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January 2012.

Happy New Year to you all.

I do hope you are enjoying the summer and getting plenty of time outside.

Our school starts back on Wednesday 1st of February. Our site has not been affected by recent aftershocks.

Term 1 starts off with plenty of swimming and our school Triathlon will be held on Friday the 17th of Feb.

The concept theme this year is Innovation. Our Term 1 approach will be to define what this is for our pupils and study some local or New Zealand examples of innovation.

During February we'll be advertising to fill our Fixed Term position for Room 2 (year 4&5 pupils) this is currently advertised with the Education Gazette online and in print. If you are a teacher with specific skills and experience at the Year 4&5 level please check out our advert at: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/ or visit our About Us section of this website and click on Teacher Vacancies.

We'd love to see your application.

Cheers.

Christian Couper.

What we do when there's a quake during school hours.

Our first priority is the immediate safety of our pupils and staff. We Drop, Cover and Hold. More specific information can be found for children at http://www.whatstheplanstan.govt.nz/earthquake.html
Our next decision is whether we continue the school programme or evacuate.
Recent shakes of the larger magnitude have meant that the school has been evacuated to the court area and a lot of the children’s parents and caregivers have arrived at school and been very keen to take their children home. This is totally understandable and we sign out children with their family as they leave. Children remaining are well cared for by staff until parents or caregivers collect them.
After evacuation or in the case of any hazards we do not return children to their classrooms immediately.
Our staff endeavour to make rapid contact to any parents that have not already contacted the school to inform them that their child is safe and to get information for their child. We have found that when the power goes down, the ability to text to families and friends has been very good.
When the children are safely home and the school site has been emptied the Board, Principal and Caretaker complete the required safety checks as advised by the Ministry of Education and/or Civil Defence, if they have taken control. We are under the Christchurch City Council area, so any requirements that they expect, we also follow.
Following a major aftershock, the school is usually closed for safety checks. When the Board, or authority in charge is satisfied that all of the required systems have been checked or can be managed, we re-open the school.
To re-open we must have a safe operational site and confirmation that our staff is able to return to work. The Board then make their decision to re-open.
Information is usually called through to parents via the phone tree as soon as possible. Our Board members do a great job calling down each line of the tree. If you have not been called and there’s no message left, please contact a friend, check our school’s website www.littleriver.school.nz or contact the Board member, whose name is at the top of your column.

Please contact school if you are not intending to be at your home number. You can leave a message on our school phone 03 3251 004, or send me an email at principal@littleriver.school.nz

If you intend to keep your child home due to quake anxiety, please contact the school office in the morning to let us know, as you would for other routine absences.

We totally understand if your children are not ready to return to school and need to be at home with family as they recover from new test of their nerves.

Take care.

Christian Couper.

Principal.

A couple of useful websites for home learning:

Please refer to the Ministry's website for further updates and useful advice.http://www.minedu.govt.nz/

http://whenmyhomeshook.co.nz/ - a collection of children's writing about their earthquake experiences.

http://www.studyladder.co.nz/ - a learning website with activites and games across a range of learning areas. Once you're signed up it's easy to use.

Helping Families Through Tough Times.

http://www.theparentingplace.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=236

Earthquake and Aftershock Support Information.

http://www.skylight.org.nz/Earthquake+Aftermath+Support