Linden School

Nau Mai Haere Mai! Welcome!

We build a community of learners who drive their learning, strive hard during their learning,

and then thrive on their successes.

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Notices

Week 2 of school holidays.

We are almost 1/2 way through the 4 week lockdown period. The decline in the number of cases seems to show that we are on the right path to deal with Covid-19.

We are working behind the scenes to be able to bring on-line learning to you from Wednesday 15th April onwards. More details will be released early next week.

In case you are longing for different activities to do with your children, here are 4 links to new resources on the Life Education website.

https://bit.ly/2xrc9Zm https://bit.ly/2UNik1F

https://bit.ly/3azuq5q. https://bit.ly/2Xe5Gvv

Notices

The latest information from Ministry of Education

Kia ora koutou

We have started into a new phase of New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 and it is very different than anything most of us have ever experienced. I wanted to reassure you that our school staff and Board of Trustees will continue to be available to support your child’s learning and wellbeing in the next weeks.

You will understand the importance of routine for your family. If your routine has been shaken up, like you’re now working from home, it’s good to structure your time. Routines are reassuring, and promote health and physical wellbeing. The below timetable (targeted at children) could be something your household adapts to use over the next weeks. A school holiday version will likely look a little different, but some form of routine will still be important as we go through the lockdown period.

There are links below to more wellbeing information to support your family during the lockdown.

Some good news to support you either working at home and/or studying at home - Spark, Vodafone, Vocus/Slingshot, 2Degrees and Trustpower have all advised they have removed their data caps and the possibility of any extra charges based on usage.

For our Pacific families, if you are not aware the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ has been working to ensure useful information is available to Pacific peoples. A one-hour special will be aired on Tagata Pasifika’s segment on Saturday at 9am; and on Sunday at 7.35am, Tagata Pasifika will share messages from community leaders. The Ministry is asking you to reach out to all your family members, community groups, friends and group chats to ensure our Pacific community groups are watching the programming on both days.

A big thank you to all of you for taking the lockdown so seriously. As the Prime Minister has noted staying at home will break the chain and save lives; breaking the rules could risk someone close to you and if the rules are not complied with, this could risk the lock down period being extended or could risk the virus being spread to thousands

Notices

Can we do this? Yes we can!!!

The school holidays have been brought forward to commence next Monday (30 March) through to Tuesday after Easter. On-line learning will commence after that date with teachers working from home.

Please check that your children know their email address and passwords for their school email so they can access work on line. If students are unsure, please contact me by email (principal@linden.school.nz).

Packs of work have been delivered to families who have requested these, and the school site has been locked up. The buildings as well as the playground are closed until all restrictions are lifted.

To find the on-line work from the homepage of this site, go to the tab "our people/ classes" and find your child's class in the drop down menu. When you click this link it will take you to the class page where you will see information about work available for your children. This will continue to be updated after the school holidays.

Happy "stay-cation" and "Happy Easter".

Kia kaha

Arohanui

Gaylene

Notices

Coronavirus Update

In these uncertain times, calm and kindness lead the way.

We are still open for students to attend, however, if your child or any other family member have a weakened immune system we recommend you isolate at home. We can provide digital or paper work for the students, so please advise the school if you would like this.

This advice from Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health is still applicable:

If people are feeling unwell, the advice is to stay home. If you suspect you have the virus, please ring the help line on 0800 3585453 to organise the next steps to take. It is not recommended to go to Doctor surgeries or hospitals unless you have contacted the Healthline first.

What's On

T~~uesdays-~~ ~~Swimming lessons for Room's 7 and 8.~~
Wednesdays- Swimming lessons for Rooms 2 and 3.
20 March (Friday)- Pizza fundraising lunch.
24 March (Tuesday)- Year 1 and 2 Sports Day.
3 April (Friday)- Sausage sizzle fundraising lunch.
9 April (Thursday)- Last day of Term One.

Covid-19 Update Number 3

22 March, 2020

Kia ora koutou

With so much information and misinformation swirling around about COVID-19, I wanted to share with you what will happen if we were to have a case in our school community. We have been planning for this and are in a position to respond quickly.

As soon as a case is confirmed in our immediate school community (eg. a student, staff member, or member of their household), the Medical Officer of Health and Ministry of Education will inform me about this, and we will work together to get quick and clear messaging out to you. It is important you have downloaded Skool Loop for messages from the school.

If there was a case confirmed of someone in our school, we will likely be asked to close temporarily by the Medical Officer of Health. This will allow time for close contacts to be traced, appropriate testing to be undertaken, and a careful clean of the school to be undertaken.

If our school does need to close temporarily, we have a plan in place to support student’s learning.

We know COVID-19 feels scary and of course people are concerned for the well-being of our children. Please be assured that with no case confirmed in our school, your children are safe here.

Good hygiene is a priority at our school, and we are reinforcing this regularly with all students and staff. We know that practicing good hygiene is still the best thing we can all do to prevent illness.

We are getting the most up to date advice and guidance so that we can confidently make informed decisions about the safety and well-being of our school community.

Ngā mihi

Gaylene Hill

Coronavirus Update No. 2

12 March 2020

Dear All Parents and Whanau:

Kia ora.

You may have seen that the World Health Organisation has now declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. As noted by the Minister of Health, this doesn’t change what New Zealand is doing to respond to coronavirus.

The Ministry of Health has been working through its pandemic plan since January. You will also know the Government has already implemented a range of measures to minimise the impacts to New Zealand. This includes border restrictions, a requirement to self-isolate on arrival in New Zealand from China, Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea and immediate and detailed contact tracing of any confirmed cases. It is important to note that those four countries account for more than 90% of cases globally and China and the Republic of Korea have significantly declining numbers of new cases.

We have 5 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand and it is pleasing to know they are all doing well and are at home. Their children, four students at Auckland schools, continue to be well and show no symptoms. While we expect that more cases will arise, the Ministry of Health says that with continued vigilance the chance of widespread community outbreak is expected to remain low in New Zealand. We all have a role to play in this.

For our school, our pandemic plan is also ready to be implemented if needed. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on good hygiene practices. Hand washing and good cough etiquette are very important tools in preventing the spread of illness including colds, flu and COVID-19.

With that, there is a good video clip from Nanogirl that will help your children to better understand the virus - YouTube clip - Nanogirl.

You may have also seen the Prime Minister sat down with Dr Michelle Dickinson (aka Nanogirl) and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Juliet Gerrard, to talk about coronavirus:

One other action we can all take is to be vigilant about our own health and the health of our children. I will be encouraging my staff to stay away from school if they are showing signs of illness such as coughs and colds. I ask that you please do the same with your children. Colds and flus are common in schools and by staying away, seeking medical attention and practicing good hygiene, we can all keep any spread of illness to a minimum.

Ngā mihi,

Gaylene Hill

Principal