RAS Partial School Closure – Home Learning for Years 0-8 Students
Kia ora e te whānau
New Zealand’s COVID-19 response continues amid much larger numbers of daily cases. Whaingaroa is also experiencing an increasing number of positive cases alongside the Household contacts and we continue to respond calmly and pragmatically to this situation.
In our kura, over the last 5 days, we have had a significant number of staff and students who are either unwell themselves or caring for whānau who are unwell. We have managed up to this point to provide cover but today we have over 50% of our staff in the junior school not able to be at school. Finding relievers and providing quality cover is increasingly difficult to do so we have had to rethink our current onsite provisions.
Kura Teina Years 0-6 and Kura Tuakana Years 7&8 Students
We have made the decision for our Years 0-8 students to work from home beginning next Monday 7 March. They will remain learning from home until Monday 21 March. This is a period of 10 school days and 4 weekend days; a total of 14 days. This will give those who are isolating a decent length of time to recover and also we hope to minimise further transmission of the virus.
Home Learning programmes will be accessible during this time. You can access the following support programmes for your children at home by going to the website and clicking on the following portal buttons:
- Learning from Home MOE
- Home Learning on TVNZ
- Kura Teina (from Monday 7th March 2022)
Whaea Haylee and Whaea Hilary will be sending home a Kura Teina newsletter to give you more information in the coming days but no later than Tuesday 8 March 2022.
Onsite Learning for Families of Essential Workers
The school is essentially closed for all students and teaching staff so that we can minimise further transmission of Omicron. Senior Leaders, Office and Property staff will remain on site. And, as we did last year, we want to support the families of students Years 0-8 who have adult family members working as essential workers. Unlike last year, the expectations around the learning conditions at school are not as tight.
Students will be able to interact in these classes as they do now. We will of course continue with our healthy hygiene guidelines and mask-wearing (Years 5-8 students) protocols as we currently do. The teaching staff and learning assistants who remain well are rostered on to teach in these classes.
We will operate 3 classes onsite (Years 0-3 in B Block, Years 4-6 in Rooms C3 & C2 and Years 7-8 in Rooms T1 & T3) for the entire duration of the partial closure of the school. A staff member will be at the roadside to greet students as they arrive to ensure that they know which space to go to.
Kura Tuakana Years 9-13 Students
The return date for these students is currently Monday 14 March – we will keep you informed if the decision is made to extend the return date to 21 March. Our teachers (except those who are unwell) are online daily and we ask that you continue to encourage your children to attend online classes with their teachers. Please contact Matua Quenten at school if you have any questions (phone 07 8258140 or quenten_browne@raglanarea.school.nz.)
Keeping us informed about your Covid-19 experience
If your child/ren gets Covid-19 and/or your child/ren are self-isolating at home, it would be very much appreciated if you would continue to keep us informed. Please ring the school office on 8258140 or text the office on 027 488 9421 or email the school office – office@raglanarea.school.nz. This information is very helpful to us in monitoring the overall situation in our school.
Please remember that if anyone in your household tests positive; then all of the household members are considered to be Household close contacts and need to self-isolate for ten days.
As always, if you have any concerns about sending your child to school, please do get in touch. We are here to help. Stay safe. Stay well. Stay connected.
Ngā mihi – Whaea Louisa
Recent Comments