Kia Ora one and all,

Day 8 of Isolation and be assured we are all thinking of our tamariki and you, their whānau at home, especially through those wet days on the weekend. Wasn’t it good to see the sun again! 

No longer rushing up and down our driveway, I have reconnected with our neighbours and have had some very interesting chats over the fence - I hope you are also able to do this. 

A huge thanks to you all for the promptness you all showed in collecting the resource bags and supporting the children with establishing themselves at home with their learning. We are conscious that many of you are also managing your own personal workload so know that last week was a very challenging time for you all so thank you. 

We delayed sending out this newsletter last week as we wanted to share some of the work that the children have been doing as part of their distance learning journey. They truly have been remarkable in how they have adapted and He Atawahi enjoyed catching up with everyone on Google Meet last week. 

As a staff we have had a number of meetings online, to reflect on the learning of last week and to plan for Term 2. We are currently working on which platform to use so that Te Aroha can also meet up online in the new term and will update you later next week about this. 

I will shortly be sending you a survey so we can gather your feedback as to how ‘distance learning’ went in your household last week which the teachers will then use over the holidays to help refine what we are doing. It is also time to complete the review of one of our procedures - Recognition of Cultural Diversity. We would appreciate you also reading through this and adding your comments. Both the survey details and review will be sent to you via Linc Ed.

Just a reminder that at this stage - Key dates are:-

26 March        Alert Level 4 commenced

28 March        School holidays begin

10 – 14 April  Easter including the Tuesday after Easter

15 April           Term 2 begins (through distance learning)

22 April           Current date for ending of lockdown period

27 April           ANZAC Day observed

As teachers and whānau we all know the importance of routine for children so to that end we teachers had determined that the learning for each day will be uploaded at 9 am. We hope this helped create some structure for the day last week. I have also shared in this newsletter a suggested timetable from the MOE - obviously here at St Anthony’s the learning would begin at 9. 

Next Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. We hope you are able to take time as a family to spend some time in prayer and reflection as we remember the great sacrifice that Christ made for us all. There are some great links on the Spiritual article below. 

Take care and stay safe.

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise