End of Term 1, 2020
Kia ora whānau,
Thank You!
Today is the last day of Term 1 for 2020. The Board of Trustees would like to formally thank our teachers and staff for the extraordinary work they have done this term to support our children and their learning while we all grapple with the impacts of the Covid-19 global pandemic. The team has done an incredible job putting together resources and support for our Whānau and students to access at home while we all play our part in shutting down this global threat.
Thank You!
Today is the last day of Term 1 for 2020. The Board of Trustees would like to formally thank our teachers and staff for the extraordinary work they have done this term to support our children and their learning while we all grapple with the impacts of the Covid-19 global pandemic. The team has done an incredible job putting together resources and support for our Whānau and students to access at home while we all play our part in shutting down this global threat.
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The Board of Trustees would also like to extend our gratitude to you, our parents, for helping us at this important time. We only had 15 children of essential workers at school on Tuesday and 5 on Wednesday, which I think is testimony to how seriously we as a community are responding to the call to do everything we can to help.
The Ministry of Education has also asked us to thank our community for ensuring that we don’t use the school grounds, which are closed until further notice as part of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response. |
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Education Review Office
You will be forgiven if you missed that Sumner School took part in its cyclical ERO review last week. The final report will not be available to parents until late in term 2, however, we were extremely pleased as a Board with the preparation completed by our teachers and staff, and the extremely professional way they conducted themselves during the ERO review visit.
The review is an important part of the governance structure within our education system and provides a critical external check for the School, community and Board on every facet of the school’s procedures and processes. As such, the School’s Leadership Team and staff have had additional responsibilities to provide meaningful data and information to the review team and to respond to a plethora of further requests for additional information and evidence. It was ‘surreal’ to say the least to be taking part in this with the high levels of uncertainty that swirled around whether school’s would remain open as we moved through the phases of our national response to the pandemic.
In addition to the staff, the Board would also like to thank the review panel themselves who also managed to maintain their focus and professionalism during a very trying time. The Review Team provided a verbal summary to the Board of Trustees at the end of last week’s review. It was clear from this report that the review team was impressed with the school's coherent vision and the progress that is being made against its goals. We look forward to reviewing the written report in Term 2 and responding to any areas for future development.
School’s Financial Position
Sumner School has always maintained a strong balance sheet and as such we are well positioned to weather this storm and the next. However, like many in our community and across New Zealand and the world, the School is also financially impacted by the pandemic. The Board’s financial sub-committee will meet over the school holidays to better understand the scale of this impact. This time of year is normally when we ask parents for their school donations, however, we have delayed this until later in Term 2 to give our community a chance to understand their personal financial positions first. The school will make some savings on running costs while closed, however, we think it is likely this will be more than offset by lost income from PTA fundraisers and International Students. Thank you as always for your ongoing support and we will be in touch on school donations later in term 2.
Term 2
While the physical school site will still be closed, Term 2 Distance Learning starts back on Wednesday 15 April. Our staff will be back then to support parents and students working, learning and living from home.
Juggling financial pressures, work and children can, at times, feel quite overwhelming (argghhhhhh it’s only day one), however, it is also an amazing opportunity to spend time connecting with our kids and doing our part as New Zealanders to protect our wonderful country. Enjoy your whānau and take care of yourselves.
Be kind, we're all in this together.
You will be forgiven if you missed that Sumner School took part in its cyclical ERO review last week. The final report will not be available to parents until late in term 2, however, we were extremely pleased as a Board with the preparation completed by our teachers and staff, and the extremely professional way they conducted themselves during the ERO review visit.
The review is an important part of the governance structure within our education system and provides a critical external check for the School, community and Board on every facet of the school’s procedures and processes. As such, the School’s Leadership Team and staff have had additional responsibilities to provide meaningful data and information to the review team and to respond to a plethora of further requests for additional information and evidence. It was ‘surreal’ to say the least to be taking part in this with the high levels of uncertainty that swirled around whether school’s would remain open as we moved through the phases of our national response to the pandemic.
In addition to the staff, the Board would also like to thank the review panel themselves who also managed to maintain their focus and professionalism during a very trying time. The Review Team provided a verbal summary to the Board of Trustees at the end of last week’s review. It was clear from this report that the review team was impressed with the school's coherent vision and the progress that is being made against its goals. We look forward to reviewing the written report in Term 2 and responding to any areas for future development.
School’s Financial Position
Sumner School has always maintained a strong balance sheet and as such we are well positioned to weather this storm and the next. However, like many in our community and across New Zealand and the world, the School is also financially impacted by the pandemic. The Board’s financial sub-committee will meet over the school holidays to better understand the scale of this impact. This time of year is normally when we ask parents for their school donations, however, we have delayed this until later in Term 2 to give our community a chance to understand their personal financial positions first. The school will make some savings on running costs while closed, however, we think it is likely this will be more than offset by lost income from PTA fundraisers and International Students. Thank you as always for your ongoing support and we will be in touch on school donations later in term 2.
Term 2
While the physical school site will still be closed, Term 2 Distance Learning starts back on Wednesday 15 April. Our staff will be back then to support parents and students working, learning and living from home.
Juggling financial pressures, work and children can, at times, feel quite overwhelming (argghhhhhh it’s only day one), however, it is also an amazing opportunity to spend time connecting with our kids and doing our part as New Zealanders to protect our wonderful country. Enjoy your whānau and take care of yourselves.
Be kind, we're all in this together.
Ngā mihi nui
Sumner School Board of Trustees
Sumner School Board of Trustees
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