing of learning that our students are doing at home and thank you, parents, for helping with the posting of these celebrations of learning, etc.

As an aside you will be pleased to hear that the work has started again on the Block 8 (Rm 24-27) upgrade.

We will continue to keep you informed with updates that come from the MOE but our understanding at this stage is that nothing will change until May the 12 at the earliest.

Red Beach School - Preparing for Alert Level 3

21 Apr 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Thank you for your continued support during these difficult times.  As you heard yesterday, the Government decided that we will move into Alert Level 3 on 28 April.  That means we will be open to receive students from the 29 April. We are now starting to prepare the school site from today.

The key message for you is that if you can, you should keep your child at home. You should only physically send your child to school if you need to. If your child has a health condition that means they are at a greater risk of a severe illness you must keep them at home.  If your child is sick please also ensure you keep them at home.

In order to ensure the safety of those children and our staff who do come to school, we will be operating with strict enforcement of health and safety measures.

We want to assure you that we will continue to support your child’s learning at home.

Please complete the form below by 10 am 22nd April as our planning ahead will be influenced by how many students will be coming to school during Covid-19 Level 3. 

Note below details of how school will look and details to come

• It is important to understand that all students who come to school under Alert level 3 will be completing exactly the same programme at home, but under the supervision of a teacher, not necessarily their own.
• Students will require their own device if they have one, headphones, food and water as the water fountains will not operate.  
• There will be no lunch orders.
• Students will be required to not socialise beyond their designated bubble and will have to stay 1 metre apart from other students and teachers inside, and two metres apart outside
• Kelly Club will not be operating

More information will come out regarding the following once we know how many children will be at school:

• Staggered start and finish times for each bubble of 10 learners
• What equipment children will need to bring to school e.g. headphones
• Entrance and exit points for drop off and pick up
• Your child’s designated class

Please click on this link (https://forms.gle/uwgcg6ucp2vp25JG9) to a survey that indicates if your child can stay home or must attend school from Wednesday the 29 April 2020.

NOTE: Each child has a separate set of questions 

It is very important that students do not return to school if they are able to be at home, as the government advice remains the same - stay home, save lives.

Red Beach School Latest Covid-19 Update

20 Apr 2020

Kia ora koutou 

We hope that Term 2 and our distance learning programme has been a success for you so far. We know there will have been any number of challenges for you to deal with but we have been getting some great feedback about the learning that is happening and thank you for all your support.

Today  the Government decided that we will move into Alert Level 3 on 28 April.  That means we will be open to receive students from the 29 April. We will start to prepare our site from tomorrow.

The key message for you is that if you can, you should keep your child at home. You should only physically send your child to school if you need to. If your child has a health condition that means they are at a greater risk of a severe illness you must keep them at home.  If your child is sick please also ensure you keep them at home.

In order to ensure the safety of those children and our staff who do come to school, we will be operating with strict enforcement of health and safety measures.

We want to assure you that we will continue to support your child’s learning at home.

We will be contacting you this week to find out if your child will be returning to school on April 29th

The Ministry of Education has advised that they are working closely with health to develop clear guidance that will support schools to safely re-open their premises to students and staff. This will help us work through the public health requirements that we all need to meet. As you will be doing, we want to be sure that what we do will keep our community as safe as possible.

For now, we will continue to support your child’s learning by distance while we progress our planning for what Alert Level 3 will mean for you and for our school. We will be in touch again soon with more information. As you have been doing, please keep connecting with your teachers with any questions you might have.

Ngā mihi

Julie Hepburn                      

Principal 

Andrew Short

Board Chair

Home Learning TV Week 2

20 Apr 2020

Don't forget - Go here each day to see the Home Learning TV Schedule - https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/home-learning-tv/schedule

Home Learning TV

17 Apr 2020

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Home Learning TV - Thur

16 Apr 2020

Thursday 16 April 2020

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