Kia ora, Ni hao, Dobar dan, Malo e leilei, Hola, Konnichiwa, Talofa, Namaste, Chão, Vannakkam, Kamusta, Hello!

The teachers are preparing connection times with whānau via zoom for Meet the Teacher sessions during weeks 4 & 5. These sessions will provide an opportunity for you to meet your child/rens teacher/s. This is an informal catch up and provides time to share information about your child/ren and the teachers initial observations this term. Next week you will be provided with a list of dates and times to sign up.

• How is your child feeling about being back at school? Starting school?

• What is your child interested in? What is their passion?

• What do you see as their strengths?

• What do you see as their difficulties/struggles/challenges?

There is so much information provided on the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health websites for whānau around if you or your child/ren were to be identified as a Close Contact/Casual Contact etc.

To allay any fears and to provide a step-by-step guide around what to do if your child is identified as a Close Contact we’ve attached here a simple flowchart.

Remember to stay calm, make contact with the principal or/and office and follow all Ministry guidelines. We are here to help.

Also a reminder that if you or your child/ren have any symptoms such as:

• A new or worsening cough

• Sneezing & a runny nose

• A fever

• Temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste

• Sore throat

• Shortness of breath

Less common symptoms include:

Diarrhoea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, malaise, chest pain, abdominal pain, joint pain or confusion/irritability.

Please get a test and keep your child at home until you get a negative test result.

For more information, go to covid-19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/about-covid-19-symptons/

Omicron is another form of COVID-19. It's more infectious than previous versions, so spreads very quickly. It's less likely to make you severely ill. Some people might not even know they have it. Stopping Omicron is all about masks and fresh air.

KidsHealth have developed this simple resource to help children understand what school will be like when they go back: masks, fresh air, staying home if unwell, getting tested and COVID immunisation.

Back to school with Omicron 2022 (PDF, 1MB) is a booklet by Mel Churton, a New Zealand psychologist and Alison Leversha, a Starship paediatrician.

We have had several PTFA members move on at the end of last year so we would love to see some new members join the PTFA! There are many many different ways that the PTFA supports the school, and you can choose to help in whatever capacity best suits you. It would be a shame to have to stop any of the great events, activities, new entrant welcome packs and monetary support that the Marist PTFA provides for our children and school community….so we need YOU in 2022 !

If you would like to know more about how you can help or more detail on what the PTFA does, please contact either Jacqui on jacqui.ivicevich@delegat.com or Sinead on hartsinead77@gmail.com.

St Mary's Parish Foodbank is feeding nearly 2000 a month. PLEASE remember them when you are shopping - they are in desperate need of donations! Anything you can contribute will be very much appreciated.

There is a box on the front porch of the presbytery.

Meals for the freezer are also gratefully welcomed. These can be dropped directly into the freezer in the presbytery garage - just enter through the side door.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support!

Last Friday, Hubs 1 and 2 had a zoom with Project Jonah. If you don’t know what Project Jonah is, it is a whale saving organisation. Project Jonah had a girl called Olivia talking to us. She had a presentation full of fun facts about whales in New Zealand, how we can protect them and what to do if we see a whale stranded on the beach.

Olivia had a little activity for us to measure the length of different whales. She asked us to stand up and put our hands out. Almost half the class had to stand to show how long a blue whale is. They are huge! We really loved this activity.

By the end of the zoom, Hub 1 had learnt almost everything about whales.

By Anaiah

TOP FACTS

Whales move their tails up and down. Sharks move their tails from side to side.

There are less than 200 Bryde’s whales in New Zealand. We need to protect them! - Enjoy Faith's Hub 1) fantastic poster all about Bryde's whales

If you find a whale stranded you should call:

Project Jonah 24 Hour Stranding Hotline

0800 4 WHALE

(0800 4 94253)

DOC Stranding Hotmail

0800 DOC HOT

(0800 362 468)

If all else fails dial 111 and inform the Police.

Click here for more information on Project Jonah

My son and his partner are expecting a baby ( yah, I'm going to be a Nana!) and are looking to move from the rental they have been in for 4 years to something a bit bigger.

They have excellent references from their landlords, are hard workers and respectful tenants.

They are looking for a tidy 2-3 bedroom house or roomy unit as a long term rental. City fringe preferable & with a yard or patio for some private outdoor space.

If you have anything, know of anyone who does or can put any feelers out; I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks, Carolynn

Please contact me via my school email c.phillips@marist.school.nz

The Attentive Parenting® program is a 7 week group-based “universal” parenting programme. This is one of the Incredible Years Parenting Programmes focusing on foundational parent skills.

It is suitable for ALL parents of children 4-8 years to promote their children's emotional regulation, social competence, problem solving, and school readiness. The course is funded by Ministry of Education with no cost to parents.

The course will be held on Wednesday afternoons via Zoom

At: 1pm - 2.30.00 pm

Dates: February 23rd - April 13th

Course materials will be posted to you once your registration is confirmed.

Course numbers are limited to 14.

Please contact Grace Harrison or Julia Langford to register your interest by February 14th. Please include your phone number and age of your child/children. We will phone you on receipt of your email.

Graceh@rtlb7.school.nz

Julial@rtlb7.school.nz

Researchers at The University of Auckland would love to hear from parents of children currently struggling with anxiety who would be happy to share their experiences and ideas in a 15 minute anonymous survey. Your feedback will then be used by the researchers to help them develop a parenting course for supporting children with anxiety.

Click below to learn more and for the link to the survey:

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ex2TdKDbZcVHdT8