Friday 29 April 2022
Kia ora koutou e te whānau,
I hope you’ve all had a fantastic Easter and holiday break.
It was wonderful to see so many Grey Main students attending the Anzac Dawn Parade to remember the sacrifice the soldiers made for our freedom. Thank you to those parents and grandparents who made the effort to take their tamariki to be part of the 2022 Anzac service.
Sadly over the holidays COVID 19 Omicron variant played its part and many of our whānau have spent time in isolation or unwell. Our present tally tells us that 28% of our staff (8) and tamariki( 76) have contracted the virus since we had our first case on 28 February 2022 and a number of those have been recorded over holidays. This information informs the decisions we have made around the Orange Settings and what we as a kura have put in place in order to keep everyone safe. This plan will be reviewed on 13 May 2022.
Here is the link GMS -Safety Plan COVID 19 Protection Framework (Updated for Term 2 2022) to our Grey Main School Safety Plan at Orange Level of the Protection Framework(for implementation 2 May 2022).
Here are the main points of the plan but I encourage you to read the plan so you are familiar with all areas of it.
Masks are our best protection and are strongly encouraged to be worn by visitors, parents, staff and Mamaku and Totara akonga.
All parents MUST sign in via the office if they wish to visit classrooms.
Three staggered break times will be timetabled daily( as in Term 1)
Children must not enter the school grounds until 8:30am via the gate at their end of the school-either North or South and sanitise .
Children and staff are encouraged to wear extra layers of clothing(thermals or t-shirts underneath their polos) because classrooms will be ventilated which will require the windows to be open.
Drinking fountains will be shut down so all children must bring their own water bottles.
I hope you enjoy the last few days of our holidays and stay safe everyone. We look forward to working with you in Term 2.
Ngā mihi nui,
Mandy O’Sullivan
On behalf of the Grey Main Team.
10th March
Morena e te whānau,
Thank you for helping us to keep our school open. We have been hit hard with Omicron with 26 children and two staff testing positive and another staff member self isolating. We presently have 17 akonga self isolating because household members have tested positive.
Many of you have decided to keep your children away as the wave goes through. We understand why you have done this if you are able to but we are also happy to accommodate those who attend school.
Today we have 52% attendance. We started with 55% on Wednesday but as the day went on we had a number of children present symptoms and were sent home. When office staff ring please be kind, as they are just the messenger when the child complains of a sore throat, headache, is coughing, has a runny nose or feels sick or looks lethargic we ask that you take them home and monitor their symptoms and administer a RAT test and if negative, not allowing the children to return until the symptoms have disappeared and they have tested negative again before returning to school.
Because we have staff shortages as well as the expectation to provide for learning from home for those self isolating and sick we have doubled up some classes. In fact there were only 19 children out of 66 from all Pohutukawa classes so this frees up some staff to set up home learning.
As of today for those you are not sick or self isolating we will provide some work for you to do at home. At this stage we are unable to do face to face Google Meets.
Rata and Pohutukawa whanau have been surveyed to choose either Seesaw or hard packs. For those who chose hard packs these are available on the footpath outside the office. Please take the pack that is recommended for your child’s class. Hard packs have been delivered to those who are sick or isolating and contact has been made with these families.
For Mamaku and Totara whanau your child’s work is available via the class Google site.
Please go to our website www.greymain.school.nz Please go to the white button that says ‘CLASSES’ and then place the cursor on your child’s class and you will be taken to the Google site where you can find schoolwork and activities they would be expected to do if they were at school. At this stage the blogs are not set up so when your child completes a task they can pop it in their folder or send it to Miss Kaye micak@greymain.school.nz If you chose not to complete this work please ensure your child reads each day, writes an email to their teacher about what they have been doing and gets outside to get some fresh air, perhaps even picking up rubbish in your street or along the beach.
As this hybrid learning is new for all of us there will be glitches but be kind and remember Grey Main staff are continuing to teach their classes at school and provide home learning so may not respond as quickly as you would like. These are challenging times but I can tell you that this year our children have been amazing and that is credit to you.
Please email your child’s teacher. Emails are also on our new website if you go to the red button ‘STAFF’ and you will find the email address under the photo of your child’s teacher.
Thank you everyone for being the best!
Arohanui,
Mandy O
7th March 2022
Kia ora Caregivers/Parents of Pohutukawa Hub,
Currently we have 19 cases of COVID-19 of which 13 are in Pohutukawa Hub. We ask that you carefully monitor your child's/children's health and if they are quiet or lacking in energy or complain of a sore stomach or present with cold-like symptoms we suggest you test them immediately.
Rapid Antigen Tests(RATS) are available from the COVID testing station situated at ANZAC Park 8:30am - 4:30pm, 7 days a week. These tests are easily administered and not difficult or painful.
Sometimes initial tests are coming up negative but if symptoms persist it is a good idea to retest, as often a positive result happens as the illness progresses.
Please advise the school office if your child or a household member tests positive and isolate for 10 days from the first symptom or positive test.
Nga mihi nui,
Mandy O'Sullivan
Principal
