ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC
SCHOOL
TAKAPUNA

Principal’s Letter – April 15

Dear Parents and Whanau

Welcome to Term Two. This is certainly a unique experience for us all beginning a school term in our bubbles. I trust that you are all well and that the children are enjoying the extra time at home with their family.

This morning you will have received an email from the team that your child is in. This email welcomed you and your child to the new term and had a link to the Online Programme of Learning google site. If you have not received this email please email me, principal@sj.school.nz, and I will ensure you are contacted by your child’s teacher.

This letter covers a few topics that will inform you about the early weeks of this term.

Education Related Government Announcements

I hear what the Government is doing in relation to education at the same time as you do, via the special reports on TV, given by the Prime Minister and Minister of Education. Following the special reports Principal’s receive a Covid19 Update from the Ministry of Education either that evening or the next day. My Principal’s Letter allows me to share with you how these announcements will impact on our school community.

Wellbeing

One of the main messages we are getting from the Ministry of Education is about the importance of schools monitoring and catering for the wellbeing of their students, staff and their families. This was in the Ministry of Education’s latest update:

Wellbeing for all
Alongside priorities for learning, the wellbeing of students and whānau and supporting them will be front of mind.

As a school we are very mindful that every family is having a different experience with the lockdown. When designing our Online Programme of Learning we took this into consideration. While we encourage all our students to do the Online Programme of Learning, we do not want it to create any pressure for parents or their children. If it isn’t fun it isn’t learning. Please put your child and your wellbeing before the Online Programme of Learning.

Online Programme of Learning

Our school programme has been designed by each team to meet the needs of the students within the team. My thanks to the all the teachers who have designed and are updating the google sites. Each team of teachers meet via google meets through the week to plan what will go on the site and then update the sites accordingly. The updates will be live on the Sunday evening. The team google sites currently contain activities that have been designed to support the students learning from today through to Friday April 24. The next team google sites update will be loaded on the evening of Sunday April 26.

Should my child be working to a timetable? The choice is yours and your child’s. You as parents are home with your children and you will know how your child working on the Online Programme of Learning is going to work best for you, your child and the family. You can work to a timetable or you may choose not too. One of your children may not like to work to a timetable and another may not. And that is fine. The children are at home with you, so you make it work for you and your family.

Are you doing google meets/zoom with the children? No we are not. When developing our google sites and Online Programme of Learning we considered a number of concepts. We considered the fact that not all families have one device per child. We considered the fact that we did not want to put any additional pressures on families by having them have to go online at a specific time. We considered the fact that streaming into students’ homes is something we would not normally do. We considered the fact that we are not endeavouring to replicate the school day. The Online Programme of learning is supporting your child’s learning within their current world – lockdown at home with their family.

Government Distance Learning Package

Last week the Minister of Education announced a Government Learning Package that included internet access, supplying devices, school learning packs, and home learning via TV. The internet access, devices and school learning packs are for students, and their families, in decile 1 – 3 schools, who do not have internet access and/or devices. We are blessed as a school to have all our families with internet access and at least one device per family to access our Online Programme of Learning. We are a decile 9 school. The benefit that our students will receive for this package is being able to access the home learning TV programme. This premiered today and will air weekdays 9 am – 3 pm on the channel you usually find TVNZ 2+1 and as a live-streamed channel on TVNZ OnDemand. Your child is welcome to use this resource alongside our school’s Online Programme of Learning.

SwitchOnSafety

While your children are learning from home, they are away from the online safety and security services provided by Network for Learning (N4L) at school. So together with N4L and Netsafe, the Ministry of Education has launched www.switchonsafety.co.nz – a free way to block the worst of the web for students and teachers. Please click on the link and follow the instructions to make online learning safer for your child. Please remember to always supervise your child when they are on the internet. At school we always ensure teachers can see what the students are doing on their devices from anywhere in the learning space. i.e. not sitting with backs to the wall and back of laptop to the teacher. Teachers encourage students to come and see them if they have any concerns about sites they may have accidentally accessed that they are not sure about. They don’t get into trouble. They are thanked for bringing their concerns to the teacher.

Catholic School

Central to our existence as a school is our Catholic faith. You have received links through my communications that I hope you have found useful in staying in touch with our Church over the Easter season. The Auckland Diocese link allows you and your family to be able to attend Mass online. Over the weekend I received the link to Monsignor David Tonks Easter message which I know you will enjoy.

Book for the Children

This link was shared with me. It is a book free to download that explains covid-19 to the children. Check it out and if you think it is appropriate for your child you are welcome to download it and read it to them.

Where to Next?

Over the coming week we will learn from the Prime Minister about what Covid-19 Level 3 will look like and early next week we will hear from her as to whether or not Covid-19 Level 4 ends midnight on April 22. The Minister of Education has indicated that if this happens there maybe some students returning to schools on April 29. Our school, as for all schools, will be directed by the Ministry of Education as to when we open. The Ministry of Education will be guided by the Ministry of Health. As I said at the beginning of this letter, you will hear this at the same time as I do. I will however let you know what the announcement means for us as a school community through a Principal’s Letter.

Please continue to stay home and stay safe, as this will help to reduce the possiblity of the spread of the coronavirus covid-19 and ensure that we get the children back to school as early as possible.

Ka manaakitia koutou e te Atua

Alister Bridgman

Tumuaki