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School Lunch Dietary Needs for Term 2

Now that we are one term into the School Lunch Programme, Spotless who are our suppliers are updating their records and we need the following information sent to the school by the end of the week.

If your child has any of the following needs please let us know by Friday 16 April.

*. Vegetarian

*. Vegan

*. Dairy Free

*. Egg Free

*. Gluten Free

*. Gluten Free Vegan

Thank you to those who have already let us know.  Please include:  Child’s Name, Room, Dietary Need

Please email to office@glentaylor.school.nz

sKids Holiday Programme. Click on the link for a look at the awesome activities for the holidays.

sKids Holiday Programme

Talanoa Time Questions:

The format of Talanoa Time will be the same as last year. Here are a set of questions we would love for you to think about and come ready to discuss with us next Thursday 8 April.

Talanoa Time Information and Questions

Talanoa Time (Formerly Goal Setting Evening) Thursday 8 April 1:30pm – 7:30pm School will finish at 12:40pm

This is an opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher and share with them any information that will help us ensure your child get’s the best possible education this year. We want to know what is going well for you, what challenges you have and how we can work together so your child succeeds in everything they do.

To book use the link below
https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code?code=f74q7

Akomanga Tāpoi Presentation

Thank you to everyone who came along to our 1st ever Akomanga Tapoi on Tuesday. It was great to see so many of you supporting your child’s learning.
Here is a copy of the presentation I shared in the staffroom outlining some of the successes we have had and some of the exciting plans for GTS.

View

BARRIER ARMS FULLY OPERATIONAL AT GTS!

Today we went fully operational with the Navarre Rd Barrier Arm. We now have both entrances to the school controlled by Barrier Arms. We were forced to install these due to the number of non-staff members driving into the school grounds causing issues for the safety of our tamariki, access to and from school for staff and the number of people driving into the school grounds at all hours of the night often causing a disturbance to our neighbours.

We have a number of different groups who use our school grounds and we are now able to control who comes onto the school grounds. Access is only given to those who work at GTS. If you are a parent you will need to park on the street and enjoy the short walk onto the school grounds.

It is unfortunate that some staff were verbally abused this morning as they tried to simply get to their place of work. Surely we all have the right to get to work without being abused by members of the public. ALWAYS REMEMBER THE REASON WE HAVE PUT THE BARRIER ARMS IN IS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILDREN!!

We make no apologies for you having to park on the road.
We do understand that Navarre Rd is very tight and often very busy. We have had discussions with Police, Auckland Transport and the Ministry of Education about the state of the road. Rather than getting upset I encourage you to put your frustrations in writing and and send to me. I will then send them to the Police, Auckland Transport and the Ministry of Education.

Kia Kaha Whanau
Chris

REMINDER: TONIGHT Akomanga Tāpoi is on here at GTS from 3pm – 5pm.

Classes will be open for you and your child to come in to meet their teacher, get shown around the class and the rest of the school.
I will be sharing a very short presentation about some of the big ticket projects that we are undertaking. This will be held in the staffroom at 4:30pm. The topics I will cover are Property, Staffing, Covid, 2021 Targets.
You don’t need to book just turn up between 3pm – 5pm.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
Kia Kaha
Chris

Akomanga Tāpoi

Akomanga Tāpoi (formerly known as Family Fun Night. Tuesday 30 March 3pm – 5pm.

Bring your child along and get them to take you on a tour of their classroom as well as the rest of the school.
You will also have the opportunity to meet your child’s teacher.
The School Leadership Team will also be sharing with you some of the exciting initiatives the school will be undertaking in 2021.

No need to book just come along next Tuesday 30 March.

Kia Kaha

Akomanga Tāpoi Notice

Healthy Active Learning Survey

If you have a spare 30mins before Thursday and want to complete this survey feel free to do so.

Apologies for the short time frame but we only receicved it yesterday.

https://massey.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e5SnfFUZmmyyFJb

Free Learn to Ride a Bike Day – This Saturday

FREE Learn to Ride a Bike Day

Auckland Transport is offering free Learn to Ride a bicycle sessions to children, and we have a session coming up in your local area.  We would love it if you could share details of these free sessions with your wider community networks, perhaps through your online platforms.

The upcoming Glen Innes session will be held at Glenbrae School, 103 Leybourne Centre, Glen Innes on Saturday 20 March 2021, 10am – 12pm. 

