Kia ora e te whānau
Announcement: Sandy will be on the school Facebook page LIVE at 4:30pm today
Kia ora from my bubble to yours.
We have three important jobs at the moment.
Job number 1: Stay home and save lives
Congratulations to us all for staying home and saving lives! This work has been, and continues to be, the primary job for each and every one of us in Aotearoa New Zealand.
As caregivers (at home), and as staff (at school virtually now), our job is also to provide a balanced and individually appropriate education for our children and ensure their wellbeing. Over the past two weeks, as well as trying to get a holiday of sorts, our staff have been working very hard to reimagine how teaching and learning will look in this new era we have shifted into. We know that your role now, in supporting your children's education has changed too, and we want to work together with you as we travel this journey together. Each one of us want to do our best. What that will look like will be different for each child, each family, each teacher, and each school.
Job number 3: Be kind
A key message, for all of us, is to 'be kind' to each other as continue to run this 'marathon' together. We won't get it right all the time so we want to be there to support one another and work through challenges together. Whether we are at home, or at school, our values remain at the heart of what we do.
Job number 3: Be kind
A key message, for all of us, is to 'be kind' to each other as continue to run this 'marathon' together. We won't get it right all the time so we want to be there to support one another and work through challenges together. Whether we are at home, or at school, our values remain at the heart of what we do.
The following is a direct quote from the email every principal in New Zealand received last night (Thursday) from the Ministry of Education:
"In Select Committee today, Minister Hipkins also spoke to the change of alert levels and the implications for education providers and their communities. The Minister noted it would be wrong to assume that all schools and early learning services will reopen at Level 3.
We are looking at various scenarios and they will be based on health considerations and requirements under Level 3, particularly managing physical distancing. A hybrid model of both distance learning and on-site learning is very likely at least in the early stages of Level 3. The Public Health requirements will affect each school differently.
We want to reassure you that following any announcement, you will have some time to prepare for physically re-opening your school or early learning service to welcome back on site your staff and some, but not all, of your children/students.
Assuming the alert level does change, current planning assumptions are that you will have Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April to fully access your site and undertake a property inspection and necessary maintenance and cleaning. Monday 27 April is a public holiday (ANZAC Day observed) and Tuesday 28 April will be a staff-only day. We therefore anticipate Wednesday 29 April would be your first day with some of your students/children able to attend in person. Early Learning Centres might not need all of this time.
We are developing detailed guidance to support you through this process. This will be ready in time for any decision announced on 20 April. Our staff will then work with you to support you to develop a detailed plan for your school and communication to your parents."
Over the past two days, there have been significant announcements relating to Education. It is important, when we hear these announcements, that we appreciate that they span at least three sectors of Education, from Early Childhood Education, through the Primary years, and right through to Senior Secondary where NCEA is a focus. Many of the initiatives that the government are rolling out in education are to try and ensure that students who are the most disadvantaged, through lack of digital connectivity, are able to access education.
The Ministry are asking schools like ours to try to do whatever we can do, to ensure that we support our own community with getting connected, so that they can focus on more remote and disadvantaged communities with the rollout of devices and hard copy packs. If we can support you, then those elements of the Ministry rollout will not be required for our community.
What I can confirm we know:
- Term 2 begins on Wednesday 15th April, in the virtual environments of our homes and yours.
- Level 4 lockdown will continue at least for the full 4 weeks originally indicated.
- When we finally do shift out of Level 4 lockdown, it will be to Level 3. What that will look like for schools, and for our school in particular, is not yet clear, AND we can expect it to be significantly different to what we think of as 'normal'.
- The Ministry of Education have asked every school in New Zealand to survey their families, to collect information about the ability of each family to provide online connectivity and device access for all students
- We still have some Chromebooks at school that we would like to get to any families who might still need them, and the Ministry has now provided us an official way of doing this on Monday and Tuesday this coming week.
Our goal over the coming week:
Our goal is for EVERY child in our school to have access to a device, so that they can engage with the learning that we will be trying to provide. Not all of the learning will be online, however, you and your child will need to GET online to be able to find out about what they can do.
From Wednesday, we will have a new set of pages on our school website - one for each team, that will provide some support for you and your children around learning from home. We encourage everyone to engage with this in the way that is going to work best for you and your family. Our teachers will be making contact with you and your children from Wednesday, and will be checking in with you if you/your child has not responded to messages.
Alongside our website, we will have two key digital platforms operating from which our staff will be able to engage with you and your children:
- Years 5-8 will be using Google Classrooms. This is a platform that both the teachers and children at these year levels are experienced in using.
- New Entrants to Year 4 will be using a new platform we have just invested in called SeeSaw. We will send out clear information next week on how to access this platform, and we will have staff available for online support if you need it. We will be learning together with you, how to get the best out of this new tool.
We will be sending out Communication Guidelines and tip sheets on getting up and running on these platforms on Tuesday this week, along with clarification on how we hope we can communicate with you, and you with us, over the coming weeks.
What you need to do NOW, please:
- If your family CANNOT provide digital device access of some sort for your child over the coming weeks, please email me (principal@beckenham.school.nz), Facebook msg me via the school Facebook page, or text the school cellphone on 021 0279 4107. Please make sure you tell us your name, your child's name and leave a contact phone number so we can call you back to get any clarification we need.
- Start talking with your child, and your household about how you will try to organise your days once school begins again on Wednesday. These last two weeks have been very unusual for all of us, and we know that developing routines may have been extremely challenging. Use the next few days to think about the routines that you would like to get your family back into, so that engaging with learning will be manageable for both you and your children. You may find that it is helpful to develop a visual timetable together, such as the example below, that you can all use and refer to. Your child's routines and timetables will need to reflect the needs of your children and your family's circumstances. Children usually get a strong sense of normality and sense of security from the development of predictable family routines.
(To download a .ppt version of this timetable that you can customise, click here)
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the virtual team
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the virtual team