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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

FREE SCHOOL LUNCHES FOR ALL AT GTS

School Lunch InfoIt is with great delight that we announce GTS joining the Healthy School Lunch Programme.

This means that every child in the school will receive a yummy healthy lunch every day of the school year.

All you need to do is provide your child with some healthy morning tea.

Please support us by not sending unhealthy food to school. We will be reminding kids during the first week of school the need to only bring healthy food. After that we will keep hold of any unhealthy food until the end of the school day.

We have Breakfast Club, Fruit and Milk in School as well as KidsCan snacks available to all kids. Trust me nobody will go hungry.

Any questions please feel free to contact me here at school.

Kia Kaha
Chris

Start of Year Reminders!!

Office is open for uniforms, stationery, enrolments and chromebooks (Year 3 – 8) at the following times:

Friday 29 January 9am – 12pm

Tuesday 2 February 9am – 3pm

Wednesday 3 February – School Opens for Learners:  Office Hours 8:30am – 3:30pm

Situation Vacant We are looking for someone to run our School Lunch Programme here at GTS.

About the Role:  We are looking for Catering Assistants to fill part-time roles, 15 hours per week (11am – 2pm) based at Glen Taylor School. These catering assistant shifts will be during the school day. Your role as a Catering Assistant is to:

Organising and distributing school lunches. (all lunches come fully prepared and ready to go)
General kitchen cleaning duties

Pay $22.10 per hour

This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of a team providing access to nutritious lunches across schools in Auckland as a part of the Ka Aro, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches Programme.

We would love to have someone from the GTS Community filling this role.

If this sounds like you either contact me at chrish@glentaylor.school.nz
or
Danielle Scott at danielle.scott@spotless.co.nz

There are heaps of bananas at the school office. Please help yourselves.

NO CHROMEBOOKS ARE TO BE BROUGHT TO SCHOOL TOMORROW! THANK YOU!

FAREWELL MR NIKS

As we come to the end of the year we unfortunately must say our farewell to Mr Niks. Mr Niks who has been in Room 12 since midway through 2019 has been a real asset to GTS. All the way from Canada, Mr Niks has certainly had an interesting time in NZ. From the measles, Covid Tests and lockdowns, the trustworthy van that wasn’t so trustworthy, lack of decent snow not to mention multiple moves from flat to flat, he certainly has showed a lot of resilience in his time at GTS which he has passed onto his learners.
Mr Niks will be making his way down south to Gore to take up a teaching position (well once the van is fixed).
A HUGE thanks to Mr Niks for all that he has brought to GTS. You will be missed by the entire GTS Whanau and we wish you all the best as you head to the deep south.
Kia Kaha e hoa!

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE END OF YEAR AT GTS

*. Wednesday 9 December: End of Year Reports go home.
*. Thursday 10 December: 2021 Class Swaps. Learners will meet their teacher for 2021 and spend about 30mins with them.
*. Friday 11 December: Principal’s End of Year Assembly – 9am
*. Friday 11 December: Last Day of School – finish at 2:45pm
*. Tuesday 2 February 2021: Teacher Only Day
*. Wednesday 3 February 2021: First Day for Learners

Great Opportunity to Engage in Reading over the Holidays

Summer reading, sorted
5 January – 5 February 2021

Read and relax this summer with fun and flexible reading challenges for the whole whānau or just for you!

From 14 December, register for your chance to be in to win great prizes from Specsavers, passes for Auckland’s top attractions and more!

https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/summer-reading-sorted.aspx

FREE measles immunisation will be offered on Dec 9th between 9.30am and 1.30pm at the Glen Innes Health Centre, 272 Apirana Ave, Glen Innes.

Information about Pop Up Clinic

https://m.facebook.com/minhealthnz/videos/57388470851054092/

https://m.facebook.com/minhealthnz/videos/350625263027099/

https://m.facebook.com/minhealthnz/videos/694806887813857/