
Hāwera Primary School
Newsletter No. 06 - 22 May 2020
Contact Details
Whaia te Matauranga-
Hāwera Primary is a caring community of lifelong learners who strive ever and always for higher and better things.
Email: admin@haweraprimary.school.nz
Website: https://sites.google.com/haweraprimary.school.nz/haweraprimaryschool
Location: 261 South Road, Hawera, New Zealand
Phone: 06 2787709
Facebook: facebook.com/haweraprimaryschool
From the Principal
Kia ora koutou
On Monday 11th May, the Prime Minister advised that at Alert Level 2 schools are safe environments for children, young people and staff with additional public health control measures were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease and to support contact tracing.
In terms of health and safety our first priority at Level 2 is to minimise the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and second to ensure we can identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with a person, if someone in our school is infected. We must know who is at school, who our staff and students have been in close contact with and take appropriate measures to keep everyone safe.
Hawera Primary School welcomed all students and staff back to our school site on Monday 18th May. Staff were back onsite from Thursday 14th May preparing their classrooms etc. Level 3 attendance was 3%. Currently Level 2 attendance is approximately 75%. Our focus at the moment is getting as many of our students eased back into school as we can.
We are anticipating another mini influx at the start of next week, we are looking forward to having all our learners back as soon as they feel comfortable in doing so. To further assist with this please return your 'Caregivers and Medical Details Update' sheets as soon as possible, it is critically important that we are able to contact you at all times. Thank you to the many who have done so already.
Week 1 post lockdown has been a great success. Some things were a bit different but also better in lots of ways. There was plenty of excitement in the air! Teachers have planned a range of learning activities that help students connect with teachers and their peers in the first instance while providing an opportunity for teachers to observe individual readiness for learning and next learning steps.
This is a time for us to be as flexible and responsive as possible to the needs that arise and for a strengthened focus on knowing our learners.Students will be better placed to access learning opportunities once relationships, safety, and routines are re-established.Teachers know that they can change their plans to focus more holistically on everyone’s well being.
Classroom programmes have been adapted to ensure student well-being is our main priority.We are taking a gentle approach during this transition phase. Dealing with feelings and re-establishing connections will be our priority to start with.Initially the pace of instruction will reflect an emphasis on relationship building, settling back into school smoothly and getting used to being all together again.
Students are not disadvantaged if their parents have chosen to keep them home during level 2.Teachers have done their very best to support learning over the time students have been learning at home. Families are encouraged to continue to utilise "Seesaw" to upload a fortnightly slideshow of learning tasks. These tasks will be worked on at school and can be continued at home during this transition phase.
Everyone including the staff are feeling a mixture of emotions and thinking something different about the return to school but that’s okay, now more than ever we need to be kind and considerate towards each other.
As we enter the transition phase of the alert levels, the necessary health and safety protocols are in place. Now the focus shifts to capturing student, staff and whanau voices about their lockdown experience; then identifying the many positives we will look to carry forward and embed in our daily operations, school culture and localised curriculum. This will involve a systematic review and refocus of our charter goals and planned actions to ensure they reflect our current journey, learnings and new priorities going forward.
The junior deck project is essentially complete. It looks absolutely amazing! A blessing was conducted by our Board Chair Russell Hockley on Friday 15th May so that it was ready for use by the students upon their return at Level 2. We are delighted with the final result and the space is already being really well utilised by all as an excellent extension of the teaching space. It was really exciting to come back to it completed after lockdown and see the fences finally down.
Sincerest thank you to Mike Cronin (BSM), Arthur Brown Construction Ltd, our former principal Neryda Sullivan and our previous/current Board of Trustees for their contribution to this major project over the years, it is wonderful space that will enhance the quality of teaching and learning for years to come. It’s fantastic and heartwarming to see it finally come to life full of happy children!
As a side note the students are also loving having the ever popular sandpit back in action. The bike container has also been further improved with the installation of a door on the side which is much easier for the students/staff to use.
Congratulations to our acting DP Kerri McColl who resumed the South Taranaki Kahui Ako Lead Principal role officially from Monday 18th May. Brooke Skedgwell and Kerri will continue to share the Room 6 classroom teacher role pending an appointment from the vacancy we are currently advertising. Our intention is from then on Kerri will assume a walking role with some release teaching.
Congratulations to Jessica Dunlop and her husband Ben who are expecting a baby boy in September, Jess is planning to take maternity leave from Friday 4th September-Monday 10th January 2022. We are very excited for her and pleased that the timing will likely work out well with other staff on maternity leave looking to return in a part-time capacity.
There is no doubt the recent COVID-19 lockdown has been incredibly challenging for all but it has also brought out the very best in us as a team and will lead to lots of positives moving forward. On Tuesday we had a welcome back morning tea, where on behalf of the Board of Trustees I thanked all of the staff with kai and a gift to acknowledge their exceptional kindness, empathy, flexibility, collegiality and willingness to adapt in such unprecedented circumstances.
