Makaraka School - COVID 19 Information

23rd August 2021 Remaining at Alert Level 4

Kia ora koutou,

I think we had all anticipated a further extension of Alert Level 4, and the Prime Minister has confirmed this. The Alert Level will be reviewed on Friday afternoon, but for now Alert Level 4 will remain in place until 12:59pm Friday 27 August.

Despite this news, it is really pleasing to see Alert Level 4 is having its impact on the number of confirmed cases, with numbers not dramatically increasing as they would likely have done if we had been at a lower Alert Level.

And so our distance learning programme will continue for the week at least! We had practically 100% attendance today at our Class google meets, it was great to see everyone. Teachers have done a fantastic job of standing up their Class Sites which are the vehicle for the children’s class work. It was excellent to see everyone was able to access these sites today. Remember to do what you can, there is no pressure to complete everything, wellbeing is the most important thing!

Please note it is only in very limited circumstances that students, parents or caregivers are allowed to come to the school grounds. So please do not come to school unless you have been individually contacted by us to do so. Otherwise, you will be in breach of the COVID-19 Health Response Order.

Please do take care and let us know how we can best support you and your whānau.

Kia kaha!

Hayden Swann

Principal

Copy of 2021 Makaraka Distance Learning Plan

Message from the Principal: Tuesday 17th August 2021

Hi Makaraka community.

As you will have heard NZ is at level 4 lockdown from midnight tonight until midnight Friday (at this stage). School is closed, even to children of essential workers. Due to the sudden nature of the lockdown we are not able to provide online distance learning this week and teachers will be preparing to provide learning from Monday at either Level 3 or 4 depending on Government direction. Please stay home until further advised.

Unfortunately the Quiz Auction night is postponed but I'm sure it will be an even more fantastic night when we have it, date tbc.

Stay safe everyone.

Regards, Hayden

Below is the 2020 Covid Response for our Historical record. Above is 2021.

Principal's Message about distance learning and Level 3 requirements.

21/04/2020 Tonight class teachers sent an important email about our responsibilities at Level 3. A copy of the letter is pictured above. It is important you read the email the class teacher has sent you with this info and click on the link at the bottom of the email. This link will let us know if you NEED to send your child/ren to school from next Wednesday. This will help us plan staffing and safety procedures. Regards Hayden

Term 2, Week 2, Monday 20th April.

We Got This Makaraka!

As we move into our second week of Distance Learning, Staff have put a video together to encourage us all to keep doing our best while learning from home. We have had fantastic connectivity with 95% regular engagement in our quality distance learning programme!

Keep it up Makaraka.

Internet Safety Programme for home.

This is helpful information for parents:

The Ministry of Education have released a programme to help with your child's cyber safety at home.

In conjunction with Netsafe and Network for Learning, the initiative is to help keep your children safe while online at home.

Check out Switch on Safety - www.switchonsafety.co.nz for all the instructions you'll need. It is a simple, FREE way to block the worst of the web.

Remember, that this is not a silver bullet of safety, it is still imperative that you talk to your child about being Cyber Smart. If you are unsure about this, visit NETSAFE - https://www.netsafe.org.nz/parenttoolkit/ for some guidance

Welcome to Term 2 Day 2, Thursday 16th April.

Today we will find out a little more what Level 3 restrictions might look like. On Monday the Govt will formally decide if we come out of Level 4 Lockdown. A best case scenario is attached below.

Welcome to Term 2 Day 1. Here is my first screencastify (video) message for the Term with info on where to access class information and a special message about our dear neighbour Sonja Moore who sadly passed away on Monday morning. Our thoughts and aroha are with Wally and family at this time.

April: Covid Update: Internet Safety

Keeping on line safe

I would like to encourage our parents, caregivers and whānau to discuss internet safety with your children - of all ages. You should agree with your children what they can do online including sites they can visit and appropriate behaviours including:

reviewing and approving games and apps before they are downloaded
reviewing privacy settings of sites and applications
checking children’s profiles and what they are posting online
check the sites your child is accessing
reminding children that anything that is posted online will be permanently on the internet
taking the time to understand what sites they are visiting and who they are talking with and check in regularly
some social media sites have age restrictions to join, check these before letting your child use them or join them
monitoring a child’s use of the internet and consider having them use it in an open, common area of the house
making sure your children know to report any activity they don’t feel comfortable with to parents and caregivers straight away.
Netsafe continues to be available to provide our community with support for online safety. They have information for parents and caregivers and have pulled together their top tips for online safety during the lockdown. To report an incident To Netsafe - https://www.netsafe.org.nz/reportanincident/
If you think a child in your care is the victim of online exploitation or abuse, report it to Police - if you or a child are in danger or a crime is being committed, call 111 or visit your nearest Police Station immediately.

