October 18, 2021
(Posted on Facebook last night:)
Kia ora koutou Whānau / Parents
After this afternoon's announcement, I can confirm that all students will return to Whangarei Primary School under Level 2 guidelines on Wednesday 20 October. Tomorrow there will be school for our Essential Service students in their "bubbles". Teachers will not be teaching online tomorrow due to them being in school preparing for Term 4.
We have been advised by the Ministry of Education to proceed with caution when considering events that will require significant numbers of people at school. Therefore our Termly powhiri planned in the first week has been postponed, as well as assemblies and syndicate hui. There may well be events during he term that will need to be cancelled (e.g. athletics, W.P.S. Cultural Festival, Syndicate day trips and the End of Year Concert); however, at this stage we are going to take a "slowly, slowly" approach in the hope that in a few weeks' time, we may have gained enough confidence in the Covid situation to stage such events.
The Digital "Learning from Home" Support night for parents, that had also been planned in the first week of Term 4, has obviously been postponed and we will update you when we have set a new date for this evening.
Finally, I have, once again, impressed the importance of the "wellbeing" of the returning students to my teachers. All children will be feeling differing levels of anxiety on their return to school - the most important role of my staff initially will be to safely transition the children back into our school environment. If you have any concerns about your child(ren), please don't hesitate to email your Class teacher with these worries.
We all look forward to welcoming your children back to Whangarei Primary school on Wednesday morning.
Nga mihi nui
Matua Danny