Moving to Level 1 at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

As we move into  Alert Level 1 tonight, we don't want to lose some of the gains that have been made. 

Many caregivers and staff have noted that our Alert Level 2 'kiss and drop' routine has had significant positive outcomes both at home and at school. Some children taking more responsibility for getting themselves organised at home, many caregivers report gaining back 20minutes in the morning drop-off routine and staff have observed the 3min parking drop-off on Sandwich Road finally working exactly the way it was designed to work in the mornings!

A key difference to why we think this routine has worked so well, is that our new way of working requires the children to do the leaving, rather than the adults... The old way of adults bringing children into the hubs meant that eventually, the adult needed to leave, and this sometimes caused anxiety, resulting in clinginess and tears from the children. Whether you drop the children at the gate, the crossing, the corner, or wave them goodbye from your front door, it is the child who has the requirement to be self-managing and to control their moving forward - which they have been doing in an incredibly successful way!

In the hubs, the difference has also been astounding. From 8:30 - 9:00am, teachers are able to focus on children 100%, and on preparing them for the day of learning. This involves time to 'catch up' and have important 1:1 conversations with children about their day, their weekend, and to build those relationships. It involves teachers supporting children to independently unpack their bags, including drink bottles, lunch boxes, reading folders etc, without doing it for them. Teachers have commented that in four weeks, the gains in independence by all learners has been significant. In fact, teachers and principals across the country have been commenting on forums about how significant the difference (in junior classrooms in particular) has been without caregivers coming into the hubs in the mornings.

As a school, we are very keen to continue the start of school routine that children come into school by themselves. We would like to continue with this going forward. 

 

For the next two days, we will continue to bring the children out to the gate at 2:45pm and 3pm as we have done through Alert Level 2 then, from Thursday, we will all return to finishing at 3pm.

Our new outdoor spaces playground is looking amazing, and your children will be keen to show it to you one afternoon later this week. We will continue the 3:15pm bell as a reminder for everyone that its time to clear the playground, and for children who haven't been collected to come to the office so we can contact caregivers. We are asking children NOT to go on the playground in the mornings, but to go into the hubs and start getting ready for their learning day.

Your children have demonstrated that they can be strong and independent and we are all very proud of the way they have adapted. Thank you for your positive parenting, ensuring your children enter school with confidence and a great big smile! This ‘get on with it’ approach is transferring into the rest of the school day and we are seeing the benefits for learning as well as independence.