Newsletter 25 February 2022
Rosehill College
From the Principal,
Tēnā koutou katoa,
Year 12 students will be rostered home for the week beginning 28 February. This is to ensure that we have enough staff onsite to supervise learning and keep our students safe.
All other students are expected to be at school unless they are self-isolating or unwell.
As per the Government’s announcement, we are now in Phase 3 of the Red traffic light settings of the Covid Protection Framework. You may well have seen the headlines in the media about the numbers of cases being seen in schools, but please don’t be alarmed by this. It is only natural as cases in our community increase, they will appear in our school. We have good systems in place to respond to this and to keep any spread of the virus to a minimum. Students themselves play a significant role in this by ensuring that they wear their masks correctly so that the mask covers the nose and mouth, as demonstrated below by Peach and Maddy from Southpaws Doggie Daycare.
You may have seen Dr Jin Russell in the media noting research from New South Wales about their recent Omicron outbreak showing that spread within the school setting is very low (less than 4% of cases at school infected someone else when at school). Remaining open at Red is good for students’ wellbeing, being with their friends and school staff.
With Phase 3 of the Omicron response, the key change is that it is only confirmed cases and their household contacts who need to self-isolate. Everyone else, including those who may have had close contact with the case but aren’t in the household, must continue to monitor very closely for any symptoms of COVID-19.
Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are now being used to diagnose COVID-19 as well as PCR tests. This means that you will get an almost immediate test result back if a RAT is used.
If anyone in your family is confirmed as having COVID-19, you will be asked to notify your close contacts yourself. Please get in touch with us as soon as you can if your student has tested positive for COVID-19 and report the result on 0800 222 478 and press option 3 or via https://mycovidrecord.health.nz/ Please see the guides later in this newsletter.
Recording absences as per the Ministry of Education recommendations
If a student is engaged in distance learning because they are undertaking mandatory self-isolation or their year level is rostered home, we use code ‘F’ (‘learning from home’).
Absences due to parental concerns that attendance at school is unsafe because of the risk of contracting COVID-19 should generally be considered unjustified and coded as ‘E’ (the student is absent and the reason is explained but considered unjustified by the MOE).
There will be some cases where a parent is keeping their student at home because they or another household member is at higher risk. In these cases, the absence may be recorded as ‘F’.
Finally, we know how hard the impacts on COVID-19 have been for many families in New Zealand. If you know of a family in your community who is struggling, please encourage them to reach out for support for example to access food, medicine, or access financial support: Help is available – COVID-19 Health Hub.
Upcoming Events:
- 1 March - Counties Swimming (Qualifiers only)
- 2 March - Counties Athletics
- 7-11 March - House Touch Tournament
- 8 March - Counties Athletics
See our Events Calendar page to see more.
Dropping Off and Picking Up Students
Would all parents and caregivers please avoid driving into the school’s car park areas to drop off or pick up students before and after school, as it is unsafe to have cars driving through the grounds at those very busy times. Similarly, please don’t stop or park on the yellow lines near our gates as traffic infringement notices may be issued.
Drop students off or pick them up at some distance from the school – the short walk will be good for them!
New Staff Profiles:
Miss Amy Scott
Kia ora! My name is Amy Scott, and I've recently joined the lovely English Department here at Rosehill College. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Drama from the University of Auckland in 2020, and completed my teaching diploma at the end of last year. In my spare time I enjoy reading, creative writing, and playing the guitar.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here, and I gladly welcome the experiences and challenges that come with being a new teacher. Having spent my high school years at Rosehill College, I know that it is a place where students and staff alike can thrive and achieve their best. I want my students to believe in themselves and find their passions, and I'm looking forward to supporting them on this journey.
Mr Peter Go
Hi Everyone, my name is Peter Go and I teach Social Studies and History at Rosehill College. I graduated with a double major in History and Politics and completed my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland. I have worked as an English teacher and a Korean to English Translator.
I am very happy to be teaching here at Rosehill College, and greatly appreciate the support and encouragement of the Social Sciences Department staff.
