First newsletter - Friday 28 January 2022

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa
Bonjour à toutes nos familles

Welcome back! This isn’t the start to the year any of us wanted, but we find ourselves in a third year of disruption. In a way we were lucky that Omicron was polite enough to wait until we had a great summer break before it decided to sneak in and make itself known. We know there may be a high level of anxiety for children and their whānau around returning to school this year but be assured the safety and health of all our children and staff is our priority. We are all getting good at adapting to our new normal and while it’s not ideal we will get through calmly and together.

School organisation 2022

Just a reminder for those who have had such a good summer break, they have forgotten which class they are going to this year!

Kotare Year 1 - 2: Julie Hanify, Danielle Neale, Josie Carson and Jonathan Collins (covering for Laura Cherry’s absence) - Room 1 (the Tui space from 2021)

Tui Year 3 - 4: Daniel Crow and Pam Clarke - Rooms 4 and 5 (the Kotare space from 2021)

Kereru/Kaka Year 5-8: Libby Hainsworth, Derek Champion and Harriette Cowan (classes on the field)

Ruru: Nicolas Delaire and Julie Llorca - the old library, same as last year. 

Pick ups and Drop offs

At drop off time and pick up times, parents wearing masks are able to come into the school grounds and drop and pick up outside their child’s class. Teachers will be outside to meet and welcome the children into the class. 

When parents get to school in the afternoon to collect their child, the child will be sent outside to meet them. This can be anytime from 2.30 and it would be great if people could leave the school grounds quickly. The playground will not be open after school. 

You are also welcome to arrive at school in the morning anytime from 8.30 - 9.15 to drop off your child but the official school start time is 8.55. 

Mask Use

We know that mask use is one of the best lines of defence we have. Children in Year 4 and up need to wear masks inside at school. We are encouraging everyone in our school to wear masks, including Year 1-3. It seems sensible to try to normalise mask use for all our children and we will do this through education, praise and encouragement. Teachers will support all our children to use these safely. Children do not need to wear surgical masks and they are fine to wear cloth masks. 

Ventilation and space

We are lucky at Ridgway, because we have a lot of space despite being quite small in terms of numbers.  We don’t have to stagger our break times because there is plenty of room for all our children.  Due to our position we don’t have any problem with ventilation, that brisk Wellington wind likes to blow in and around our classrooms!  We will be spreading out around the school and making the most of the summer weather by having outside learning where the children and teachers can have a break from wearing their masks. 

We will be spending our teacher only days planning for potential scenarios in Term 1 and will share further information next week. 

Emergency Management

Please take the time to read our Emergency Management information here.  

Stationery

Here is the link to all lists via google drive.

For PDF files click on the relevant link below:

Kōtare - Year 1 and 2 - Julie Hanify, Jonathan Collins, Josie Carson and Dani Neale

Tui - Year 3 and 4 - Pam Clarke and Daniel Crow

Kērerū - Year 5 and 6 - Libby Hainsworth and Derek Champion

Kākā - Year 7 and 8 - Harriette Cowan

Ruru La Chouette - Nicolas Delaine and Julie Llorca

Ruru - Year 1 and 2

Ruru - Year 3 and 4

Ruru - Year 5 and 6

 Ridgway school lunches will resume from Thursday 10 February.

Go to www.lunchonline.co.nz register for a lunch for your child. Please update whānau rooms for those already registered.

Sushi lunch - Thursdays

Pita Pit - Fridays

Ngā mihi

Sarah Taylor

Deputy Principal

Ridgway School