The session is targeted at children from 2yrs old (to approx. 8yrs), to give children and their parents/guardian skills to support the child on their cycling journey, whether learning to ride or improve their skills and confidence.  Sessions are completely free and we bring bikes and helmets for children to use during the session, if they are unable to bring their own. 

Sessions are pop-in style, so no need to register and you can stay for as long (or little) as you like.

Marist Rugby Club are looking for players in the following grades.

*. The small kids (Under 5/6/7)
*. Under 8 Tackle (Under 8 Restricted seems to have the interest at the moment, Under 31kg)
*. Under 9 Girls Rippa
*. Under 9 Girls Tackle (New Grade)

We have the following Intermediate teams
*. U12 Restricted- Under 52kg
*. U13 Restricted- Under 59kg ( Troy Hola plays in this group)
*. U13 Capped- Under 80kg
*. Year 7 & 8 Open- Any weight

We are also keen to get the following
*. U13 Girls Rip Rugby
*. U13 Girls Tackle

If interested Contact:
Hamish Fraser
Rugby Development Officer
Marist Brothers Old Boys Rugby Club
M: 021 031 6665 T: 09 570 5361
E: rdo@aucklandmarist.co.nz

Emergency Procedures Lockdown Exercise at GTS

Dear Parents

Glen Taylor School has been working with an independent company, Harrison Tew®, who specialise in Emergency Management Plans for schools and educational facilities.  The procedures implemented allow us to respond safely and quickly to a range of circumstances. 

Our entire school, including our students, have all participated in training sessions and the response and interaction was very positive.

Today on the Thursday 11 March, we conducted a school-wide lockdown exercise under the guidance of Harrison Tew®.  We are pleased to inform you that our students responded safely, maturely and with a nature of controlled urgency.

The lockdown is now a part of our emergency procedures.  We will be implementing emergency protocol exercises each term to ensure all staff and students remain familiar with our processes.

Should you hear of a lockdown or evacuation at the school, can I please ask that you do not attend the school or phone, as we will not be able to respond.  Your presence or contact may make it more difficult for us or the emergency services to manage a situation.

Any information pertaining to an emergency occurring at the school will be updated on our website as regularly as possible.

We believe that these procedures that we conduct for lockdowns and evacuations should be deemed in a positive light, as it places us in excellent stead should one occur.  It is important that we practice these, as we don’t want our first lockdown to be the real one.

 We thank you for your support.

Chris

School Lunches – Dietary Needs

We are now well underway with our School Lunch programme. It has been very successful so far and we have received some great feedback. Thank you to those who have provided their feedback.
Our next step is to ensure that all dietary needs are being met. Please read below what is already happening to cater for several dietary requirements.

Please have a read of the below information which should better explain our simplified menu:

STANDARD ALLERGEN MENU: All menu items on the allergen menu are free from NUTS, SEAFOOD, MAYO, TURMERIC, STRAWBERRY, KIWIFRUIT, PEAR, FEJIOA, GRAPEFRUIT, MUSHROOM. Children with these allergies will be provided a meat containing meal with no additional substitutes needed.

DIABETIC: Allergy meals not required. A standard non-allergen meal will be provided. We are working to create nutrition information on each of these meals to ensure children can balance their insulin appropriately where needed.

VEGETERIAN/VEGAN: All students with an allergen who do not eat meat will be provided a vegan meal. No vegetarian allergen options.

ALLERGENS NOT CATERED FOR: While every effort has been made to cater for all allergens, some are not able to be accommodated. Students with allergies to FOOD COLOURING, CAPSICUM, TOMATO, CITRUS cannot be accommodated. Standard Allergen Diet may be appropriate on certain days only. Please give me a call if you require any further clarification on this.

NOT INCLUDED IN ALLERGEN DIETS: Students who have restrictions on meat choices are not included in allergen diets. Students with the following diet codes are to receive the main menu NO RED MEAT, PORK, BEEF. Receiving vegetarian option when meat is not appropriate.

ALLERGIES TO COMPLIMENTARY ITEMS: Students to receive standard allergen menu with fruit substitutions where needed. This includes
NO BANANA
NO KIWIFRUIT
NO PEAR
NO PINEAPPLE

If there are any other dietary requirements your child may have please email me with the details. chrish@glentaylor.school.nz

School is Open from Monday 8 March 2021

We have once again come back to Level 2. Great effort everyone for taking on board the instructions and ensuring we are working together as a team.

