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COVID 19 Updates
18th August 2021
COVID 19 Update
Kia ora Parents and Whānau,
We are now all in Alert Level 4 which means that our school will not be open for the remainder of this week. This morning there have been several more confirmed community cases of the Delta variant in the Auckland region and Auckland will be in Alert Level 4 for seven days.
It is really important we do everything we can to keep our community safe. Alert Level 4 means we need to stay home in our bubbles and avoid any traveling as much as possible.
If Alert Level 4 continues past this Friday, our remote learning plan will go into action next Monday 23 August. You will be contacted by your child’s teacher regarding the programme for their class via Hero on either Sunday 22nd in the afternoon or Monday 23rd August in the morning.
Our teachers will use the next three days to prepare, plan and update our remote learning platforms so that they are ready to go on Monday next week if needed. Until formal distance learning starts on Monday (if needed), we urge you to spend time together as a family. Enjoy the slower pace and opportunity to read, draw, play games, cook, create, and maybe even tackle some household chores with your children.
With such short notice, we weren’t able to hand out devices or hard packs to students in order to support distance learning. We will send out a device survey later today so that we can get an idea of how many students will need access to a device if we have to go ahead with distance learning next week.
If we stay in Alert Level 4 next week and we begin distance learning, you might be inclined to create a detailed timetable for your childrens’ learning for each day and try to stick to it without fail. Please be mindful that our children may find lockdown stressful and not cope well with having to stay at home and do school work for hours on end and not see their friends. What children need is to feel safe and comfortable knowing that everything will be ok. Your teachers will create opportunities for children to connect and feel safe.
We will provide distance learning via seesaw and google classroom, but remember to do as much or as little as your children are able to do happily and willingly. Take the opportunity to make learning fun and enjoy this time together.
On Thursday and Friday at 9 am we will be on Facebook live to have a short prayer to start the day.
On Thursday and Friday at 1.30 pm Mr. Murray will be sharing a story for our children to watch.
Hopefully, we do not need to continue the lockdown for long and our nationwide efforts are effective. Please look after yourselves, your whānau, and each other.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any member of our St Marys community.
Prayer in this time of Crisis:
Almighty and merciful God
Lover of the human race, healer of all our wounds
In whom there is no shadow of death
Save us in this time of crisis;
Grant wisdom and courage to our leaders;
Watch over all medical people
As they tend the sick and work for a cure;
Stir in us a sense of solidarity beyond isolation;
If our doors closed let our hearts be open
By the power of your love destroy the virus of fear, that hope may never die
And the light of Easter, the triumph of life,
May shine upon us and the whole world.
Through Jesus Christ, the Lord has risen from the dead,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen
Holy Mary, the health of the sick, pray for us
St Joseph, the guardian of us all, pray for us.
Nga Mihi
St Marys Team
Contact Us
Email: office@stmarystga.school.nz
Website: https://www.stmarystga.school.nz/
Location: 11 Thirteenth Avenue, Tauranga South, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 578 8066
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmarystga/