Toko School Newsletter
Thursday 9th April 2020
Kura Tuatahi Toko
Quality learning for all in a caring community.
Kounga ako mo katoa i roto i te taiao e atawhai ana.
Dear parents and friends of our school Kia Ora/Bora Da/Konichi Wa/Hello
What an astonishing time we are living through. Hoping you and your whānau are well and are making the most of the 'bubble' time together. For those of you who are working with the public in essential services, we cannot thank you enough. By now you have probably developed a daily 'bubble rhythm'. Working from home brings its own challenges and benefits! I hope you are making the most of family time and are enjoying time to slow the pace of life.
Staff are meeting on zoom and google hangouts regularly and we aim to have weekly communication regarding home learning via your child's classroom teacher using seesaw and via the school newsletter.
Learning Links will continue to be available on our schools website and we are updating these pages when we find learning that aligns with the Toko School curriculum.
Our teachers are working collaboratively:
Shelley and Jane R6 and R5
Sasha and Megan R3 and R4
Ruth, Jolynne and Sue R2 and R1
Alison our SENCO and Kathy who works part time in our school are also supporting learning across the school.
Our fab support staff will all have key roles to play in supporting Toko Schools learning programme as well. Don't be surprised if you see them commenting on some learning in seesaw. Its a good way for them to stay connected with the classes they are working in.
Learning at Home
Children will not come to any harm if they have a break from formal learning for a while. I am sure many of the experiences they are having at home with you at this time will be creating special bonds and memories for life.
Weekly Communication
On Monday of each week (or the first day of the working week) we will post a school newsletter. This will be sent by 9.00am each week. To begin on the 20th April. This weekly newsletter will keep you up to date with information from the Principal and Board of Trustees.
Teachers will also send a weekly communication out every Monday (or the first day of the working week). The first one however will start on Wednesday 15th April. This communication, from your child''s classroom teacher will share with you/your child the learning tasks teachers have created in Reading, Writing and Mathematics for that week.
Other learning challenges will be communicated via the weekly school newsletter.
During this time we are mindful that many parents will also be working from home and that many children will be doing other learning at home. This may be taking on extra tasks around the home or helping out with daily farming tasks. Every home is unique and we understand that there may be competing demands that may mean your children can't always engage in the learning tasks set, on a daily basis. This is why we will be setting weekly tasks. At a minimum we would encourage your child to complete the Reading, Writing and Mathematics tasks. If this is not always manageable please keep the lines of communication up with your child's classroom teacher. We are here to help and work in partnership with you to support your children.
Daily Communication
Our teachers will be available each work day from 10.00 – 11.00am to communicate with parents/children with regards to home learning. Teachers should only be contacted via seesaw or via the teachers email for all school related matters. Emails can found on our website – Our Community – Toko School Staff
Our teachers will also be available once per week to video call the class/individual/groups of children. This will be organised as follows:
Monday – Room 6
Tuesday – Room 5
Wednesday – Room 1 and Room 2
Thursday – Room 4
Friday- Room 3
Please bear in mind that this is new learning for our teachers. We may experience technical difficulties and some of you may have difficulty connecting. Lets have a bit of fun and see how we get on. At this stage we will be using zoom or google hangouts to do this. We will start this beginning from Monday 20th April.
As we embark on this new way of learning we encourage you to keep connected with your child's classroom teacher. If you think we are managing this well for your children and your family we would love your feedback equally if something is not working for you or our communication is not clear enough please connect with us.
This is a whole new experience for all of us and we don't want it to be overwhelming for anyone. So please remember that wellbeing comes first, then learning.
Ngā mihi nui
Kim
LEARNING STAR CHALLENGE - YEAR 1 - 5
These challenges can be completed as a family or individually. Children can post a photo, video, audio or a comment onto their seesaw page. Each time children complete and post an activity this will count as one learning star that they will receive when we return back to school.
Year 6 - 8 already have their Toko Star Challenge in progress that they should be working through. The Year 1-5 challenges are modified versions of this. Click on the link below:
Be connected to others
WELLBEING/HAUORA CHALLENGE
Each week we will provide a wellbeing/hauora challenge. These are not MUST DO's but are some challenges to keep our overall health and well being the best it can be.
This weeks Challenge: Alphabet Challenge - Image above
Day 1: Your first name is… eg ALISON Spell it… and do the workout!
Day 2: Your favourite food is…
Day 3: Your best friends name is…
Day 4: Your favourite colour is…
Day 5: Your last name is…
Day 6: Your Favourite type of fruit is…
Day 7: Name of the street/road you live on is…
Day 8: My favourite animal is...
Day 9: My favourite food is…
Day 10: My middle name is…
Spell it… and do the workout!
Listed above is a category for the next 10 days. Your challenge is to complete the alphabet workout set out for each day. Year 1 – 4 could half the amount of each exercise challenge.
e.g. Day 1
A- 5 Burpees
L- 20 push ups
I- 20 burpees
S- 15 Burpees
O- 20 knee highs
N- 2 minute plank
This is a great activity for your whole family.
GETTING ORGANISED FOR HOME LEARNING
We have provided updated information on our website for families that may need a helping hand: USING SEESAW AT TOKO SCHOOL. If you require any other assistance in using seesaw from home please email your child's classroom teacher. We are happy to help.
Video Calling
Information will be sent out next week about this.
Term 2 Dates
ROUTINES
In a previous alert we shared guidelines for routines as suggested by the Ministry of Education. We have included these again as a reminder:
Daily Schedule
Before 9:00am Wake up Eat breakfast, make your bed, get dressed, put any dirty clothes in the laundry
9:00-10:00 Morning walk Family walk with the dog, bike ride,Yoga if it’s raining
10:00-11:00 Learning at home School-led learning or Sudoku, books, flash cards, study guide, journal etc
11:00-12:00 Creative time Legos, magnatiles, drawing, crafting, play music, cook or bake etc.
12:00 pm Lunch :)
12:30 Helping at home # wipe all kitchen tables and chairs# wipe all door handles, light switches and desk tops# wipe both bathrooms - sinks and toilets
1:00-2:30 Quiet time Reading, puzzles, nap, radio NZ stories, epic
2:30-4:00 Learning at home School-led learning or iPad games, Mathletics, Educational show
4:00-5:00 Afternoon fresh air Bikes, walk the dog, play outside
5:00-6:00 Dinner :)
6:00-8:00 Free TV time Kids shower time
8:00 Bedtime All kids
9:00pm Bedtime All kids who follow the daily schedule & don’t fight
We are all in this together.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES UPDATE
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LEARNING PACKS
As a school we have requested these to support learning at home. We are unsure where we as a community sit in the waiting list. If you have a learning pack parcel arrive please let your child's classroom teacher know.
NEXT MONTHLY BOT MEETING
This will be held next week via zoom. Dates and times will continue to be placed on our school calendar when set.
NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINE (NAG) 6 - LEGISLATION
This is NAG is up for review. This can be viewed on our website. If you would like to read this and provide any feedback to the BOT you can do this via: office@toko.school.nz. Please put NAG 6 in the subject line.
WELLBEING
The Ministry of Health has a wealth of resources on their website:
COVID-19: Mental health and wellbeing resources
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: Why not give someone a call this week, that is not a friend but lives in your neighbourhood/community just to check in to say hi.
WHAT NEW LEARNING HAVE THE STAFF BEEN DOING WHILST AT HOME . . .
MRS WAITE
Hi everyone. I have set up my new home office on my dining room table at home. I have great farm views from my new office. I am sharing my office space with my two children and I constantly have lots of interruptions, distractions and fun happening around me :)
Something new that I have learnt to do is make plum sauce, bottle beetroot and zucchini relish. This was a new skill for me. I had to spend quite a bit of time reading recipes and reading information on the internet. I also rang my Dad quite a few times to get some tips and advice. I must say there is a lot of work involved for a small amount of jars filled!!! Next time I think I will double or triple the recipes. Lastly I have learnt how to use filters when video messaging my family every Friday from around New Zealand and Australia.
MRS KASUPENE
MRS HANCOCK
Life in lockdown is certainly different. I have had to quickly learn how to use online platforms such as Zoom so that staff and students can connect during this time. There have been lots of teething problems which have posed interesting challenges, but we are getting there! I have also been trying to keep my two boys and husband busy, so we have had new adventures cleaning out our creek and finding heaps of large Creepy Crawlies, making a mountain bike track through our trees and building tree huts. Learning to kick rugby goals is a new skill that the boys have been trying, fairly unsuccessfully, to teach me. We are all having turns at cooking meals and baking, which is thankfully more successful than my goal kicking attempts.
FROM THE SPORTS DESK
Sport Taranaki has launched a new online resource to help people have fun and keep active while vanquishing the virus.
Called Active Anywhere, the webpages feature links, tools and routines collected from around the country and the world. There is everything from kids’ yoga to sports specific training, community bootcamps, routines for functional movement and active options for older people.
Everything on Active Anywhere will keep people safe in their bubbles.
A page featuring the latest official physical activity advice is another handy tool. The pages are being added to regularly to keep things fresh and broaden the range of resources.
Yummy Apples
This year we will once again run the yummy apple sticker promotion. We are asking the children and families to collect Yummy stickers which will then be converted into a share of the prize pool from DG sports. If you don't have a yummy sticker sheet at home just stick them onto any piece of paper and bring them back to school when we return. If you can write the total on the sheet that would be great!! Or here is the think to the template: https://www.yummyfruit.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SSP-pdf_Sticker_Collection_Sheet_compressed.pdf
COMMUNITY NOTICES
To Our Schools and Community.
Due to the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown the Public Health Nursing team are now unable to offer our usual service to our schools and the community. However, if you have questions regarding our adolescent services or concerns regarding your child’s wellbeing we are able to offer phone advice. Please be aware that your GP and pharmacies should be your first contact point. For any Covid-19 queries please contact Health Line on 0800 611 116
Please note the new contact number from 7th April is 0272498363- this will be available between the hours of 8am - 4.30pm Monday-Friday.
Thanks and stay safe
Your Public Health Nurse Team.
Toko School
Email: office@toko.school.nz
Website: www.toko.school.nz
Location: 1057 East Road, Toko, New Zealand
Phone: 06 7622849
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TokoSchool/?ref=bookmarks