Kia ora whanau,
Welcome to Week Six and the last whanau newsletter for the year!
Thank you once again for all of your support over what has been a turbulent and challenging year. I cannot stress enough how proud I am of our young people and our teachers for the way they responded to each of the lockdowns and the changes that we implemented to ensure we could become more agile and more flexible. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you, our family and whanau, for the support you have provided throughout. It has definitely been a team effort!
Whilst it has been hard work, I believe we have managed to support our young people as best we could whilst also designing a model of teaching and learning that will serve us well in the coming years. In fact, our model which focuses on increased learner agency and supported self-directed learning has caught the attention of the Ministry of Education, the Education Gazette and more recently the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) in the United States!
2020 Prizegivings
Congratulations to those who took out prizes over the last week and thank you to all fellow students, family and whanau who came along to support.
Here are the links to the photos taken at the Prizegivings:
Sports Prizegiving 2020
Year 11 Prizegiving 2020
Year 12 Prizegiving 2020
Year 13 Prizegiving 2020
Students returning to complete internal standards
If your young person has been invited back to complete internal standards please remind them to be at school to check in with their Tutor at 9.00 am tomorrow!
- Students completing internals have priority this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday. Next week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then Week Eight on Monday.
- Tutors will meet their tutees on each of the mornings they are coming in so as to make a plan.
- Specialist subject teachers will be available on all days listed above.
- Students will be signed out for study leave by their Tutor once they have reached their agreed academic target for the year!
Exams and COVID Alert Levels
At the moment, exams will go ahead as normal. If Auckland were to be at Alert Level 2 or 3 during exams, they can still go ahead and we take the following precautions to reduce potential risk. Please remind your child to practice good hand hygiene, use the COVID tracer app and stay home if they are unwell.
During the exam period (16 November to 9 December):
- Our exam rooms already support physical distancing between candidates and will have hand sanitiser available in each room.
- Desks and other equipment will be cleaned as per regulations for each alert level.
- Students and staff have the option to wear a face covering. We encourage wearing a face covering on public transport.
Anyone who is unwell must stay away. Students can apply for a derived grade if they are unable to attend due to ill health. The derived grade application form will require evidence supporting this. This could be confirmation from a medical practitioner that the student is displaying COVID-like symptoms notification of a COVID-19 test outcome (positive or negative). Students identified as close contacts of a confirmed case cannot attend their exam(s). Students can apply for a derived grade in this circumstance as well. Evidence for the application would come from the health professional who has directed that the student must isolate. The application for a derived grade can be obtained from the school reception.
If Auckland’s alert level does change, we will contact families outlining any changes in our processes. Updates will also be posted on our Facebook page.
Ngā mihi
