Relationships – Whanaungatanga, Resilience – Manawaroa, Respect – Manaakitanga, Responsibility – Tiaki
A community of agile and collaborative learners – Proud of who we are, empowered to make a difference
Kia Ora, Nǐ hǎo, Hallo, Greetings,
Welcome to all of our new students and their families who have joined us so far this year: Hiya Patel, Samuel Zeng, Liam Buchanan, Una Zhou, Angus Wu, Daniella Bremner, Sheryl Lai, Euan Thomson, Olivia Li, Tara Lett, Hugh Kasper, Chloe Gao, Lintong Li, Oliver Harding, Eleanor Taylor, San Kang, Lucy Buchanan, Edwiin Yiu, Misaki Nakanishi, Amelie Froneman, Amelia Chan, Simon Sun, Randy Sun, Caroline He & Hank Wei.
What an amazing few weeks we have had with our student led Cultural Summit, the Cultural Parade, and finally our community coming together on Friday night for a great evening. To the range of people from staff, to parents, to our students, to the PTA, to the wider community who all played a role – a huge thank you. We certainly fulfilled our vision of involving our community, collaborating, and being proud of who we are. It was great to watch students make comment about how good it was to understand why people dress differently, or don’t cut their hair, or to understand what life was like living in their last country and how that might impact the person they are. Agile skills of presenting and communicating skills underpinned the teaching, as well as knowing the audience and figuring out how to engage with a range of ages.
What also made me extra proud, was watching students who wouldn’t normally take a risk presenting on topics they were passionate about. Student voice was overwhelmingly positive and reflective, with many identifying their next steps. Some also concluded that teaching is unlikely to be their chosen profession, as it actually quite stressful!
Welcome to Mrs Tamsyn Chan
We welcome Mrs Chan who is working in the senior school one day a week teaching the arts. She brings a wealth of musical skills to the school, and we are very excited to have her working with our students.
Mobile Phones and Smart Watches
A reminder that if students need to bring these to school, they need to be locked away in the office before school and collected at the end of the day. All communication during the day needs to be through the office. Thank you for your support with this.
Swimming / Pool
We have been very lucky to have received another grant from Auckland Maritime Foundation to fund some swimming lessons this year, for which we are very grateful. Living in an area surrounded by water makes swimming an essential skill.
We love that our school community get to enjoy the school pool out of hours. On the weekend, the padlock was taken from the pool, the door was left unsecured and a group of people that we suspect are not key holders were using the pool. Obviously this poses a big health and safety risk. Thankfully our amazing Mr Rist came down and organised another padlock and moved our visitors on. Please can we be vigilant about locking the padlock back to the gate if you are using the pool, and padlocking it after you leave. Only key holders should be using the pools.
Covid-19
During the weekend there has been much media coverage following our first confirmed case, which naturally makes us feel worried. The Ministries of Education and Health have been providing excellent regular communications to school Principals on this issue, and they mandate how schools need to respond.
How is our school planned and prepared to respond to developments?
- The school has purchased and is regularly using a product called Zoono on all surfaces. Zoono provides an antibacterial layer which works for thirty days.
- Staff are reminding students about good hygiene.
- We have a Pandemic Planning Policy written by the Ministry of Health, which is regularly reviewed and ready to put into action.
- Staff and students are to stay away from school if they exhibit any flu symptoms, and will be sent home if they become unwell at school.
- Any updates from the Ministry will be shared with the community.
Updated Information from the Ministry of Health
As announced this week by the Ministry of Health, there are now two categories for travellers arriving in New Zealand:
Category 1 – People who have travelled from or transited through countries in category one in the last 14 days are required to self-isolate for 14 days and contact Healthline after they have left the countries. Mainland China and Iran are the two countries included in this category (with Iran added to this category on Friday 28 February).
Category 2 – People who have travelled from or via countries lists in category two who develop symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath should seek medical advice by first phoning Healthline’s dedicated COVID-19 number 0800 358 5453 or contacting their GP including phoning ahead of their visit. As at Friday 28 February countries in this category are Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
What do you need to do?
If you are concerned that someone is showing symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath, encourage them to first ring Healthline (0800 358 5453) or contact their GP by phoning ahead of their visit to explain symptoms and travel history. The first case was diagnosed because they followed the advice of the Ministry of Health.
Anyone who has travelled from or transited through any of the countries listed in both categories, please notify the school office – office@bbps.school.nz.
Keep sick students home.
Have a great week!
Kelly Slater-Brown
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