Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto newsletter Monday 2 May, 2022

We are looking forward to seeing all of our tamariki back at school tomorrow. We are also very pleased to be able to welcome whānau back into the school grounds, for the first time properly since August last year! No more dropping and collecting at the gate (unless, of course, that is still working for you!) Masks won't be required when outside, although you are welcome to wear them if you choose to. 

At Orange, we ask you to wait outside learning spaces, well away from the hub entrances when dropping and picking up children. A teacher from each hub will be available to greet you outside the hub in the mornings, and teachers will walk out with children in the afternoons. 

Whilst the mandate for mask-wearing in schools has been lifted, schools are being encouraged to consider the needs of their community and put appropriate local guidelines in place.

At Beckenham, we believe that masks have been one of the best tools available to us for limiting the spread of Covid-19 at school, and keeping our staff and our children as safe as we can. We are also aware that further waves of Covid-19 are expected, and that NZ is going into its first influenza winter in three years. We know that many families are also now travelling both within NZ and even outside NZ.

For these reasons, we have decided to continue with our status quo on mask-wearing inside our buildings. This means that children in Year 3/4 are strongly encouraged to wear a mask inside, and that our Year 5-8 children should continue wearing masks inside, as they did so capably during Term 1. Our staff will also continue to wear masks inside. 

As most of you will be aware, the burst pipe on Colombo Street last week has significantly added to the challenges of navigating safely around our streets. This morning Colombo St was still closed and we are working on the possibility that it will still be closed tomorrow.

The section of Norwood St between Fisher Ave and Tennyson is also closed. 

Sandwich Road is also currently closed at the Eastern Tce end and will be so for the rest of this week.

Please avoid bringing vehicles down Sandwich Road for drop-off and pick-up this week unless you need to access the accessible parking. There will be significant challenge for everyone's safety if we have large numbers of cars trying to do 3-point-turns all week on Sandwich Road.

Tuesday 3 May - Term 2 begins

Monday 6 June - Queen's Birthday - School closed

Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed

Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Due to Covid challenges and being in restricted settings, our colleagues and students in the Ferndale satellite have been operating in their own bubble since August last year. Our senior students were missing the connection with the Ferndale students that they had previously been able to enjoy, so Saxon, one of our Year 8 students, suggested an activity where they could communicate through chalk-painting on the windows! 

Such a lot of fun was had by both groups of students! Lots of great comments and conversations came from people noticing the great artwork in the days after too.

We are looking forward to having much more natural interactions with our Ferndale colleagues and akonga this term, now that we are working in the Orange Covid setting.