May 21, 2020

Riversdale School Newsletter Term 2 Week 4

Welcome: Fergus Blacktopp, Daisy Lawrence, Winter Silcock, Cruz Davidson.

Farewell: Coby and Mckenna Wilson.

Tena Koutou Parents, Caregivers and Whanau.

Hello everyone,

Kia ora e hoa mä.

He aroha whakatō, he aroha ka puta mai.

If kindness is sown, then kindness is what you shall receive.

It was so exciting to meet and greet all classes on Monday. The children were delighted to be back to school, and I know you will all be enjoying some ‘school routine’ in your households. Getting out of bed and organised in the morning seemed a common challenge for some children, but they will soon get into the routine, like all of us.

Thank you parents and whanau for your support of our health procedures at this time. The staff

and I really appreciate you dropping the children at the gate where possible, and also ticking the contact tracing registers if you enter the building. We do miss seeing you, and hope that the move to Level 1 is made sooner rather than later. We will not be having a mid-term assembly, however if the move to Level 1 is made before the end of this term, we will host a community assembly then.

I am very happy to be back at school. It looks like many children have grown significantly taller, and feet have grown bigger. I enjoyed my sabbatical, and am very thankful to the Board of Trustees, staff and community for supporting this.

During Term 1, I applied for, and was appointed to the joint leadership of the Eastern Southland Kahui Ako Community of Learners. The Board supported my application. This means that I will be out of the school on Wednesdays and Miss Harper will lead the school on this day. Mrs Blatch will be the Room 5 teacher on Wednesdays.

I received information from the Health Nurse in Gore about symptoms to look out for, and to encourage Covid-19 testing if they show any of these:

A cough.
A high temperature (at least 38C).
Shortness of breath.
A sore throat.
Sneezing and runny nose.
Temporary loss of smell.

They must go home and stay home.

To arrange a test, call Healthline on 0800 3585453 or your G.P. There should be no cost, and results are available within 24 - 72 hours.

Ka kite ano

Workshop and Food Technology at NSC (Manual) news…

Our Years 7 and 8 children will start their technology learning at Northern Southland College next Friday, 29th May. They attend from 9am until approximately 1pm. The bus collects them from school at

9.00am. Lessons start at 9.25am and go until 12.25pm. They then bus back to school. They are split into their year levels, and one group does workshop technology while the other does food technology. After 10 weeks they swap over. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Tiffany Przewieda or me.