Principal's Weekly Review 10 September 2021

Principal's Weekly Review 10 September 2021

Kia ora,   

This week has been a very welcomed return to the school setting for staff and students under the conditions of Alert Level 2.  I am very grateful for everyone’s support and understanding as we negotiate our way through this. Our students have been doing incredibly well, and are settling back into routines. 

Thursday’s return started with Form Time, which is part of our check and connect process.  Class time has been a continuation of supporting wellbeing, assessing readiness to learn, and moving back into learning programmes.  We have received some positive news for our senior students in relation to NCEA.  A decision has now been made that the current 16 days of closure is now the point at which the Learning Recognition Credits (LRC) provision can be actioned.  This has been amended for areas outside of Auckland, which means our students will receive 1 LRC for every 5 credits they have earned up to a maximum of 8 LRCs at Level 1, and 6 LRCs at Level 2 and 3. This comes in addition to the extension of two further weeks of learning time in Term 4 (ie the Senior External Exams will now begin at the later date of the 22nd of November).   As we have not met the 20 day threshold, there is no changes to UE and Endorsement criteria.

As we are now operating under Alert Level 2 criteria, some changes have needed to be made to the daily routine.       Year 13 students will be required to stay on site for their study periods during the school day. Year 12 and 13 students who have study first thing in the morning can arrive after that, and those who have it last in their school day can leave at that point (as per normal).  To stagger the exit process at the end of each day, Year 9 and 10 students will be released at 2.25pm, and Years 11 to 13 at 2.30pm.    Many of you will have noticed how congested Langdons and Sissons Roads are at about 2.30.  This is not helped by road works on Langdons Road.  Can I please reinforce that this congestion usually lasts for about 15 minutes and we appreciate your patience and understanding. We are trying to move everyone out as quickly and safely as possible. 

We have been supporting Northlands Mall in their endeavour to manage their Health and Safety requirements, which includes limits to the number of people that can be in the mall at any one time. The Mall Management have asked us to remind students that they should only go in to the mall if they are there to purchase goods, and that under Alert Level 2 conditions they cannot take a short-cut through the mall to go to the bus stops. 

We are currently reviewing the dates of a number of key events on our school calendar.  This process will need to continue, as this will be influenced by the Ministry of Health’s regulations associated with each Alert Level status.  We will keep you informed of any changes as quickly as possible. 

We look forward to the potential move to Alert Level 1 in the near future.  But as we all have come to understand,  and in particular with the Delta variant, things can change very quickly.  This once again is a challenging time for our staff and students, and it is important to remember that everyone is trying to do the best they can, given their personal circumstances.  

He waka eke noa – We are all in this together. 

Ngā mihi nui

 

Jeff Smith

Principal

 

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