If we all work together to make sure children are safe online, we can make the internet a great tool for people of all ages.

Regards, Hayden Swann

Mr Swanns message: Friday Mar 27, 2020 .webm

Latest Update 5pm 25/3/2020

State of Emergency declared

A nationwide message will go out to all of New Zealand between 6pm and 7pm Wednesday evening 25th March. It is vital that all our community understand how crucial it is to self-isolate within their group, minimise travel, practice physical distancing when outside their group and outside, and practice very good hygiene for the next 4 weeks.

There will be no tolerance for people who don’t self-isolate.

Schools are closed

After 11.59pm Wednesday evening, no one is to go on site to schools during the lockdown. If there is an emergency Police and/or Fire services will respond.

Government announcement about children aged 0 – 14 of Essential Workers

Further to our Bulletin content about self-isolating groups (circles of care), Government has confirmed the following arrangements today. You may wish to forward this to your community immediately.

Where possible, essential workers need to make their own arrangements for childcare from Thursday 26 March until the end of the lockdown, due to limited capacity.

Where this is not possible alternative arrangements have been made so essential workers can continue to work.

What essential workers need to know when making their own arrangements

Essential workers will need to use their existing networks for in home care, for example a neighbour, relative, friend or current carer/nanny who can come to their house, or provide childcare in their own home. There are Public Health rules that must be observed:

The person caring for your child becomes part of your self-isolating group
This group must remain the same for the whole period
The carer must not care for children from other households (other than their own) over the same period
If a child or carer becomes unwell, they must stay at home

If essential workers do not have access to childcare through their own networks

If essential workers are unable to access childcare to perform their essential service, the government will fund other licensed childcare providers (for example through PORSE, Barnados and Edubase / Home Grown Kids) to provide in home care to the children aged 0-14 of essential workers. The carer would be subject to the same Public Health rules as set out above.

For the purposes of providing care to children of essential workers, the in home carer will be classified as an essential worker in both cases.

Initial list of contact details for providers

Barnados website - email covid19enquiries@barnardos.org.nz or call 0800 BARNARDOS (0800 227 627)
Edubase / Home Grown Kids website or call 0508 44 54 37 or email info@hgk.co.nz
PORSE website 0800 023 456

24/3/2020

Dear Parents

Firstly, to quote Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s words, “be kind, keep safe, and look after each other.”

As you know, we have been dealing with ever-shifting circumstances and a continuous flow of information. Here is an update.

There have been significant changes to school Term and Holiday dates.

Holidays will now begin from Monday 30 March to Tuesday 14 April inclusive (a reminder that the Tuesday after Easter Monday is always a closed day for schools). For the remainder of this week, class websites will be in the process of being updated and there may already be work there for students to carry on with. Some students may already have work they have begun to complete which can be finished and sent to teachers for marking if applicable. This will look different for each class and each teacher will have sent out an email with specific details.

At the end of the school holidays, schools will be open for distance learning but not physically open for staff to work at the schools, from Wednesday April 15th which is the first day after Easter. Please note the instruction to stay home (Alert Level 4) will continue beyond the new school holiday period but schools will be technically open for distance instruction. Teachers will be working offsite.

Methods for online learning:

Our first port of call is our School website which links to class sites for class work and learning activities: link here https://www.makaraka.school.nz/

Please see class sites for examples of apps suitable for each age group e.g Steps Web, Mathletics… Work will be rolled out at a steady but realistic pace and students are not expected to complete more than what teachers provide on their website.

Children in the junior classes have been sent home with a pack of learning activities.

We will continue to stay in touch around what this means for our students and keep you updated with information as it becomes available.

At the end of the holidays there will be a schedule sent out to all parents with times that you will be able to contact your child’s teacher to discuss their online learning.

Hayden Swann

Principal

0275554116