Newsletter 7 March

Coming Up

Welcome

To the following students who have started at Campbells Bay School

Koen Room 4,  Amber 6P,  Milla Room 13,  Felip Room 33

Message from the Principal

Kia ora e te whānau,

I hope this email finds you well.

Many of you would have noticed the change in attendance numbers across this week. We started strong at the beginning of the year with 95% attendance, now we are at about 65% most days. These numbers are echoed across Auckland schools.

Since my last newsletter we have had 26 new positive cases.Feedback from our whānau managing positive cases at home has been that symptoms range from mild to moderate, lasting a few days, and can be managed with paracetamol. Students can return to school on their Day 11, after ten days of isolation, provided that they are symptom free. I have found this graphic to be really helpful.

At the moment, you are being informed when a first case has been confirmed in your child’s class, as well as if multiple cases are confirmed in the class. Where possible, we can share with you the likelihood of the case being infectious at school. As positive cases are infectious 48 hours prior to the on-set of symptoms, we should assume that most cases are infectious unknowingly while at school.

Staffing the school is becoming a challenge as each week passes. Many of our staff have been impacted as household contacts and then have tested positive themselves on day 10, extending their time away from school. We are ‘all hands on deck’ at school. Every available person is being used to cover classes and at times classes with low attendance may be merged together. While not ideal, remaining open to learning is a critical aspect of managing red under the COVID Protection Framework. We thank you in advance for understanding the challenges we are faced with.

Last week I heard this RNZ interview with Dr Mike Shepherd, specialist in Paediatric Emergency Medicine at Starship. It was about caring for your children with Covid-19 and for me answered a key question around sending children to school or ECE. The reassuring nature of the interview was timely! It is well worth the listen.

Ngā mihi nui

Rachael Taylor

Teacher Only Day 14 April

We have a Teacher Only Day scheduled for the final day of the term. This is one of the ACCORD days allocated to teachers by the Ministry of Education. Due to the current COVID-19 situation we are unable to gather together as a staff for professional development. As an alternative we have designated this day for the online next step interviews with your child’s teacher. Soon you will be given instructions on how to book a zoom interview between 8.30am and 5.00pm on this day. Our next step meetings are a great opportunity for teachers to share how your child is progressing and what learning goals they are working towards. Watch this space for more information.

We do have a calendar clash. Three classes will be attending the Year 5 Camp MERC experience on this day. Your meetings will be scheduled for another day, and your children will be having their second day of camp activities on the 14 April.

Learning From Home

School is open to learning and we expect students to be attending. However, there are a few exceptions to this:

– A child who is a household contact and feeling well

– A child who is immune compromised and staying at home
– A family who may have vulnerable household members who are taking a cautious approach

While we are not yet in a position to provide ‘teacher-led’ online learning. We have designed learning menus specifically for those students who are well, but who have no choice but to isolate themselves as a household contact. These tasks are linked to classroom learning and will help them through ten school days of learning from home. These links have been sent to individual families.

For a more generic range of activities for students who may not be able to attend school for other reasons, our Student Sites page on our website is a great place to refer to, you can find it by clicking this link
https://sites.google.com/campbellsbay.school.nz/campbells-bay-school/home and use the menu bar on the left to help find the best activities for your child.

Any questions about learning from home, please contact your child’s Associate Principal responsible for teaching and learning.

• Year 0-2 Christie Birkhead [email protected]
• Year 3-4 Patricia Meder [email protected]
• Year 5-6 Nathan Janes [email protected]

Harmony Week is coming…

You, our community, are an essential component to bringing our Harmony Week to life.  In essence, all the information and knowledge you have to share about your family’s heritage/culture and traditions supports our tamariki in sharing, understanding and uniting at Campbells Bay School.

This year our Harmony Week will be from Monday 21 March until Friday 25 March and your children (and others) would LOVE to share things at school about themselves and their family during this week. If you are able, we are asking if you would kindly share something with your class teacher about your home country that they could share with the class.  It could be to send in a traditional recipe from your home country, maybe share a video on how to bake a traditional meal, send in photos of temples, photos or videos of traditional dances, instructions on how to do calligraphy or weaving… these are just some ideas.

The teachers will support your child in class to share these things across the week. You are also welcome to Zoom with your child’s class during this week to answer any questions the other children may have if you are willing. Please just arrange this directly with your child’s class teacher.

