HVHS Term 1 Week 9
Newsletter - 1 April 2022
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Summer Sports week has happened, and 120 students have enjoyed the camaraderie and competition that events like this bring. Volleyball, Cricket, Futsal, and Ultimate are all involved.
Sadly the indoor events are still spectator free, but I did manage to spend some time with the Girl's and Boy's Cricket. The playing conditions for the boys were interesting - players had to spot a white ball against a foggy white sky! The team had a very successful week and was able to give some of the up and coming players a chance to play in the 1st X1.
Winter sports trials and team selections are also happening at this time - although there is a lot of flexibility due to students' impact by COVID. The numbers who have enrolled to play are encouraging, and more so is the number of parents helping out in a coaching or managing capacity. Your support is genuinely appreciated - it is so lovely to have a community guiding our students, with parents and whānau helping the endeavours of staff.
Our goal this term has been to keep the school open on the usual timetable for those who are Covid-free. We have been delighted that many of our performing arts groups have been able to continue and, like sport, just got on with it and coped with people coming and going from school. The Showquest group, led by students Elizabeth Hanaray and Ella McNeillage, have been working hard putting their piece together for next term's competition. The Rock n Roll club goes from strength to strength with a new bunch of Year Tens recently joining. Our student-run Improv group is up and running weekly. A new troupe of Year 13 actors is rehearsing for the play Two Rooms, which will be at the heart of our consent education programme with the Year 12s. This is the play that has toured other NZ schools in recent years. Chamber music groups are prepping for their upcoming competitions and performance at Woburn Apartments and the St Marks Hutt City Lunchtime Recital series. Rock groups are preparing their entries for Rockquest. Let's hope that the relaxation of spectators at events remains so that family and friends can attend and enjoy these events.
There are two weeks to go, and I know staff and students are hanging out for a break. As per the usual end of the term, there will be much finishing up of work, completing assessments or negotiating new timelines for completion dates. To our students, we ask that you please communicate well with your teachers so that they can work with you to keep you on the right track. I would ask that you thank your teachers for their work this term. Nearly all have been teaching face to face and providing online lessons at the same time - which has felt like double the workload. Some staff still provided online Google Meets while at home, isolating with COVID. The workload has been enormous.
The key changes to the COVID-19 Protection Framework going forward:
- Removal of My Vaccine Pass from the framework effective from 11.59 pm Monday 4 April
- The school will return to the usual signing in procedures and no longer require evidence of vaccination
- Masks are still required to be worn indoors while at the red setting. We know this adds a layer of protection for all
- Masks are not required when outdoors
- There is increased capacity limits when indoors at Red, moving from 100 to 200 (but still allowing for one-metre spacing). There are no capacity limits indoors at Orange and Green. While in the red setting, we can not meet for full school assemblies as our hall is too small - and is still being used in a drama classroom while the new space in the Student Centre is being finished.
As you may have seen, the media has reported a reduction in daily cases in the last few days. Our health experts tell us that children are much more likely to be exposed to COVID-19 in the community than at school. We also know that nationally in mid-March no more than 4% of teachers in any seven-day period reported as testing positive. It is currently around 3.5%. I share this as I am aware of some families keeping their children at home as a safety precaution. I encourage you to come back to school and begin your learning with friends and face to face teaching. We have excellent systems in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Thanks to our community for being so accommodating during these COVID-19 and OMICRON outbreak times.
Ngā mihi
Denise Johnson
Principal
Rostering home for Year 11 and Year 10 students
Up until now, we have managed to keep the school open for learning. Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in numbers of our staff, and relief teachers out with COVID this week and this is expected to flow into the coming weeks.
Therefore we have decided to roster home Year 10 and Year 11 for two days each next week. This will enable us to keep face-to-face learning for Year 9, Year 12 and Year 13.
Rostering home timetable:
Monday 4 April - Year 11
Tuesday 5 April - Year 11
Wednesday 6 April - Year 10
Thursday 7 April - Year 10
Rostered home students from Year 10 and Year 11 will be studying from home with work set on Google Classroom. Students need to make the most of this time to stay up to date, or catch up with their schoolwork and consolidate learning. If they have questions about their learning and progress, they need to make contact with their teachers.
Message from the School Library
Can all families please check at home for textbook and library books waiting to be returned to school, we don’t want students missing out because books are not here to be accessed.
Books can be returned to the library any time from 8.00 am - 4.00 pm each day.
Email reminders have been sent to students who have outstanding books. Items which aren’t returned will incur invoices so that the books can be replaced.
If you need further information or assistance please contact library.assistant@hvhs.school.nz
Access to free period products
This nationwide government funded initiative allows HVHS to provide each menstruating student with up to two packs of period products (pads and/or tampons) each month free of charge.
Please encourage your student to collect their product from the cupboard outside the First Aid Office (sick bay) once a month (before and after school, interval and lunchtime only).
We want to stress that this service is available to all menstruating students at HVHS and hope that they all continue to take advantage of this wonderful initiative.
Parking Reminder
Please note that car-parking in the school is not available for students and parents are not permitted to collect or drop-off students within the school grounds due to Health and Safety concerns.
There is plenty of parking on Woburn Road and the side roads for parents to pick up or drop off students.
We have a very busy site that includes taxis for students in the Supported Learning Centre.
If you are collecting an unwell student, please observe the 5km per hour speed within the school grounds.
School Policy for review - Term 1 2022
The school is scheduled to review the policy for
Visitors
If you would like to review this policy and provide feedback, please logon to SchoolDocs and enter our school. Login and and click on policy review. Click on the policy you wish to review and then the red Under Review icon. From there you can submit your comments.
SchoolDocs Username is hvhs, password is Adalta
Update your contact information
Have your contact details or email address changed?
Its easy to forget to advise the school when you move house, change cell phones etc, but parents/caregivers are asked to contact the school and advise us of any changes to caregivers/address/phone/email/emergency contact details. Please update us either via the parent portal or on the email address below:
Parent Portal: https://huttportal.hvhs.school.nz/index.php
Email: to principal@hvhs.school.nz
Contact Us
Email: principal@hvhs.school.nz
Website: https://www.hvhs.school.nz
Location: Woburn Road Lower Hutt, 5010 Wellington
Phone: +64 4 560 1568
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hvhs.school.nz