3 August 2018
Dear Whānau
On Wednesday, the majority of members of the teachers union, the NZEI, voted to strike for a full day in response to the Ministry of Education’s collective employment offer.
In support of our teachers’ stance, and because without them there is no one to run the school safely, the Board of Trustees voted to close the school for that day. Therefore, the school will be closed on Wednesday 15 August.
The board has carefully considered the availability of teaching staff, and unfortunately decided that we can’t provide the normal teaching services during the strike. It’s important that you make alternative arrangements for the care of your child/children on the day of the strike.
We do not make this decision lightly and we appreciate that it will put you under pressure to find childcare and make other arrangements, however, we believe that the benefits of supporting teachers in their fight for proper resourcing of your child’s education is worth it. For those parents who cannot arrange for alternative care, SKIDS will be operating in the hall from 7.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. – please see overleaf for more information. Please contact Wayne directly to book in your child/children.
Our teachers work long, hard days. Ask you child’s teacher how many hours they have put in on any given day: 11, 12, 13 hour days are common. It is unsustainable for our staff, and it impacts on your child – we have teachers who have dropped a day of teaching a week (and a day’s pay), in order to fit in the actual work of their job. While we have been lucky to attract quality staff so far, there are less and less applicants each time we advertise.
Pay is not the biggest issue for teachers at our school, and we note that the offer from the Ministry will actually put some of our teachers in a worse financial position: the nominal rise will mean a corresponding cut in the Working for Families credit that will see less in some pay packets at the end of the fortnight.
What our teachers want from the Ministry are:
• more resources and specialists to help them support the most vulnerable students and
• more time per student and more non-contact time to plan and assess for student needs
I know that this is inconvenient for parents and students alike, but please be assured that student safety is our main concern.
Yours sincerely
Kieran Turner Chair
Bucklands Beach Primary School
Board of Trustees
————————————————————-
3 August 2018
Dear Parents On August the 15th there will be a Teacher Strike Day, where by the school will be closed.
On this date Skids will still be running to accomodate those who need child care.
Skids can only take around 100 children on this day, so you will need to book in on our online system as soon as possible to ensure your place.
Pricing: 7.30 a.m. – 8.30 a.m.: Normal skids hours and pricing 8.30 a.m. – 3.00 p.m.: $40 (includes hot chips for lunch or sandwiches for those who don’t want hot chips). Parents to provide morning tea. 3.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.: Normal skids hours and pricing
Structure of the day: Games, activities, sports etc throughout the day.
How to register and book: Go to skids.aimy.co.nz – sign in then click the following: “Booking” / “Special Day” / “Book” / click child’s name in drop down box then follow the prompts through to the end.
For those that have never attended before you will need to register which takes just a minute and then go through and book in – anyone having trouble with this can email us for assistance at bucklandsbeach@skids.co.nz
Recent Comments