Ardmore School Newsletter

* Hello * Kia ora * Namaste * Malo e lelei * Talofa lava * Kia orana * Guten Tag* Nǐ hǎo * Sat sree akaal * Hola * Chào bạn * Bula * Hallo *As-salamu ‘Alakum

The school flag is at half mast this week, not just to remember the service of Queen Elizabeth II but also in remembrance of Grant Barnes, my predecessor as principal of Ardmore School, who passed away last week after a short illness. Grant was an active member of the Auckland Primary Principals' Association, and Hunua and Papakura Principals' Associations. He has remained active in education circles since his retirement. A memorial service is being held for Grant on Thursday afternoon and a number of staff who worked with Grant will be attending. The school has also made a donation to Totara Hospice in memory of Mr Barnes.

You’ll be aware that New Zealand is moving to a new, long-term approach to COVID-19. These changes have been made based on public health advice and reflect high levels of immunity and declining case numbers across New Zealand.

This new approach will only result in minor changes to the way we operate at Ardmore School.

The very positive news is that household contacts of a person with COVID-19 do not need to isolate, but instead are asked to complete a RAT test each day, for five days. Therefore, ākonga who are household contacts but test negative and do not have COVID-19 symptoms, should continue to attend school. It is the best place for them to be, so they can be engaged in their learning, and connected with their teachers, classmates and friends.

Information on how to get RAT kits can be found here: Request a RAT– Ministry of Health

Mask wearing is no longer strongly encouraged, but a choice for whānau to make.

All the other recommended public health measures will stay in place as we know they reduce the spread of infectious illnesses including COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene, encouraging everyone to cough or sneeze into elbows and, most importantly, staying home and getting tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms.

Ardmore School is embracing Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori which complements the language and cultural journey our kura is already on. Today to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Māori Language petition the whole school came together at 12 noon to perform the Ardmore school haka.

The weather report for Friday is looking promising. A notice was sent out via email and app last week detailing this event.

Piwakawaka races will be 9:30am - 10:30am

Tūī races will be 11:00am - 11:45am

Ruru races will be 1:00pm - 2:45pm

Whānau are welcome to come and support tamariki.

A reminder will be sent tomorrow confirming details of the day.

Well done to Hazel McGhie, Malachi Diack and Ashwal Deo who represented Ardmore at the Auckland Inter-zone Cross Country Event held earlier this week. This fabulous race held at Muriwai Surf Club saw Hazel and Malachi both place 23rd out of more than one hundred competitors.

New voting papers and candidate information has been posted out. The new deadline for voting is 4pm Thursday 22 September.

Ballot papers can be posted by return address on the voting envelopes or posted in the ballot box in the school office.

On the 31st August the following eight tamariki represented Ardmore School in the annual Kids' Lit Quiz; Natalie Ruegg, Rosie Piggott, Jamie McLoughlin, Isabella Grubjesic-Alapati, Brooke Boniface, Jayden Sardelich, Joshua Emslie-Wood & Joann Arun.

KLQ is a literature quiz for children aged 10-13 years. Held at St Cuthbert's College, the students had the opportunity to compete against schools all over Auckland. Well done to our team.

Well done to Rosie Piggott who, as the winner from the Hunua Principals' Association Competition, when on to compete at the Auckland Principals' Association Rehu Tai (speech) Year 5/6 Competition. This event was held at Manurewa Intermediate School and Rosie was up against schools from across all of Auckland. Rosie really did us proud at this huge competition.

A big thank you to all our families who came to the Maths evening held recently. Rob our facilitator was extremely impressed with the number of attendees. This was a great opportunity for whānau to join together to learn new and fun mathematical strategies. We have had wonderful feedback from all those who attended.

Our hardworking PSG provided a great fundraising dinner for our Maths Whānau Evening. They would like to acknowledge the kind generosity of Countdown Roselands, Papakura and Keri Hill Superette & Lotto who supported the Maths evening by way of produce, food and refreshments. The PSG raised close to $300 for their efforts.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that the guidance for returning to schools following vomiting or diarrhoea has not changed. If a child is free of those symptoms for 48 hours, they can attend school again. We have updated the winter wellness guidance for parents, caregivers and whānau to reflect the following points:

• If a child has been unwell with a respiratory illness other than COVID-19, they can return to school 24 hours after they have significantly improved and are behaving/eating normally.
• Following vomiting or diarrhoea, a child should be symptom free for 48 hours before they can return.
• If they still have a runny nose or dry cough without any other symptoms such as a fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, then they are unlikely to be infectious and can be considered well enough to attend school.
• In general, a doctor’s certificate or clearance should not have to be provided for a child to go back to school after being unwell.

Preparation is now well underway for our first 'normal' Ag Day in a while.

A notice will be sent out next week with everything you need to know about this important day.

Payments to the school or the PSG are all made through the online payment system KINDO.

To set up your account please click the link here Create KINDO account

Remember to use the email that the school has on file for you when creating your account.

If you need help with your myKindo account please call KINDO on 0508 454636. Open 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

You can also check out their help pages by clicking the link here KINDO customer support

PUBLIC NOTICES

Email: office@ardmore.school.nz
Website: https://www.ardmore.school.nz/
Location: 599 Papakura-Clevedon Road, Ardmore, New Zealand
Phone: 09 299 6228