Harmony Week is a wonderful time to learn from each other, deepen our understanding and cherish the special memories that these small sharing moments bring.

Second Hand Uniforms

We have had a lot of interest in second hand uniform this term. Under the red settings of the Covid Protection Framework, we are unable to hold sales during school time.

Our lovely volunteer Cassie Atkinson has agreed to come in and conduct sales on an appointment only basis.

If you would like to make an appointment to purchase uniform Cassie can be contacted on [email protected]

Sports News

Sport Term One UPDATE

Inter school sports days and zone days will be on hold while we are under the Red Traffic Light of the CPF. Weekly, after school sports competitions like flippa ball and miniball will be going ahead. Each of these sporting codes and sporting organisations will organise their competitions under the guidance and protocols from Sport NZ. Please keep reading the weekly school newsletter for communication about sport.

5Orange Powerful Writing from “The Animal Inside Me”

I looked through the keyhole and was astonished to see a hotel that had a huge sign that read, “Animal Hotel”. From what I could see there was a pool outside and to my surprise there were some very elegant-looking animals swimming in it. Outside the pool were some cheeky monkeys sunbathing with sunglasses on. It looked as if it had a gym too with some buff-looking lions and tigers in it. There was also a rugby field full of rhinoceroses tackling each other.
(Quick write by Giana)

I looked through the keyhole just as a huge cloud erupted into the sky. Then I heard an ear-shattering scream as a stone dropped from the sky and landed on a woman’s foot. Wait! I looked down just as a bulge appeared and grew from the ground and exploded into a few million pieces. Afterward, everything was deathly quiet! The only thing to be heard was… silence.
(Quick write by Abigail)

I peered through the keyhole and saw a river with rushing water, swirling around the pointy rocks. Across the river was a forest with giant trees on the edge. I saw a dog but not just any dog, a wolf. The forest behind the wolf was lucious and green. You could hear the birds singing in the branches and greenery. I saw fish swim in the river, but the rushing water seemed not to touch the fish. When I looked up again, the wolf was gone. Instead of it was a dog. It was shaggy, grey and brown dog. It had no collar and I could see its ribs.
(Quick write by Lucy)

6Orange’s Heather Galler Art

We created some abstract paintings inspired by Heather Galler. Heather Galler is a folk artist from New York, she inspired us to draw abstract art using creative unique colours. A folk artist is someone who is not trained/ tutored. They create art based on their likes and dislikes rather than an overall art piece. She likes to add patterns and makes art that is not realistic. These are creations of special places based on our identity or community. We used watercolour and coloured pencils with vivids to make lines bold.

Take a look:

Creative Writing from 5Blue

Board of Trustees Meeting Dates

2022 dates – meetings are held in the school conference room at 7.30pm or via zoom dependent on Covid-19 Protection Framework guidelines.

• Tuesday 29 March
• Tuesday 3 May
• Tuesday 31 May
• Tuesday 28 June
• Tuesday 26 July
• Tuesday 30 August
• Tuesday 27 September
• Tuesday 25 October
• Tuesday 29 November

Community Notices

CHIRON GROUP IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE ITS NEW CHOIR PROGRAMME!

Led by one of New Zealand’s finest music educators Elise Bradley, this new programme will provide an inspiring and hugely enjoyable opportunity for students who love to sing!

There will be two choirs, each with a different focus:

CHIRON CHILDREN’S CHOIR

Children aged 9 years and older
Treble voices
No audition required

Wednesday’s 5:00 – 6:30pm
Fee: $285 – including music (6 weeks = the remainder of Term 1)

***

CHIRON CHAMBER CHOIR

Children of all ages who would like to develop their skills to a higher level
4 parts (SATB)
Audition required

Wednesday’s 7:00 – 9:00pm
Fee: $315 – including music (6 weeks = the remainder of Term 1)

Programmes commence: Wednesday, 9 March 2022

Venue: Chiron Rock School, 311 Manukau Road, Epsom

This state-of-the-art new facility is spacious and well ventilated – providing a safe venue for rehearsals. Masks will be required to be worn under the red light settings.

The esteemed and vastly experienced collaborative pianist, Rachel Fuller, will be assisting both choirs.

For all enquiries and to register for this exciting new opportunity, please contact us:
[email protected]