Tena koutou e te Whānau,
This week we entered a very different and somewhat surreal period in Sumner School’s history where we welcomed back 30 students and 11 staff members to our physical site, while continuing to support the vast majority of our learners from home.
While the shift from Level 4 to Level 3 feels much the same for a lot of our families who continue to work from home and support Distance Learning for their children, the reality of the change for us at school has been pretty significant. A considerable amount of thought and planning has gone into the reopening of our school and the formation of ‘bubbles’ so that we can provide a safe environment for the staff and children of families who need to return to work at their physical workplaces. Huge thanks to the staff, our Leadership Team and our Board of Trustees who have supported me through this process as we have worked to implement the health and safety requirements that have been put in place by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.
However the biggest thank you needs to go to you all. I know that this continues to be a hugely challenging time for many families as many of our parents continue to juggle the task of working from home while supporting their child(ren)’s learning. I know this is not easy for you and that you, like us, are very much looking forward to a time when school is open for all our students and we work to create a ‘new normal' with everyone back on site. Thank you for your support in keeping your children at home under Alert Level 3. The very small numbers on site each day made up of families who have returned to their physical workplaces means that the various health and safety requirements are manageable for us to implement.
Alongside the planning and preparation for the partial reopening of our school, we have also been reflecting on feedback from families about our Distance Learning programme. Thank you for those of you that took the time to share some thoughts with myself or class teachers. We really value this. Our Distance Learning site is continuing to evolve and there is some amazing content being added. Please keep an eye on the front page of this website. Each time there is new content we will add a note and a link.
A MASSIVE thank you and acknowledgement needs to go to our staff for this. The sheer breadth of opportunities for our students to get involved with this is amazing and is testament to their commitment to continuing to provide the very best learning opportunities possible for our children. We love seeing this learning in action too and last week we had over 1,000 pieces of learning shared through Seesaw which is truly fantastic! Please click here to see some of the learning that has been shared with us.
This week we took a step into the virtual world of Google Meets. I know that some families experienced a couple of ‘teething problems’ during their first Meets - apologies for these and thank you for working alongside the teachers as they work to iron these out.
The timetables and links for Google Meets for next week will be displayed on each Teams page on the Distance Learning Site. Please join a Meet via this link to avoid any issues with connectivity.
I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.
Ngā mihi nui
Anna Granger
Principal
Room 11's Jett T wrote a great story this week
Library Update
Kia ora parents. Kia kaha!
I know it is a tricky balancing act supervising your children's learning from home as well as work and other responsibilities.
Just an update with regard to the school library. Physical books cannot be issued until Alert Level 2. However in the meantime there are many ways to access e-books, readaloud books and activities online. There are a number of links to these opportunities on the library Web App including new ones recently added.
The Web App homepage can be found at the bottom of each Teams learning page under the title 'Fast Finishers'.
I look forward to seeing your children in the library when school reopens.
Nga mihi nui
Yvonne Hall - Librarian
Kia ora parents. Kia kaha!
I know it is a tricky balancing act supervising your children's learning from home as well as work and other responsibilities.
Just an update with regard to the school library. Physical books cannot be issued until Alert Level 2. However in the meantime there are many ways to access e-books, readaloud books and activities online. There are a number of links to these opportunities on the library Web App including new ones recently added.
The Web App homepage can be found at the bottom of each Teams learning page under the title 'Fast Finishers'.
I look forward to seeing your children in the library when school reopens.
Nga mihi nui
Yvonne Hall - Librarian
Music Festival Cancelation
Due to COVID-19 and the restrictions that it has brought to both schools and the wider community, the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival will not be held in 2020.
This is the first year since WW2 that the iconic Music festival has not been part of the Christchurch music scene and it will be sorely missed by all the 4000 children who would have participated in the festival, and by their families.
The Musical Director of the Festival, Rachel Wilford, said, “I am particularly disappointed that we are not able to hold the festival this year: it was shaping up to be one of the best in terms of participation, programme and performance standards. Like the whole community, I am looking forward to 2021 when
Covid-19 will be behind us and when the Music Festival will return better than ever.”
We at Sumner School are also really disappointed the music festival will not be held but can understand the decision. Thank you to those who had applied to audition for special groups as we know you would have represented us so well! Bring on the 2021 festival and make sure you all apply then. There will still be a school choir but it may run a little differently this year. We will let you know our plans when we are all back.
By Anna F - Room 11
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My Hybrid Creature - By Percy H Room 14 My paws pounded on the earth, my breath billowed in small clouds on the frosty winter breeze and my flanks heaved in exhaustion. Closing my eyes, I let the cool wind ripple over my broad, muscular shoulders. I swished my tail once more over the ground before I lunged. Flexing my claws so I could almost feel the rough flesh of the antelope, seeping into my sleek, black, paw fur. The antelope's shrill scream shattered the deathly silent night and the thud of hoops and paws on the hard earth triggered a quavering in the delicate moonlight, caught in pools of gathered water. As my hind legs hit the ground, my powerful jaws clamped around the rump of the antelope. It threw its head to the swath of stars above, yowling with terror. Legs waving about blindly, as if they were tentacles, loose from an octopus, it landed in a flurry of giant, lethal hooves, a tangle of gnarled horns and a tousle of dusty fur. At the same moment an even bigger animal hurled itself out of a clump of ferns. Curling its lip in a snarl to reveal rows of sharp, serrated teeth, gleaming like gold in the silver moonlight. The newcomer swiped at me with a huge paw and unsheathed claws, that seemed to cackle with wry laughter. Then, nothing. My rasping breath came in choked spasms and the blood gurgled in my throat. I had brought down an antelope and had been rewarded with death, from a tiger. Beating my small, black wings, furiously trying to fly off, my paw caught on something sharp. Letting out a howl of shock I sent a silent prayer to my ancestors: Please. At least let me die in peace. What Am I? |
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