It feels really good to be back together again. We’ve been through a lot but we are all here and still smiling which says a lot about who we are as a school whanau. Each and every contribution is highly appreciated.
As a leader, I feel incredibly proud of how we have handled this situation and worked together as a school whanau to continue to grow, support each other, make the most of the opportunities remote learning presented and ensure the safety of all our people.
Now we look forward to further unpacking and embracing our “new BETTER normal” together.
E hara taku toa i toa takitaki
E hara taku toa i toa takitini
My strength lies not in what I can achieve on my own
My strength lies in what I can achieve through working with others
Ngā manaakitanga
Shevaun O'Brien
PRINCIPAL
Return from lockdown
Students, staff, parents, whanau and visitors are asked to adhere to the Level 2 protocols to maintain the health and safety of everyone on the school site. The staff were pleased with how our protocols went, we just had a couple of reminders to reinforce.
*Students should arrive after 8.30am if possible
*DO NOT enter the school grounds unless it is essential (e.g your child is brand new to HPS, has special needs or for medical reasons) please go straight to the school office via the front door.
*Older siblings who go to other schools need to drop off and pick up from the gates as well.
*Please make sure your children know which gate you will be picking them up from every day.
*If your child is LATE tell them to go straight to class, the teachers will let Mel know
Under Alert Level 2, we advise any students and staff to stay at home if they are sick and we will send anyone home immediately if they show any symptoms.
Contact registers have been set up in the office and classrooms.The staff were pleased with how our Level 2 protocols went. We will be reviewing our health and safety protocols weekly and welcome your feedback, please email Shevaun at principal@haweraprimary.school.nz
Thank you for your ongoing support.....we’ve got this HPS
Welcome to HPS
Welcome to our brand new 5 year olds.
You've made a great start Priscilla, Meyhaleigha and Kirby!
Tena koe Matt, we hope you enjoy your time at HPS. We are happy to have you here!
HPS happy to be back
Deck blessing
New Door in the bike container
the gardening club
Personal best at HPS
Magnificent scrabble spelling Mataya - keep up the personal best start!
Ka rawe Adrianne, we love your table to record how people are feeling in te reo. Very clever!
Amani has mastered how to use apostrophes in contractions. Keep up the excellent work!
Awesome Aorangi has been practising his basic facts - stage 6 - WOW!
Check out Hannah McHale's fantastic reading response - tino pai!
Tu meke mahi by Te Omeka, Emily and Kane to start the week off in the perfect way! Keep up the awesome work kids!
Congratulations Izzy you have been consistently showing the 'KAHA Way' what an awesome role-model you are! Miharo!
Super creativity from Lachlan Wills, keep making the most of the resources around him. Nice job!
Brilliant basic facts Lachlan, check out these amazing results! Tino pai!
All right?
Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.
Lifeline 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE).
Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat.
Samaritans 0800 726 666.
Click on the picture for a Free e-book
Full of colourful characters and written in fun rhyming text, it will reassure young children that their worries are valid and also includes lots of practical ways for you to help them feel less concerned.
Sports news
Latest update from Netball Taranaki
We welcome news from Netball New Zealand, who have released dates for our three phase approach to returning to Community Netball.
PHASE 1
Get Ready for Netball
Commenced on 15 May, 2020
No Netball activity is permitted including trainings, workshops and face to face meetings.
PHASE 2
Prepare to Play
Netball activity may start from 29 May, 2020
This includes trainings, workshops and face to face meetings. No competitions permitted.
PHASE 3
Return to Play
All Netball activity may start from 19 June, 2020.
Competitions are permitted.
The Prepare to Play phase is shorter than we originally anticipated and we are now working towards competitions commencing shortly after the 19th June, with futureFERNS still scheduled to start in Term 3.
We will communicate key dates and requirements this week; we would appreciate everyone'ssupport and patience over the coming days.
Click here for further information
Hawera Primary will also keep you posted, please direct any questions to our sports co-ordinator Whaea Janine via email at janine.horo@haweraprimary.school.nz
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Please remember to support our local businesses and shop local if you can
Lunch Shack is Back!!!!
Order forms and envelopes will now be kept in each class from now on, teachers will arrange for them to be sent to the office in the morning after the roll.
Please note the following important health and safety information:
"As a food manufacturer and supplier we follow strict health and safety which include regular sanitation of all work benches and utensils, along with regular washing of hands.
All lunches will be prepared and placed in tubs with lids for each class, we will deliver to the reception using gloves and masks, then the bins can be delivered to each class. We can then collect tubs from reception."
Thea Haunton- Lunch Shack Bakery