Newsletter Re Returning to School, Reporting and Dates for the Diary Term 4 2021

1 November 2021

Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Fakalofa lahi atu, Bula Vinaka, Greetings

Dear Parents and Caregivers

I would like to begin by thanking our BMPS staff, our tamariki and you. It has definitely been a challenge to navigate this current lockdown.  You are doing an incredible job! 

The focus of this newsletter is the Government’s announcement regarding schools reopening and what the rest of the BMPS school year may look like.

As announced by the Government, discussions are underway to decide if and when schools will open for Y1-10 students who go to school in areas at Alert Level 3. You can be reassured that any decisions about bringing tamariki and staff back to school will be done in accordance with strict public health guidance. For school staff this includes being vaccinated and all staff being tested before returning to school.

The earliest a return to school will happen is Monday 15 November. We will provide more information about this when it becomes available. We will also update you if and when changes occur.

Assessment and Reporting

If and when we do return to school, our focus will be on student wellbeing. We will therefore not be doing our usual assessments, which means that reporting will be a little different this year. All parents using HERO will receive learning information about their child. If you do not use HERO, please download the app and follow the instructions so that you can receive your child’s report. Our office staff are available to assist you.

https://hero.linc-ed.com/parents/

Whānau/Teacher Catch-Up 25 November

We understand that some of you may want to meet with your child’s teacher. You will have the opportunity to have an online catch-up with your child’s teacher on 25 November. This will not be a meeting to discuss data and progress as we are not assessing and have obviously not been in class for a while. However, if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child, you are welcome to make an appointment. Please go to:

www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Enter the event code: pmm7p

You will need to know the name of your child’s teacher to make a booking.

Prize Giving

Please note there will be no school wide prize giving with parents this year. Instead we are having Kiwi/Tui/Kahu online prize giving assemblies on Friday 3 December:

Save the Date:

Kiwi Online Awards Assembly: 10am

Tui Online Awards Assembly: 11am 

Kahu Online Awards Assembly: 12pm

You will receive a link to these special occasions closer to the date.

Year 6 Graduation

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel our year 6 graduation. Instead we are planning to take our year 6 to Rainbow’s End as an end of BMPS celebration treat. This trip is booked for Friday 10 December.  More details soon!

We understand that no proper prize giving and graduation will be disappointing for our tamariki and you. However, we also know that you will understand that no gatherings are permitted and keeping our tamariki safe is our first priority.

Term 4, Dates for the diary

Friday 5 November-Unplugged Learning Day (teachers will not be online teaching)

Monday 15 November-proposed date for Y1-10 to return to school

Monday 22 November-HERO reports 

Thursday 25 November-whānau/teacher online catch-up-optional

Friday 3 December-online prize giving assemblies 

Friday 10 December-year 6 to Rainbow’s End (if at the appropriate alert level/colour)

Monday 13 December-last day of school for BMPS students

Tuesday 14 December-Teacher Only Day

Are you Needing Support?

https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/looking-after-your-mental-wellbeing/

https://covid19.govt.nz/activities/access-to-food-or-essential-items/

Our school social worker can also assist in many ways. Please feel free to contact:

kura@taiawa.org.nz 

Again, thank you for all that you are doing and thank you for all of your support. As always, we are absolutely here to support you in any way that we can. 

We will be in touch soon.

Arohanui.

Fee

Ngā mihi nui for all of your support. A special thank you to our essential workers who are on the front line. Please look after each other and keep each other safe.

We will continue to keep you updated via HERO/our website/BMPS Facebook page.

Arohanui.

Fee