Kia ora koutou e te whānau o Te Kura a Rohe o Whaingaroa
Updated Organisation for Tuesday 8th February
We look forward to seeing all of our students. We have a large number of new students beginning their schooling at Raglan Area School. With this in mind under the RED setting expectations, we have made some changes to the way in which we will welcome all of our students into the school on Tuesday from 8.20 am onwards.
Staff members will be easily identifiable wearing Yellow high viz vests and name tags and many will be at school entrance gates to welcome and direct you to where you need to be. Please note that we are unable to have our traditional whakatau with all of our whānau present on site, but all students will be welcomed and supported by their classroom teachers to navigate their way in this first week.
Parents / caregivers of our youngest students will be able to come onsite with their children and to take them to the outside of their classrooms where teachers will be waiting to meet them. Please note the entrances below that we would like you to use – but be assured that our staff will assist you to head in the right direction as needed.
| Te Rōpū Aroha ki Te Reo Gateway entrance next to the Learning Hub: | Whaea HAYLEE & Whaea BONITA Years 0-6 |
| Main Gateway entrance next to the office: | Whaea HILARY & Whaea JADE Years 0-6 |
| The Waharoa Gateway entrance next to the hall: | Matua QUENTEN & Whaea GWYN Years 7-13 |
| The Back Entrance by the Van Shed: | Whaea SANDRA &Whea NAOMI |
| At the Road Crossing to meet and Direct Vehicles: | Whaea LOUISA |
| At the roundabout to direct traffic into the car park spaces and on to the field as needed: | Matua LIAM |
Masks / Face Covering Protocols
- If your child is in Year 5 or above they are required to wear a mask.
- This year we have four composite Years 3 and Years 4 classes. These students as well as all students in Years 0, 1 and 2 will NOT have to wear a mask at school.
- All students do not have to wear a mask outdoors; when being educated (eg: PE lessons, Outdoor Education), when eating and drinking at break times, or during playtime outside.
- There are also exemptions for wearing a face mask including for children or staff who are deaf or hard of hearing, OR if the person has a physical, mental health need or disability, that makes wearing a face-covering unsuitable for learning.
- If your child requires a mask exemption, the parents/caregivers will need to give written confirmation of this via email or in-person to the school office (office@raglanarea.school.nz) who will notify the class teachers. The reason will remain confidential between whānau and office staff who will be collecting this information on behalf of the Principal.
Mask enforcement and ‘policing’ is NOT the job of the school staff. Our role is to remind, encourage and support all who are able to wear their mask as per the guidelines. If your child is non-compliant, this will be managed discreetly. Students will not be punished for not wearing a mask. However, if it is a recurring issue and they can wear a mask, the teacher might phone the parent to come to a mutual understanding of how to further support the child to wear their mask.
During the first week of term, Quenten Browne (Deputy Principal Kura Tuakana 7-13) and Haylee Webber (Deputy Principal Kura Teina 0-6) will go to each class to factually educate the children about the realities of how the mask mandate looks in our school. That is, they will discuss:
- How most people will be wearing one, and some people will not.
- No one is permitted to question why or why not someone is or is not wearing a mask.
- People who mock others for wearing or not wearing a mask will have a meeting with Matua Quenten or Whaea Hayley, and consequences may have to be put in place or a meeting/phone call held with the whānau
NO staff member will be expressing their opinions on mask-wearing or whether or not you should wear one. Discriminatory behaviour towards masked or unmasked will not be tolerated.
Alternative education for children not returning to school because of the mask mandate
All students (vaccinated and unvaccinated) are welcome at school and we believe that we are providing a safe environment for our students to return to. Raglan Area School teachers are planning to provide online or at-home learning resources for children who will remain at home once we have a clearer picture of the number of students for whom this may be needed. However please note that in these early weeks our focus will be on renewing and establishing relationships and orientation for students who are on site as we navigate leaning within the traffic light RED setting expectations.
Home Schooling
We are not encouraging whānau to make a Home School application to the Ministry of Education IF the reason is solely about the mask mandate or concern that their child will need to be vaccinated to attend school. Please note that Home Schooling applications currently take 6-8 weeks to be approved. During that application period, your child remains enrolled at Raglan Area School. We have been informed that in most cases our local Ministry of Education Office will be referring Homeschooling applications back to Raglan Area School to ask about our provision of alternative programmes IF the reason for the application is because of the Mask Mandate or concern of a vaccine mandate.
We appreciate the support and understanding that we are receiving from Whānau as we all navigate living in the Covid-19 RED setting.
Ngā mihi nui – Whaea Louisa
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