Kia ora koutou Witherlea whānau,

We are well into the swing of the 2022 school year and both the teachers and the students are adapting well to our new way of doing things. Even though the mask-wearing is not ideal we are doing our part to support the community so Omicron stays away and we stay open.

COVID Update;

• If you have been asked to self-isolate by the Ministry of Health due to being a close contact then your whole household will need to isolate too. So that means your children HAVE to stay home.
• If you are self-isolating as you have had a COVID test and you are awaiting results then you stay home however your household does not so your children can come to school.
• If any children are sick at school; running nose, cough, temperature and/or sneezing you will be called to collect them.

The teachers are doing extra duties, staying in their teams and wearing masks to keep our learners, your children safe. We are still noticing parents and caregivers who are NOT essential on our school grounds and some NOT wearing masks. Please do not be offended if you are asked to leave and wait at the gate.

We will not be holding our annual Meet the Teacher this week however we have been working on an alternative plan. You should receive a video message and important information from the teams your children are in and their classes.

Part of connecting with you to support the learning, progress and achievement of your child is collecting your voice. We have a Whānau Survey that we really would love for you to complete so that we can do everything possible to support our learners, your children. It is one per family only and will be available in LINKS on our School App too. See the survey below.

We have begun our learning this year with our Term One Focus: Belonging and in the spotlight, our Value: Respect. These both go hand in hand as we create a classroom and a school culture of inclusiveness, understanding others and where they are from, who they are, what is important to them, and that they are able to see themselves as an important part of the whole.

We know that we have a diverse community and this is something we celebrate. We are very proud of our unique heritage in New Zealand and commit to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Te Treaty which you will see in our Mihi Wkatatau - Welcome to School, Karakia that starts our day and our meetings, our school and staff waiata, greetings and instructions in Te Reo and our Te Ao afternoons where students can choose Kapa Haka or learn the culture and language back in the classes. We are always reviewing, refining and improving in this space.

You can support us by filling in the Whānau Survey, attending our school events (when we are out of Red Light) and if you have any skills or knowledge you would like to share with our children or teachers, get in contact. We are all learning and growing in this space together.

We wish to thank our community for supporting the guidelines in Red Setting; we have decreased the numbers onsite significantly and students are arriving after 8:30am which is stopping the mingling. We do know with COVID that it is more likely transferred from adult-child than child-child so staying off the school grounds is important.

Te Mata School in Havelock North have recently had 4 cases and the school has remained open with 300 students still attending. We have been watching this situation evolve as there are key learnings for all schools. They began the year with staggered break times which we have adopted this past week and will continue while there are active community cases. The students have responded well to this and are delighted to be at school with their friends, learning. Even though the teachers are having to do extra, they too are happy to be here teaching in person.

It is an interesting year already and we take heart from the fact that we are all in this together, we are a team and we can face anything if we are not alone.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Andrea Harnett - Tumuaki

We wish to welcome these new students and their families and whānau to our school and community;

Quinn L, Lilly P

Welcome to School Certificates are given out at our Flag Raising on a Monday morning at 9am. During Red Light, ONLY parents of New Students receiving Welcome Certificates can be onsite.

Their role will be ensuring that the Subway lunches are sorted for the school, school tours for new whānau and students, Flag Raising duties on a Monday, leadership development with Ms Harnett and role modelling to students in Kōwhai and Kauri.

Our WitherLeads for 2022 are;

• Zora S
• Stella C
• Payton F
• Charlotte H
• Rose S
• Josh A
• Connor W
• Braxton B
• Leonard H
• Kahn M

We are very proud of these students and look forward to watching them develop along with all of our Year 6 students who have leadership roles.