1st May 2020
Tauranga Primary School Newsletter
Principal's Message
Tēnā koutou katoa
Ngā mihi nui, kia koutou katoa - Warm greetings to you all.
We hope that everyone is safe, well and happy.
Here we are, the 1st of May 2020, living, working and schooling in Alert Level 3 conditions. Even though we have been immersed in living in "isolation" for a while now, it still feels quite surreal.
At this stage, we have no further information about when we will return to Level 2, and like you, we are waiting for the announcement on the 11th of May. Next week, principals are hoping for some guidance from the Ministry of Education about what moving to Level 2 will mean, and what guidelines we will need to follow. When we know more we will share this with our school community so that everyone is prepared for the transition. I am fairly confident that if it is announced on the 11th May that we are moving to Level 2, schools will be allocated some lead in time to get staff back on site to set up, prior to children returning.
TPS Bubble School:
On Wednesday we opened our "TPS Bubble School" with a roll of 34 children. School looks quite different in Level 3 with staggered entry and exit times, physical distancing practised in class and in the playgrounds; no bubble classes mixing at all, and all classes are multi-leveled to accommodate family grouping. The biggest challenge for the children is the physical distancing, they really want to socialise and play together but are unable to even share a ball. For our teaching team the challenges are running two learning sites (online and at school) as well as attending to our own families needs and home schooling our own children. Our teaching staff onsite are doing an amazing job working hard to make school feel safe and welcoming. Thank you Mrs Catley, Mrs Murphy, Miss Thorne, Mrs Brown, Mrs Ediker and Miss Caley.
Our caretakers, Mr J and Mr T, have been working hard and our school site is looking great.
Thank you also to the TPS team working offsite, who are covering the online presence for our Bubble School teachers and ensuring that everything continues to tick over in our physical absence from school.
This high level of collaboration and collegial support certainly epitomises our TPS Vision Statement - Together, we are learning to go places.
If you need to leave home and return to work in Alert Level 3, there is a registration process to organise care for your children at school. We do need notice so that we can plan for increasing numbers, which could involve increasing staffing, opening new classrooms and a reorganization of the school day for all classes to accommodate health and safety guidelines. Please email me if you have any questions.
Parent Feedback:
As part of our development and growth as a school, we are asking for your feedback about our online Home Learning programme, we would greatly appreciate it if you could please complete this 5 minute survey , thank you.
The school grounds continue to be closed for public access (including the playgrounds) in Alert Level 3. Please do not come onto the school site, we have very strict rules and guidelines for activities onsite, and need to be able to track and trace anyone on our site at all times.
TPS Translators: (At this stage we only have two parents on this list)
Some of our school families speak various languages (other than English) as their first language. As we have moved to an online learning environment, we are relying heavily on phone calls and emails to communicate with parents. At times, this has been a barrier for some families to gain a comprehensive understanding of what we are trying to communicate. We thought it would be good to set up a TPS database of parents, who speak languages other than English, and would be confident to help us share school information with other school families if needed. For example, a teacher might ring you to ask you to help explain how to log onto seesaw to another parent in their first language, or maybe just to enquire if they are okay and if there is anything they don't understand about school correspondence. If you would be happy to assist us in this way, please email your name, your child's name, and the languages you are confident in to admin@tauranga.school.nz . Thank you
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Cross Country:
In Term 2 we traditionally run our school cross country.
We are unsure if we will be able to run this as we normally do, so we have created a TPS Virtual Cross Country for our students (staff and parents). The cross country will be held between 18th - 21st May. Details are below - get those running shoes on and bet the feet as a family.
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Ngā mihi
Fiona Hawes
TPS VIRTUAL X-COUNTRY
18 - 21st May Virtual TPS X-Country
YOUR MISSION: Enter the 2020 TPS Virtual X-Country Event
THE CHALLENGE:
Run your own x-country race at home.
Photos or a short video clip can be sent to your class teacher or posted on Seesaw as proof.
Make sure you run in your house colours to earn House points.
HOW FAR:
Just like the TPS x-country you must run the following distances:
Year 1&2 - 500m
Year 3&4 - 1.5km
Year 5&6 - 2km
HOW CAN I MEASURE MY RUN:
Here are a few ways you can measure your run at home:
Get an adult to drive the car around the course you will run.
Download a free running app such as MapMyRun or Nike Run Club
Suggested practice tracks are below.
WHEN:
If you are still at home, you have between Monday 18th May and Thursday 21st May to conquer the challenge.
On the 18th May we will send out a google form for you to complete.
If we are back at school we will run the event at school that week.
Don’t forget to TIME your run! It must be in minutes and seconds.
ADDED BONUS for 2020 - parent participation -
We will accept parent entries, to boost up House points.
Get your Mum, Dad, Koro, Aunty and Uncle to join in the fun with you.
Register their times and House to earn more House points.
So start training for the 2020 TPS Virtual X-Country.
Scantlebury Street Screamer - 1.12km
Memorial Park Monster - 500m
Harvey Street Thriller - 800 just the block or add on a wee bit more to get to 1km
Contacts
Principal
Fiona Hawes
07 578 6222
Deputy Principal
Cathy Ediker
Assistant Principal
Robyn Caley
Junior Team Leader
Pam Wilkins
Middle Team Leader
Jason Morgan
Acting Senior Team Leader
Jo Howard
International Student enquiries
Cathy Ediker
Business Manager
Susan O'Neill
Office Administrator and Enrolment Officer
Barbara Turley