Notices

Dear Parents/Caregivers

The forthcoming Parent Teacher Conferences are primarily designed to achieve the following:

• To allow both parties to share aspirations and goals for the rest of the year
• To discuss your child’s start to the school year
• To share your child’s learner selfie profile (information will be shared regarding this)

Discussions will be limited to 10 minutes.  Because of a very tight interview timetable it is essential that you arrive on time.  This conference is for parents only and children are not expected to be involved.  

The school code you will need to enter is 9mrkj.  You will need to enter your details and choose your child’s classroom teacher. If internet access is a problem or you need help please contact Janine or Lisa in the office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or phone on 536 6570. This will need to be done by Friday 9 April.

Kind Regards 

Mark Keenan

Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

I am sure you were as pleased as I was to hear the Prime Minister’s announcement about moving to Alert Level 1 on Friday.  For us this means there is an extremely low public health risk from the virus at Alert level 1.

As a school we will continue to maintain our good hygiene measures such as regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces and washing of hands. It is no longer necessary for children to sanitise their hands on entry and exit to rooms however this will still be available. It is very important that if your child/ren are unwell they stay at home.

At level 1 there are no restrictions on personal movement and contact tracing registers are no longer required. Early pick up times for our Year 1 children will no longer continue and school will finish for all children at 3pm. 

Parents are welcome to come into school however we are encouraging parents to continue to drop off in the morning at the school gate. As a school we believe this encourages increased independence and confidence in your child/ren and for many parents a much quicker and easier school drop off. From a school perspective we notice a positive impact on the start of the school day for students, teachers and parents. Senior Leaders will continue to welcome children at the gate in the morning.

We are supporting contact tracing by having QR code posters at our entrances – so if you haven’t already downloaded the NZ COVID Tracer app the Ministry of Health’s NZ-COVID Tracer app page has information to help you do that. We encourage you to use this if entering the school grounds. 

As always during school hours please ensure you go to the school office and not directly to your child’s class.

Finally, we look forward to having parents attend our Junior School swimming sports on Friday morning,  school assembly on Friday afternoon and wish the senior school all the best for their camp this week. 

He waka eke noa

Mark Keenan

Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

It was a big relief to hear we are moving back to Alert Level 2 at 6am on Sunday. We look forward to welcoming all our students and staff back onsite from Monday 8 March. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for all their hard work with providing distance learning programmes this week and the staff who were onsite supervising children at school. Also to all the parents/caregivers for the way you have supported your children with their learning at home.  Thank you!

The two key public health control measures are to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing. This means minimising the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and secondly, ensuring we can identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with a person, if someone in a school is infected.

As a further measure, to avoid the spread of the virus, face coverings are mandatory when using public transport at Alert Level 2 and above. Face coverings are not required at school at any alert level. Any students or teachers who wish to wear face coverings at school may do so, if they wish to do so. They are entitled to make this decision and should not be criticised for doing so.

Preparing for a return to school:

We have all the necessary hygiene practices in place. You can help prepare your child/ren by talking to them about :

• Good hygiene practices which includes everyone coughing into their elbows
• Regular handwashing and drying
• Sanitizing hands, all children will be required to sanitize on entry and exit to classrooms
• Respecting others space and staying outside others  breath zone – not getting to close to each other
• No games where they touch one another at break times. As part of the return to school we will be teaching some distance games children can play
• No sharing of food
• Please do not bring in any balls, toys etc from home 
• Having their own named drink bottle - school fountains are closed
• Drop off/Pick up routines outside the school gate

Very importantly, please keep your child at home if they are sick, even if it is a slight sniffle, sore throat, cough or fever. We will send anyone home immediately if they show any symptoms.

School site

Strict contact tracing protocols will also be in place throughout Alert Level 2 so that we know who is at school, who our staff and students have been in close contact with and we can take appropriate measures to keep everyone safe. We need your support with this as follows:
 

• For year 2 students and above, we request that parents and caregivers only enter the school grounds if it is absolutely necessary. Please do not walk with your child into the school grounds or enter the school grounds to collect them. Organise a place outside the school gates to collect your child after school.
• For our Year 1 students a separate email outlining drop off and pick up protocols will be sent to all parents. Again we ask that drop off and pick up is from the school gate unless absolutely necessary.
• If you do come on site for drop off or pick up you must sign the contact register that will be located outside your child’s class.  This is essential. You must pick up and drop off as quickly as possible to limit your time on site.
• During drop off and pick up times please do not walk through the school office.
• The QR code for the COVID tracing app is available at all entry points. Please use this.
• If you do have to come to the school during the school day the only access point to the school is through the office. Under no circumstances are parents or caregivers to go directly to classrooms. 
• Any appointments with staff members need to be made by prior arrangement.
• Playgrounds and the school pool are out of bounds outside of school hours and cannot be used. 