Mrs Megan Laycock
After leaving Rosehill College I gained a Certificate in Digital Photography and a Diploma in Visual Arts from Manukau Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Art in Deaf Studies and New Zealand Sign Language with a Minor in Māori Development from Auckland University of Technology. As a result I am fluent in NZSL and he iti noa ahau te reo Māori (but I am out of practice!).
I am enjoying my role supporting the students, parents and staff. My hope is that through my work I can create open and clear communication between everyone and help in empowering students and our community.
Maths Help Sessions
The Mathematics Department will be running help sessions for students on Wednesdays after school from 3.30 to 4.15pm in C9.
Open to anyone, students need to bring any questions they need help with.
Mrs Joanne Carter
Head of Mathematics
Please return any borrowed books to the Resource Room
Please return any books you have from last year, for example, English books and Science Study Guides. Please check under your bed or in that junk pile on your desk!
Please return these books to the Resource Room.
Thank you!
Ms Caroline Booth
Resource Room Manager
Word The Frontline 2022 - [POSTPONED]
The Spoken Word workshop has been postponed from 3rd March until a date to be confirmed soon.
Apologies to all concerned, however we need to make sure that all interested are able to attend.
Please watch the notices for further news on this.
❤️ Interact Fundraiser ❤️
A BIG thank you to everyone who bought teddy bears and hearts for our Valentine's fundraiser.
We raised over $600 which will be donated to Women's Refuge!
Pānui Hakinakina (Sports Bulletin)
Sport didn’t quite get the start we were hoping for this week with a number of players and coaches having to isolate. We’re hoping for a better run next week.
There are several trials starting to happen and students should receive notification of this via their school email account. Please remind your student if they have signed up for something to continue to check their emails for updates.
Now that sign ups are coming to an end we need to start finding coaches and managers for all the teams. Thank you to those parents who have already contacted me. If you think you might be interested please contact me on n.bailey@rosehillcollege.school.nz.
Nicola Bailey
Director of Sport
Vaccinations
Many of you will have seen the media reports regarding the change to the requirements for school sport. We are still awaiting advice from the Ministry of Education and College Sport Auckland. What must be realised is that many of our teams use outside facilities which at this stage still require people to be vaccinated. This means, our reality is that students will still need to be vaccinated to play sports.
School Sport NZ has released this statement regarding vaccinations currently, as information comes to hand it will be shared with our community.
Congratulations
Softball
Congratulations to our boys softball team who beat Mt Albert Grammar 7-0 this week. What a great way to start the season.
Keep up the good work boys.
Trials
In the next few weeks we will start informing students of when trials for the various sports will take place. When students come to trials we will be asking to see their vaccine pass, if they are unable to provide this they will be able to trial but may be unable to play depending on the venue.
Once a student is selected in a team we ask that you send a copy of their vaccine pass to vaccinations@rosehillcollege.school.nz, this email will be kept confidential, please use the following format for the subject SPORT - Last name, First name.
Netball Trials
Prem and Prem Development trials are Wednesday 2 March 4.30pm on the turf at school. Please bring correct shoes, a water bottle and your vaccine pass.
Rugby Registrations
Unfortunately we had to cancel our registration nights this week. Thank you to those who have already registered their child. If you have not yet done so please use this link to do so by Friday March 4.
Counties Swimming & Athletics
Counties Swimming and Athletics will be run differently this year. In order to enter, students will need to provide evidence of their swimming times or running times, jumping heights or throwing distances for each event they wish to enter. They will also need to show their vaccine pass when entering and send a copy to vaccinations@rosehillcollege.school.nz.
Newsletter
If you haven’t had the chance to have a read of our new sports newsletter, check it out at Eye on the Ball.
Keeping up to date
Please follow us on social media. This is where we post updates about trials, training and weekly games. We also like to celebrate our success there.
Follow us on Instagram: Rosehill College Sport (@rosehillcollegesport)
Like us on Facebook: Rosehill College Sport
Contact us:
Email: inquiries@rosehillcollege.school.nz
Website: https://rosehillcollege.school.nz/
Location: Rosehill College 5 Edinburgh Avenue, Rosehill, Auckland 2113, New Zealand
Phone: 09-295 0661
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosehillcollegeofficial