Covid Update - 2 March 2022

Kia ora koutou,

It has been another challenging week for our kura and our community. Over the past week we have been notified of an increasing number of positive cases for both students and staff. If you are in need of support in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

From Monday 7 March, hybrid learning will be available through the Google Classroom and students will be able to engage at home or at school. The reason we have moved to this mode of teaching and learning is because the number of staff who are unable to be at school due to illness or having to isolate is making it too difficult to run our normal timetable. 

We will be sending students home at lunchtime on Friday 4 March. This will allow staff to prepare for the move to fully Hybrid learning on Monday. The school Library will be open for students who need to be supervised after lunch on Friday.

Beginning next week, classes will be combined for students who are attending school and will be supervised in learning areas. Staff will be engaging with students through the Google Classroom, and student engagement with learning will be monitored. Students who are attending on site will need to bring their device, charger and earphones. 

Students will follow their usual timetable whether they are at home or at school. All resources and assignments will be posted in the Google Classroom and you have been invited to be a Guardian by your student’s Ako teacher. Guardian rights will give you a weekly summary of assignments in all learning areas. ‍

To advise us if your student will be accessing learning from home or school we ask you to complete the form using this link: https://forms.gle/xnC3Sp9MZiBUdZdU7. We will send a form for you to complete each week. This will give us an indication of how many students we will be expecting in school from Monday-Friday of that week and enable us to organise supervision for the week accordingly. We ask that you complete the form each week to give us an accurate view of numbers attending. 

School will be open for any student who wishes to attend. We will continue to monitor staffing levels so that we can return to a fully functioning timetable back at school. ‍

To ensure we gather an accurate picture of COVID related absences (COVID positive or isolating) we are asking that you complete the form using this link: https://forms.gle/vBiMW2492Km6DkLx9. For any other related absences please email absence@wegc.school.nz or ring 385 8514 ext 848. 

School buses will be operational to transport students to and from school. 

The Cafe will continue to operate on a limited service.  Please encourage your student bring a snack to school so that they can be prepared for any unforeseen changes to the Cafe service.‍

How you can support your student

‍We have already shared our expectations of working online with students. Here is a link to a slide show about our online Netiquette

As a parent some of the ways in which you can support your student to make the most of online learning include:
‍

1. Asking  students if they have checked their emails -  This will be where students find notifications from teachers  Google Classroom and Education Perfect notifications. 

2. Ask students to share their daily timetable with you - We recommend that students follow their current routine as they would normally have on a school day - and also include regular breaks and study time in manageable chunks. It is important that students stay hydrated and eat food that will support their brain!​ Make sure they have scheduled variety as well - we are encouraging students to make space for exercise, creativity and device-free time.

3. Where possible, provide a quiet place to work - This should be a space at home that is comfortable, well lit and where they can work without distractions. We prefer that students work on a laptop or computer - phones are too small for long periods of time and not recommended as a learning tool. 

4. Make sure they have a support person - This is a new way of working for a large number of our community. The reality is that many of us, students and adults, need someone to hold us accountable to deadlines. As a parent you may wish to make sure students have a work plan, or see if they have buddied up with students in their class to check in with each other.

For students who can easily spend hours on games or social media, a support person will be essential to ensure good timetable habits and help with managing screen time.

Ngā mihi nui

Gael Ashworth

Principal