Please start to prepare your child for school. If you have any concerns for your child, please make contact with their teacher or our deputy principals Mr Steve Harper-Travers (Year 5-8) or Mrs  Kate Deane (Year 1-4).

Kind Regards

Mark Keenan

Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

With the announcement of a move  to Alert Level 3 from 6am this morning please take the time to read the information below.

Our full distance learning programme will be in place from tomorrow morning. Face to face online teaching sessions will begin for students. We would like all students to attend these sessions. The expectation is that all students try their best, complete the work they are able to and have fun! Learning will also look different for each household depending on your situation. Please do not put pressure on yourselves when it comes to completing distance learning. Teachers will be in contact today regarding this. 

Any essential worker who will need to send their child/ren to school will be able to do so. Any students requiring a device or hardpack for home you will be able to come and pick this up from school  tomorrow morning between 9-11am. So we can prepare in advance please fill in this Google Form before 8pm this evening. If coming to school to collect a device or hardpack please line up outside the school office and please keep 2 metres distance from each other. 

A reminder that under NO circumstances should any child be sent to school unwell or without prior arrangement with the school. As a school we continue to abide by the key principles of maintaining physical distancing, strict hygiene standards and robust contact tracing protocols. 

Stay safe and take care.

Kind Regards

Mark Keenan

Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

We are aware that a very small number of our school community are being asked to isolate for a period of time as a precaution, as they have been at a location of interest at the same time as someone who had COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health website has the current list of locations of interest. 

Please check the table on this webpage to see if you or someone from your household was at any of those places, at those times.

If the answer is no, no one from your household has been to those locations at those times, then you don’t need to do anything more. 

If the answer is yes, someone from your household was at one or more of those places at those times, then they will need to follow the advice in the “What to do” column. You can see that the advice is different depending on whether someone was a customer or staff member, or a household member

If you have symptoms but have not been to a location of interest stay home and call Healthline for advice on 0800 358 5453.

Please be reassured we have good systems in place with our cleaning, good hand hygiene practices and contact tracing systems and we take the health and wellbeing of our community very seriously. We will continue to follow all public health advice and ask you to do the same.

Thank you all for doing the right thing for our community.

Mark Keenan

Principal

Dear Maraetai Beach School Families

The Board of Trustees is requesting from all families a donation per child for the 2021 school year.  

The Board of Trustees has reviewed the donation request policy and has decided to keep the donation structure as outlined. Our intent is to gain a high level of uptake by all of our families whilst still keeping this an affordable cost. 

Below is the donation structure:

1 Child - $230

2 Children - $415

3+ Children - $520

Maraetai Beach School is a Decile 10 school. As such, we receive the lowest possible level of funding from the Government to run our school.  The Government currently funds schools (decile 1 – 7) $150 per student in lieu of seeking parent donations.  Maraetai Beach School does not qualify for this as we are a decile 10.  Maraetai Beach School does rely on donations to ensure the schools’ finances and resources work in the best possible way and we can continue to deliver a high quality education for every child. Your donation forms a vital part of the finance plan, included in our budget and resource allocations for the 2021 school year.

Receipts will be issued for all donations so that you can claim back the tax if you wish.

Examples of where our school allocates your donation include (but are not limited to):

• Funding of additional teaching staff not funded by the Ministry of Education to keep our class sizes low
• Extra funding of Learning Assistants not funded by the Ministry of Education, to assist all students including those with learning and support needs
• Funding of additional support and extension programmes not funded by the Ministry of Education
• Maintenance and operation of our school pool which is not funded by the Ministry of Education
• Curriculum resourcing to ensure the best for our students
• Digital Technology equipment including resources for our robotics programme

In order to provide the best possible opportunities for our children the Board sincerely hopes that they can rely on your continued support and payment of the school donation. 

Activity Cost

Payment

Thank you for your ongoing support

Simon MacKechnie                 Mark Keenan

Finance, Board of Trustees                 Principal, Maraetai Beach School

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A Personal Tax Rebate may be claimed from the Inland Revenue Department for up to ⅓ of all donations made to state schools and other charitable organisations.  To claim the rebate you must keep your receipts and send them to the Inland Revenue Department with your claim form.  Each receipt must be for $5 or more.  Claims must be submitted to the Inland Revenue Department on an IR526 claim form (download from www.ird.govt.nz).

Activity Cost 2021

EOTC and Camp Costs

Year 3 – Big Foot Adventure 9 April $60

Year 4 – Chosen Valley 8 – 9 April $135

Year 5&6 Carey Park Christian Camp 17 – 19 March $295

Year 7&8 Raglan 11 – 14 May TBC

Optional Costs

School Yearbook $25

Additional Science Badges (for Intermediate students who wish to $7ea

complete in excess of the 2 provided).

These costs may be paid for in bulk, or as they occur, depending on your preference using Kindo.