PRINCIPAL UPDATE - 25 August 2021
Dear parents & caregivers of Tatuanui School,
I hope this finds everyone well. I know for many farming families life continues on unchanged. For those of you who are having to work from home instead of the normal workplace, I hope you are managing the adjustment - my next-door neighbour who is a builder is not - he yelled out over the fence that he is frustrated and bored because he said he can’t fire a nail gun into his computer. As for me - my dining room table resembles my office so dinner on the knee in front of the tv is happening more frequently than usual.
I have a sense that this lockdown is less stressful than the last. Perhaps it is because the teachers were well organised and ready to go onto distance learning programmes. I would like to thank them for their commitment to the well-being and education of the children they are responsible for. Likewise, I would like to thank all of you for supporting the teachers and of course supporting your children during this time.
Just a reminder: children can not work on devices 24/7. It is our professional advice that students spend 10 minutes at a time on a device and then have a 5-minute break. The maximum time on ‘device’ school work would be one and a half hours a day. Don’t forget, you need to allow time for physical activity, the Arts etc. Some ideas for fun learning could be;
Lego construction
Baking
Writing letters
Playing games – monopoly, cards, boggle, scrabble,
Construction/building,
Puzzles
Playdough – make and use
Science experiments
Watch documentaries – e.g. David Attenborough
Lots of play-based learning
Click here for the Ministry of Education Learning from Home resource. Click here for TVNZ Tv home learning
I am currently working on our plan for when we move down alert levels and will be in touch again shortly.
Be safe.
Kindest regards,
Denise Jones (Principal)