Newsletter - Back to School
East Gore School 1st February 2022
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Tena Koutou, Talofa, Namaste, Hello and Greetings
This is just a quick update before we return to school tomorrow morning. The staff are excited to welcome back the students and start the school year.
When you arrive at school in the morning, students can head to their new classrooms for this year. If they or you are unsure of the class, please just ask me, I will be standing at road patrol. Just a reminder, any adults coming on to the school grounds will need to wear a mask.
If you haven't collected your stationery yet, this is still available in the office. You can collect it tomorrow morning and either pay cash or online bank.
Room Puriri
Unfortunately I have to inform you that during the holidays, Tory (Mrs Buchanan) had a head knock and is unable to return to work at this stage. We are wishing Tory a speedy recovery so she can come back to school in the near future. We are very lucky to have Mr Richard Sutherland return to East Gore this year and he will be teaching in Room Puriri for the start of the year. Welcome back Richard, it is great to have you in the school again.
Red Level Information
With the red level, as we return to school and following along from our newsletter at the end of last week, we will be staggering break times and our end of day to try and avoid students congregating in the same area. We have a large playground so we can spread out which makes it easier. We will have slightly different morning tea breaks in the morning and at lunch times, we will encourage distancing around the playground and field.
At the end of the day, we are going to trial staggering the finishing time for the classes. Again this is alleviate congestion at the main school gate. We are going to be exiting through the main gate and the gate by the drop off zone. To keep the gate clear by the drop off zone we would appreciate you not parking in this area as junior students and parents will meet in here.
If a sibling is in another class they will exit the school together.
The staggered end times will be:
Room Kauri (exit drop off gate) and Room Rimu (exit main gate) at 2:55pm
Room Totara (exit drop off gate) and Room Puriri (exit main gate) at 3:00pm
Room Rata (exit main gate) at 3:05pm
Koha Kai
We are lucky to continue our partnership with Koha Kai this year. Lunches will start again tomorrow. The lunches consist of either a hot lunch, sandwich or wrap, and a biscuit, fruit, yoghurt or cheese stick. We look forward to enjoying their lunches again this year.
Buses
If you have a child traveling on a bus, you will probably be aware that our school transport provider has changed. As with all change we can expect some challenges. Could you please let me know if you run into any problems and I will endeavour to give feedback or find out what I can to solve any problems.
For the first few days try to get to the bus stop a little earlier on the pick up and the drop off until the new provider (Go Bus) work out their timing. And a reminder that students Year 4 and above need to wear a mask on the bus.
Breakfast Club
We will not be starting Breakfast Club until approximately week 3. We are still waiting on some guidelines from the MOE on how this can happen within red level. We will confirm the start date closer to the time.
We also have some volunteers to run Breakfast Club, but we are always on the lookout for more. If you have spare 30 minutes in the morning and are fully vaccinated and want to help out, let the office know.
And lastly, I thank you for all your support. Please feel free to keep in contact with me, I really appreciate the trust you place in all of us here at East Gore and we are doing everything to keep our students safe. If you have any questions, thoughts or wonderings, please phone or message the school or have a chat to me while I'm at the gate.
See you all tomorrow,
Wendy Kitto
Principal
Contact Us
Email: office@eastgore.school.nz
Website: https://www.eastgore.school.nz
Location: East Gore School 3 Wentworth St, East Gore, Gore 9710, New Zealand
Phone: +64 03-208 5331
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastgoreschoolgore