Newsletter from Mr MacMillan

 

Dear Parents/Whanau Your child will be bringing home this notice today. Fingers crossed that we don’t have to move to Level 3 in Rotorua, but if we do we want to be prepared. Teachers met last night to discuss the situation and here is our plan. School will be open only for children who have parents who are involved in Essential Services. We will send out via a school newsletter how parents can register children who need to be at school during Level 3. Today if your child is in Kakano he/she will bring home a bag with reading books, playing cards or coloured sticks and dice an. These resources will be utilised for your child’s learning if we move to Level 3. Your child’s teacher will explain how these things can be used If we move to Level 3. If your child is in Kahikatea or Totara he/she will bring a bag with a pack of playing cards and two dice. Again if we move to Level 3 your child’s teacher will explain how these resources can be used. Some children in Kahikatea also have reading books in their packs. Communication with parents re school work - in a Learning from Home situation. Although all our classes have class blogs, which can be accessed via the School Website, it is important to note the following: For Year 3-6 classes, if we have to move back to a Covid - 19 Level 3 or 4 Learning from Home situation, Class Teachers will communicate to parents what is expected of students each day via the Class Blogs. The teachers tend to share the lessons with students via the Team Sites or to each student’s Google Drive. We realise that some parents were not familiar with the Team Sites during the last lockdown. Please see details below - note that some files will only be visible to those logged into our school domain google accounts (ie visible under the student account login but not visible to parents) For Year 0-2 classes, if we have to move back to a Covid - 19 Level 3 or 4 Learning from Home situation, the Class Teachers will communicate to parents what is expected of students each day via the Educa Message Board. You can access Educa by signing in online to https://stmarys.educa.co.nz/ or via the Educa app. If anyone doesn’t know their login details please contact Anne Cato via email on annec@stmarysrotorua.school.nz. The link to the Senior Team site is https://sites.google.com/stmarysrotorua.school.nz/totara-2020/home The link to the Middle Team site is https://sites.google.com/stmarysrotorua.school.nz/kahikatea2020/home The link to the Student Portal used by Y3-6 students is https://sites.google.com/stmarysrotorua.school.nz/studenthomepage/home We have noted previous survey feedback from parents and we will try and ensure Senior, Middle and Junior teams schedule any online meetings at different times of the day. We are aware that some parents found it challenging trying to supervise 2 or 3 or more students having different online meetings at the same time of the day. We have suggested that teachers plan for a maximum of three hours a day of on task learning time, if we have to move to a Learning from Home situation. We do not want families to feel overwhelmed or stressed by the workload. Each family has different circumstances. We understand if children can’t participate on a particular day for some reason or if the family prefer, for example, to cover the work in an afternoon or evening rather than a morning. Please don’t feel any pressure - just do your best. The goal is to ensure the Learning from Home programme is a positive experience and that families feel supported, not stressed, by the support and learning opportunities that teachers are striving to provide. Expect though that teachers will follow up if a child has not engaged in the programme for a few days and there has been no communication from home. Please communicate via email with the Class Teacher if your child is not going to be participating for some reason on a particular day or days. School Newsletters and General Updates for All Parents Please refer to the School Website. Newsletters will continue to be issued on a Wednesday and other updates on an as needed basis. If for any reason you do not get the weekly newsletter emailed to you please go to the School Website and at the bottom of the homepage you can sign up for the School Newsletter. School App This is used for urgent brief notices or important reminders. We try not to overuse this. Please make sure you have the App and are signed up to receive notifications for the Junior and/or Middle and/or Senior Team Dealing with Issues If a Y3-6 student is having technical difficulties with their chromebook please email annec@stmarysrotorua.school.nz or bevanj@stmarysrotorua.school.nz If there is a breakage of a chromebook we can suggest that Paul Hintz, an ex parent, is a good contact for repairs/assistance. Paul’s contact is ph 021 024 30817 We will try and loan a Y3-6 child a chromebook if they are having issues with their one. Please let the Class Teacher know in the first instance. Anne Cato and Bevan James will then try and help sort out a school loan. If the family of a Junior Team child doesn’t have access to a device please let the Class Teacher or Anne Cato know. MathsWhizz Only Year 3-6 students will have access to MathsWhizz this time. Students are expected to complete 90 minutes of MathsWhizz per week. It is important that students do not spend all their time on tutor - they should aim for approximately 60 minutes on tutor and 30 minutes on replay per week. Contact the Class Teacher or annec@stmarysrotorua.school.nz for any login issues. Lexia All students have access to Lexia. Students are expected to use this for 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week. If you need help with login issues please contact Kelley Kemp via email on kelleyk@stmarysrotorua.school.nz If there is anything you need help with please let me know. God Bless. David Macmillan Principal David Macmillan Principal