We will be expecting all kids back here at GTS on Monday morning. (8 March 2021)

All devices that were taken home during lockdown must be brought back to school on Monday and handed in to the office where we will check to make sure everything has been returned in the same condition they were handed to you.

As we have now had 2 lockdowns this year we have decided that we will do an Art Focus this week. Please make sure your child has an old shirt so their uniform doesn’t get paint etc all over it.

Swimming will continue from Monday.
Swimming Timetable

School Lunches will also be back up and running on Monday. Reminder to only pack as healthy morning tea and a water bottle.

We are so proud of all the GTS Community for the way they got stuck in and supported each other to ensure we still had good learning happening. It was so good to see parents next to their child supporting them during the Google Meets.
How good was the assembly yesterday.

It’s fair to say that GTS has this Lockdown thing sorted! Not that we want anymore!

Reminder information
To keep your whānau and everyone else safe it’s important to remember Alert Level 2 means you need to:
Keep your distance from other people when out in public.
Wear a face covering on public transport and wherever you can’t maintain a physical distance of 2m from others when out in public.
Stay at home if you are sick; don’t go to work or school and don’t socialise.
If you have symptoms of a cold or flu, or aches and pains, call your doctor or Healthline and ask about getting tested.
Keep washing your hands.
And keep track of where you’ve been at all times.

Here is our Level 2 Health and Safety Plan 

Level 2 Community Health and Safety Plan

Let’s keep in top of everything to ensure we are back to Level 1 as soon as possible.

Kia Kaha
Chris

Whole School Assembly today at 11:30

NEWSFLASH!Rm 5 is hosting our whole School Assembly at 11:30amSee you online! #clever #confidence #fun #lockdownwontstopus
meet.google.com/fwt-nmpi-auf

Whole School Assembly tomorrow at 11:30am

NEWSFLASH!
Rm 5 is hosting our whole School Assembly tomorrow at 11:30am
See you online! #clever #confidence #fun #lockdownwontstopus

Google Meet Link

50% Offer from Swim Magic Swim School

Swim Magic Swim School Offer

Need anything? We are in the office today from 10am-2pm.

Office will be open Thursday from 10am – 2pm for any technical support, inquiries or to collect devices if you haven’t done so yet.

A note from our Social Worker in Schools (SWiS):

Back in level 3 again! It is normal to feel frustrated, stressed, worried, or even just completely over it. If you or your children are finding it hard here are some ideas that might help:

Acknowledge the feelings – “you look like you are feeling frustrated”, let them know these feelings are okay – “It’s okay to feel like that”, connect and distract – “let’s find something to do together to help”.
Find a physical way to let some of that pent up energy out – turn on some music and have a dance party in your lounge for 10 minutes, do some star jumps together, push hard with both hands against the wall for 10 seconds.
Go for a walk outside and focus on your different senses – name five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste or create a scavenger hunt of things to look out for.
Practise birthday cake breathing with your children – take a deep breath in, and then blow out the candles. Try it a few times – it’s simple but it really works!
Cuddle up with a pet, a favourite soft toy, or something else soft and comforting.
Build something with lego or blocks.
Do some drawing or colouring.
Think about and share in your bubble some little things you are thankful for – this could be some yummy food, a favourite toy, technology, time with your family.

Routines! Stick to bed times, wake up times, shower and teeth brushing routines. This helps keep a sense of predictability and security for us all.

If you are struggling and need more support or a listening ear you can contact me on 02041830052 or amyb@glentaylor.school.nz

Keep safe and be kind to yourselves and others,

Amy

The office is open to collect devices. Rms 1, 3 & 4 we have iPads to loan.

Collecting Devices 9am – 12pm

GTS Office is open from 9am – 12pm today (Monday) for you to come up to school and collect your child’s device. If your child is in Room 1, 3 or 4 we will be allowing you to come and collect an I-Pad to assist with your child’s learning. We will be asking you to complete a Lockdown Agreement Form. Year 3 – 8 learners will have their Chromebooks ready to be collected. If you require a Loan Book please be aware we have no chargers left. If you have a charger please bring it in so we can give you the correct Chromebook.

When you come up to school please be aware that we have strict social distancing procedures in place.
*. Only 1 person per family to come onto the school grounds
*. Please line up using the cones as where to stand to ensure safe social distancing
*. Anyone who is unwell must stay at home and seek advice on getting tested
*. Whānau receiving these packages must wash their hands after opening them.

Home Learning will start Monday morning. There will be 2 Google Meets each day for learners.

Room 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10:

10:00am – 10:45am and
2:00pm – 2:45pm

Room 5, 6, 11, 12, 13
9:00am – 9:45am and
1:00pm – 1:45pm

Whole School Movement Time:
11:30 – 12:00

Teachers will also be updating their Class Sites which you can access through the School Website.

https://glentaylor.school.nz/class-sites/

If you have any questions are having issues with any of the online learning please contact your child’s teacher.

Kia Kaha
Chris

We are currently onsite at GTS to hand out Chromebooks and I-Pads. We will be here until 6pm. Come on down!!

Level 3: Here we go again!

Kia ora whanau

With further cases confirmed yesterday, the Government announced that the whole of Auckland will move from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 3 for 7 days hours from 6am this morning.

This decision was taken for two reasons – first it is not immediately clear how the latest person to test positive got infected and second, that person has visited several large sites while potentially infectious and it will take some time to identify and track down what could be a large number of people.

Level 3 means stay home to protect your household bubble and if you do have to go out, keep a 2-metre distance from people you don’t know. Where possible you should keep your children home from school for this period.

If you have to work and have no other options for care of your children please contact me asap so we can discuss options. To date we have appreciated your support by keeping your children home. chrish@glentaylor.school.nz or 021478212

We will activate our distance learning plan. Our priority is to stay connected to you and your tamariki. We will do everything we need to for your children and your whānau.

From 4pm – 6pm today (Sunday) we will be available for you to come up to school and collect your child’s device. If your child is in Room 1, 3 or 4 we will be allowing you to come and collect an I-Pad to assist with your child’s learning. We will be asking you to complete a Lockdown Agreement Form. Year 3 – 8 learners will have their Chromebooks ready to be collected. If you require a Loan Book please be aware we have no chargers left. If you have a charger please bring it in so we can give you the correct Chromebook.

When you come up to school please be aware that we have strict social distancing procedures in place.

*. Only 1 person per family to come onto the school grounds
*. Please line up using the cones as where to stand to ensure safe social distancing
*. Anyone who is unwell must stay at home and seek advice on getting tested
*. Whānau receiving these packages must wash their hands after opening them.

We will notify you later today about office hours for the coming week.

Your child’s teacher will send messages out later today updating you with all you need to know for Home Learning.

For all of our community, we need to keep ourselves, family and whānau safe. It’s important we follow the rules.

If you aren’t sure if you have been to a place where someone with COVID has visited – please go to the Ministry of Health website for the ‘Locations of Interest’. Check the date and time of each location listed in the table and if you were there at the same time, go to the right column on the right to see what you need to do.

COVID-19 symptoms can vary a lot with each person, so while we are familiar with the following symptoms:
• a new or worsening cough
• fever (at least 38˚C)
• shortness of breath
• a sore throat
• sneezing and runny nose
• temporary loss of smell.

Some people may present with less typical symptoms such as only one of the following:
• muscle pain
• fever
• diarrhoea
• headache
• nausea/vomiting
• confusion/irritability.

If you or your whānau experience any of these symptoms, please contact your GP or Healthline (0800 358 5453) for advice and get tested if advised to do so.

As the team at https://www.allright.org.nz/ Say: It’s all right to feel over this right now but we all know what to do, we have done this before and we will do it again, together.

Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions.

Kia Kaha

Chris
chrish@glentaylor.school.nz or 021478212

Room 11’s Assembly Online at 9am

This mornings assembly hosted by Room 11 can be viewed using the following link:
meet.google.com/fwt-nmpi-auf

Who doesn’t love a bit of Torpedo 7 Gear. Especially at 50% off!!

Torpedo 7 50% Off Flyer

We Are Back To Level 2 – School Open For All – Thursday (tomorrow)

Well Done GTS Whanau. Today the Prime Minister moved Auckland down to Level 2 as of 11:59pm tonight – Wednesday 17 February,

This means that GTS is open and all learners are expected to attend unless sick. Please have a read through our Level 2 Health and Safety Procedures. There have been a couple of adjustments from last year so take the time to familiarise yourself with it.

School Lunches will be back to normal from tomorrow so no need to send your child to school with lunch.

