Kia ora whānau
What a great term it is shaping up to be. Thank you for your attendance and support at our Cross Country, class trips and our School Hui - love having things back to normal!
Thank you also for your support of our Teacher Only Day on Friday 3 June. The day was used for our teachers to use the Global Learning Progressions in Mathematics and was extremely valuable in continuing to create a common language for the educational pathway for our tamariki. There is more information below about the background and how the day went.
I appreciate that Teacher Only Days do put pressure on working families, so we are aware of the need for early and frequent communication. The advertisement of the 3rd of June, Teacher Only day has been in 2022 Term Dates on our website all year and is linked into upcoming events in each newsletter. It was also in each newsletter since the 12th of May in the News and Events section. Our next teacher only day is Monday 14 November and is advertised below in the News and Events section and will be in each upcoming newsletter.
Paid Union Meetings (Teachers)
Our teachers will be attending paid union meetings in the week of June 13th in the run up to the re-negotiation of their collective agreement. The meetings will discuss the teachers’ Time 4 Tamariki | Wāwāhi Tahā campaign.
This aims to win
- smaller class sizes,
- more support for high needs students,
- better recognition of cultural skills,
- greater job security for our essential relievers and
- to fairly value and recognise teachers’ work.
Our union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, has scheduled online meetings to minimise disruption to teaching and learning. Arataki School has decided rather than close the school for these we will release teachers throughout next week and split classes. We want to ensure the least disruption to your children’s learning while upholding the right of teachers to participate in their union meeting.
Covid and winter ills and chills
Our cases of Covid have slowed right down. If the predictions of the second wave hit we will begin communicating numbers of cases and room numbers again. The other prediction is around the flu and other winter bugs. Advice from the Ministry of Education is that we need to be prepared for these to be more prevalent and severe this year. Please remember to inform the school of your child's sickness. We will keep you informed if we notice a spike in any other illness.
The impact of either of these eventualities could mean
- we return to wearing masks
- we experience staff shortages
We are ensuring we stay vigilant and our hygiene measures remain in place.
Stay safe whānau
Ngā mihi nui
Shelley Blakey
