We didn’t end up celebrating Daffodil Day in August due to the Level 4 Lockdown. The Student Council are organising this event for Friday 24th September. Please wear something yellow, green or orange to support The Cancer Society.
Bring some coins for a mini fair at lunch time where there will be toys, games and books (donated by children) for sale. Money raised will be given to the Cancer Society.
Thanks, Glenna Armstrong and the Student Council.
Looking forward to seeing you all back at school on Thursday 9th September! Please remember to bring your own water bottle. More information will be emailed out to parents later today.
Just to confirm that although we are at level 2 in the community from 11:59pm tonight (Tuesday 7th September) schools aren’t open to all children until Thursday 9th September 2021.
We are getting a number of calls from parents asking if their children can come back to school tomorrow (Wednesday 8th September) as they have to go back to work.
We confirmed with the Ministry of Education (Nelson office) it was a clear directive from the Prime Minister that we aren’t open to all children until Thursday. Only essential workers children who have been here under Level 3 can be here tomorrow.
Kia ora koutou
Firstly, a huge thanks to parents for assisting our efforts to provide distance learning and making sure your children are happy and enjoying family life under Level 4 conditions.
By now everyone will be aware the Nelson region will move into Alert Level 3 from 11:59pm Tuesday 31st August 2021. I would like to outline what this means for Richmond School.
Under Alert Level 3 conditions, directed by the Ministry of Education, ONLY children of essentialworkers who do not have someone at home to look after them can come to school. We have 42 children attending under Level 3 conditions.
We have been checking and will continue to be check some since we think that some parents have thought it was an option to send them along to school if they wanted to or they misunderstood that a return to school is only for children of essential workers.
The children at school will be in a small bubble of 10 or less, and they will be completing their distance learning work on-site. They will not be doing a normal school based programme.
If you have misunderstood this and aren’t an essential worker please let me know (principal@richmondprimary.school.nz) and I will take your child(ren) off the list of children attending school under Level 3 conditions. Only a few teachers will be at school so it is unlikely your child will be will their usual teacher supervising them and it is unlikely they will be in their usual classroom. All teachers will be still working with their own class students on-line each day (most of whom will be at home).
Students who do come to school are likely to be anxious about coming to school under Level 3, so you might like to reassure them that school is a safe place and that we have put lots of measures in place to ensure their safety. If you notice that your child is anxious or worried please reassure them and please let their teacher know about their concerns.
Our key defence against COVID remains – really good hand hygiene, physical (social) distancing whenever possible, and rapid track and tracing.
Children and teachers do not need to wear face masks within the school environment (government guideline).
We will continue to emphasise the importance of:
Please read the following carefully and discuss relevant points with your child/children.
Children must be ‘dropped-off and picked-up’ from one central point. This will be the gate on Cambridge St by the present office (near the hall and Room 18). The teachers (at least one per syndicate) will be there waiting for children.
Parents need to use the COVID-19 contact tracing app or you will need to sign in and out on the register provided at the office. You will need to maintain physical distancing. We would prefer to phone or email the office instead. If you need to speak to an individual teacher then please phone or email them.
touching each other. Where practicable, the 2 metre rule will be applied as a healthy guide, particularly between adults.
entry/re-entry of classroom, and before and after eating. This will be supervised by staff.
Many thanks for reading all of this and I am sure you are equally as keen to make sure our students and staff are ‘safe’ in our schooling environment. Wellbeing has been, and continues to be, a significantfocus. For children to engage in learning in our school environment they must first feel safe. This will remain a priority.
Thank you for your continued support and playing your part in providing a safe home and learning environment.
Ngā mihi
——————
Tim Brenton
PRINCIPAL
The scheduled Teacher-Only Day (ACCORD DAY) for next Monday – 30th August. This has been POSTPONED for now.
Richmond School remains closed for the rest of this week as per the Prime Minister’s announcement this afternoon. All New Zealand remains in Level 4 lockdown until at least Friday 27 August 11:59 pm with further updates being provided on Friday.
This means the school and playground remain closed to all staff, students and the public. It also means any school events during this time have been postponed or cancelled. The school hall is unavailable for events.
All class teachers will be in touch about what ‘home learning’ activities and expectations are for the next 4 days.
If you have concerns/questions then please contact your child’s teacher directly for learning or device passwords/connectivity questions. They will be able to support you with this.
The Year 0&1 syndicate teachers will be making contact with parents of children in Rooms 16, 18, 19 and 20 and will be delivering ‘home packs’ (collated by the teachers) to them by no-contact means. The Ministry of Education is not making ‘home packs’ (as per 2020) available to us at this point of time (likely to only Auckland families). Children on the Reading Recovery programme will have home packs delivered to them by the Reading Recovery teacher, Rochelle Krammer.
If we are heading into Level 3 or lower from next week we will inform parents as soon as possible exactly what it means.
Please note that we had scheduled a teacher-only day (ACCORD DAY) for next Monday – 30th August. This has been POSTPONED for now.
Stay safe and be kind to each other.
Tim Brenton
PRINCIPAL