We are due to start our GAAAP Swimming Sessions (Yr 3 – 6). It is part of the school curriculum so expect all learners to be in the water with the instructors developing their confidence in and around water.

Can all Chromebooks and Chargers be returned to school tomorrow. We would like to get a stocktake on everything. Due to the uncertain times of Covid we will be allowing those who have completed the Kawa of Care (majority of Year 5 – 8) to take their Chromebooks home again. We will be starting our in school Chromebook Cleaning every Friday this week. Please make sure your children are treating their devices with care and respect. The state of the majority of them at the ned of last year was truly appalling. Let’s all work together to ensure your child gets as long as possible out of their Chromebook, saving you money!!
(Year 3 and most Year 4’s will still be leaving their Chromebooks at school until they have completed the Kawa of Care.)
Thank you to everyone who was so understanding of our decision to take the drastic measure to leave Chromebooks at school. It was a difficult decision but one made with everyones best interests at the centre.

Glen Taylor School – Health and Safety Procedures for COVID-19 – Level 2

Website Up and Running

All technical issues with the website and links are now sorted. You should be able to access the google meets and class sites following the previous post.

CONNECTING TO MEETS AND SITES ISSUES

Kia Ora Whanau

We seem to be having some technical issues with getting our Google Meets up and running.

We are also in the process of changIng our website over to our new and improved site. This is also causing some technical issues.

Our IT Team are frantically trying to solve the issues.

Thank you for your patience.

Will keep you updated with any information as it comes to hand.

Kia Kaha
Chris

ONLINE LEARNING AT GTS

Morena Whanau
The following is how learning will look here at GTS for the next few days.

Teachers will be running 2 Google Meets per day at the following times:
Room 1, 3, 8, 9, 10:
10:00am – 10:45am and 2:00pm – 2:45pm
Room 5, 6, 11, 12, 13
9:00am – 9:45am and 1:00pm – 1:45pm
Here are the links to access the Meets
Room 1: Mandy Hu https://meet.google.com/pfi-yttk-kqn
Room 3: Aimee Litchfield https://meet.google.com/djg-ybfv-tjr
Room 4: Dee Karl https://meet.google.com/osd-mdcf-mmr
Room 5: Manpreet Dhaliwal https://meet.google.com/vep-mbba-ivn
Room 6: Pia Sok https://meet.google.com/jii-ahri-fkc
Room 8: Brittany Smith https://meet.google.com/nfn-rqrt-nkg
Room 9: Elena Terekhina https://meet.google.com/nsj-huqv-dhh
Room 10: Ronil Raj https://meet.google.com/smf-ycei-rpu
Room 11: Christine Tupou https://meet.google.com/uph-gwas-zcm
Room 12: Susan Pohlen https://meet.google.com/bhs-igfw-srf
Room 13: Mary Fonua https://meet.google.com/sdu-osmf-fdd

Class Sites with Teacher Planning can also be accessed via the School Website. www.glentaylor.scholol.nz

If you are unable to access any of these sites please make the effort to read to and with your child at least twice a day.
Any issues please let your child’s teacher know.

Kia Kaha

Office Open for Chromebook Collection

We are currently on site here at school for those who were unable to collect Chromebooks last night.
We will be here until 2pm this afternoon.
Thanks to everyone who has been coming in to collect them. Your patience and sense of humour has made it a lot easier on us all.

Kia Kaha Whanau

Chromebooks can now be collected.

Those who have purchased a new Chromebook please phone the school to find out if yours has arrived.  We are currently setting up the ones we have so they can be used.

Office Open 8:15pm – 9:30pm to Collect Chromebooks.

Miss Wrack and myself will be at school from 8:15pm – 9:30pm to hand out Chromebooks to Year 3 – 8 Learners who have them. Please come to the main office to collect.

More info to come when I get to school.

GTS IN LEVEL 3. School closed for the next 3 days. (Unless you are an essential worker – see below)

As you may be aware, the Prime Minister has just placed Auckland into Level 3 as of 11:59pm tonight until 11:59pm on Wednesday. That means that GTS will be closed for the next 3 days. If you are an essential worker and your child has no choice but to attend school you will need to contact me as soon as possible at chrish@glentaylor.school.nz or text on 021478212.
Teachers will be working from home and we are currently working through what learning will look like for the next 3 days.

Watch this space.

Kia Kaha and stay safe.

Chris