By Simon Clarke | Posted: Friday April 24, 2020
As we end our first week of Emergency Response Teaching just a big thank you to you, your children, the teachers, the teacher aides and the Board of Trustees.
I believe the teachers have done a wonderful job building the "airplane as we are flying it" and it almost feels like we have almost got the wings attached and starting to fly, albeit, just a few feet off the ground. Next week, as we move to Level 3, I want to formally thank Mr Reid, Mrs Garden, Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Cleland who will be working at school to look after children of essential workers.
Thank you to the teacher aides who have been active members in Google Meets and are supporting individual students and teachers in the background.
A huge thank you to the parents who are essential workers as you go back to work and continue the work of our nurses, doctors, supermarket workers, cleaners, courier drivers and truck drivers to name a few who are already working to keep our economy going. I will email you this weekend with more details about how next week will work for your child as they return to a physical school.
Thank you to the parents who are keeping their children safe in their bubbles for a few more weeks. We only have 15 students attending and this has enabled us to run with a skeleton staff and ensure that classroom teachers can remain in their bubble and focus on distance learning.
Thank you to the Board of Trustees for their emails and texts of concern about the staff and the community as a whole. To our cleaning staff of Mike and Wayne, we thank you too as you have quietly worked behind the scenes getting the school ready and will continue to ensure that school is a safe place to be.
Finally, a thank you to all of the students! Your commitment to your learning has been evident and to be commended. Our rate of attendance to the Google Meets is higher than what we would normally experience and the teachers are very impressed with some of the work that is being completed especially the work being done through play or being creative. Keep up the great work!
I sat in on all of the classes today and the main theme was, of course, the sacrifice that our soldiers made in the many military campaigns around the world. Anzac Day is a time of reflection and as we perhaps struggle in our bubbles, it is also a good reminder that the sacrifices that we are making is for a greater good and we should be very proud of the progress that we are making.
Kia Kaha
Simon Clarke
An Otago COVID-19 Welfare Helpline has been established to help make sure everyone in the region receives the support they need during the lockdown.
While we continue to ask people to contact the appropriate agency for help in the first instance, anyone in Otago who needs assistance in relation to emergency food, household goods/services or any other welfare-type requests can call 0800 322 4000.
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