Kia ora e te Whānau,

Next week is an exciting time for Ilam School. We are so pleased to be celebrating our Cultural Week, a highly anticipated event in our calendar. We are looking forward to having our tamariki share their culture with the school community. We have linked our learning for the coming week to our School Vision, especially the I-Belong, Kua Whai Tūrangawaewae Au petal.

Following on from Cultural Week will be an Inquiry around Our Place. Each School Zone will be learning about our local area, linking to our Cultural Narrative. We will share more about this in the coming weeks.

Last Thursday some of our Senior Students attended the Swimming Sports at Jellie Park. While it was held with limited numbers involved it was a great success. A big thank you to parents and staff that helped out on the day to ensure its success. See further below for some photos of the event.

Over the last week we have experienced a few more positive cases, our current total being 12. Thank you for being so supportive, and for the many positive messages we have received. Ensuring you are well informed and that your children are kept safe is our priority.

Please do note the COVID section of this Update, as it further explains our steps through Phase 3 of the CPF.

Our attendance remains high. It is wonderful to see our learners thriving in their learning both inside and outside of their classes, playing in their School Zones.

We continue to ask that if you need to collect your child during the day that you come to the office, not your child’s classroom. We will be happy to help you out with your requests.

Noho ora mai/Stay safe

Belinda Kennedy and the Ilam School Team

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In this Update, you will find information on the following

• Support for Ukraine

• Cultural Week information

• Introducing Sue-Ellen Smith - Our new Ilam School Receptionist

• Covid-19 Phase 3 - Our steps at a glance, coming onsite and what to do after isolation as a household contact

• Community Dental Service Suspended

• Upcoming events

• Some cool learning @ Ilam

• Term Dates

I am sure, like me, you are saddened by what is happening in the Ukraine. Our thoughts are with our Ilam School whānau members who are impacted.

We are mindful that this may be having an impact on some of our learners, especially those who are from, and have family and friends in the Ukraine and Russia. Manaakitanga or kindness and respect for our learners who may have European connections is especially important in these very challenging times. Our school has supports in place for learners who may be impacted, and we encourage anyone with concerns to contact us. I have had requests from whānau asking if we can support them by hosting a non-uniform day and asking for a gold coin donation.

As we have our Cultural week planned, we thought Tuesday would be a good day to show unity. If you are able, please send along a gold coin donation to support Ukraine. Our donations will be passed on to the Ukrainian Association of NZ Southern Regions through a verified GiveALittle donation page set up by the Ukrainian Association of NZ Southern Regions: link. Here is also their website and a Facebook page.All donations are going towards the purchase of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and ambulance vehicles. For example, this post shows the most recent shipment from Poland.

14th - 18th March

We are so excited to be announcing that the Ilam School Cultural Week has returned….but not as we know it!

We have a number of activities that each School Zone will participate in. However, one special date for the calendar is always our Cultural Day. While it will look different this year, we intend it to be a wonderful event.

Cultural Day will be held on Tuesday 15th March. Children are encouraged to wear clothes that represent their cultural heritage.

The new "office lady"...a message from Sue-Ellen

My family was originally from South Africa and we immigrated to New Zealand 9 years ago. We first arrived in Christchurch and loved it here for nearly 4 years. My husband was then transferred through his company to Auckland. We kept longing to return back to Christchurch, so we decided it was the right time to return this year.

My husband and my 3 boys keep me on my toes, I think that is why I love the busy office / reception position that I am in... I started as the office administrator at my son's school in Auckland and when we decided to relocate back to Christchurch I was very fortunate to take up a similar role at Ilam School. I am already feeling so welcome, thank you! Even though I know the office / reception position here, it may take a couple weeks to find my new feet. Please be patient with me...

On a personal note... I enjoy a good laugh, you will always find a smile on my dial. I have a positive outlook on everything, nothing worries me. In my spare time I enjoy family day trips on weekends and a good chat with a close friend over a coffee.

I am looking forward to my future here at Ilam and I am always eager to help anyone, the best I can. I am sure I will meet you all in time. Until then...

Coming onsite:

Reminders when entering the school grounds:

• All adults must be wearing a suitable face mask and sign in using our QRCode when coming on site.

• All Year 4-6 children and staff must wear a mask when indoors. They can be taken off to go outdoors.

• Masks will be stored in our tote trays, a named plastic bag might also be helpful.

• If you want your child to wear a mask and they are in Year 1-3, we will support you in this, however, it is not expected. We will leave that decision to you.

• If you need to come to school during the school day, again, scan in, mask up and come directly to the office and we will help you out. This is especially important during the day.

Returning from isolation as a household contacts:

As per the Government guidance the period for people isolating with COVID -19 is being shortened from 10 days to seven. This will come into effect from 11.59pm Friday 11 March, if they are well enough to return to work/school.

If your child is returning to school after being a household contact, and they have completed the required 7 days’ isolating but family members subsequently have tested positive , they do not need to extend this isolation period.

Learn more: What does it mean if I’m a household contact?

To manage this risk, it is important that if the student develops symptoms they stay at home until they are symptom-free and have returned a negative test result. Alternatively, they could be managed as a case without any need for testing.

It’s important that anyone with symptoms remain at home until they are symptom-free for at least 48 hours.

Please be assured that the current measures in place (masks, physical distancing and ventilation of rooms) in schools continue to provide high levels of protection from infection in a school environment.

Kia ora,

Due to the pressures on our health system from Omicron, we are suspending delivery of Community Dental Services within the Canterbury area effective Thursday 10^th March 2022. We will be redeploying our teams to support the delivery of essential health services.

We will be closing our clinics and removing our mobile dental vans from schools over the next few days and redeploying these to help in other areas.

Could the following be included in your newsletters or sent directly to parents’ mailboxes?

Community Dental Service is suspending some of its services from 5pm Wednesday 9^th March 2022 to provide support to the Canterbury health sector in response to Omicron.

We will continue to provide relief of pain clinics by appointment only from Thursday 10^th March. You can access these appointments by calling our Contact Centre on 0800 846 983.

For any dental advice please call the Contact Centre on 0800 846 983.

Kind regards,

Julie Denton

Service Manager

On Tuesday 22 March the children will be having their school photos taken. The photos that all children will have are; individual photos and a class photo. There will also be photos taken of the House Captains, School Council, Cultural Leaders and Road Patrol.

School Photos will be taken in the hall on Tuesday 22 March. If you have more than one child at the school and wish to have a sibling photo taken, please complete the following ‘Sibling Photo Request Form’ by Monday 21 March. If you have any difficulties in filling in the form please don't hesitate to contact the office staff.

Within a few days of the photos being taken we will be sending home a sample photo of your child (this includes sibling photos if requested) with information on how to order photos.

Room 7 has had a great time during our walk or wheel activities this week.

Senior School Swimming in action!