Matahui School students glad to be back
He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
There is nothing more important in this world than people; and as our students returned from lockdown on Monday 18th May, that was felt throughout the school. Without the students, parents, teachers and support staff, a school is a lifeless place. The noise of happy children filled the air, and even our neighbour took the time to mention that it was a lovely sound.
We are glad to have the students back and to return to some sense of normality. Our parents did an amazing job being teachers, mentors, mums, dads, guides and councillors during the lockdown, alongside continuing their own work and amongst job insecurities. We would like to acknowledge the teachers for their dedication and unwavering support of their students, our office administrators for holding it all together and the Board of Trustees for their support. Matahui School Principal, Mary Woods, met with the school Board weekly during lockdown and provided regular updates from the Ministry. Collectively they made decisions for the way going forward.
The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education have provided all schools with recommended guidelines for operation during alert level 2. These guidelines include observing social distancing, using hand sanitiser before entering classrooms or the office, washing your hands, sneezing and coughing into your elbow, the recommendation that parents should stay off-site if it is unnecessary for them to enter the school, and completing the contact tracing register whenever someone enters the school site. Some children experienced heightened anxiety on returning from lockdown, so parents were encouraged to stay as long as necessary during the handover. We would like to thank all the parents, staff and especially the students for continuing to follow the recommended guidelines, it is not always easy and can be challenging in a school environment.
We would also like to welcome the newest members of staff to the Matahui whānau. Mr Andrew Sharpe is the new teacher in our Kauri classroom teaching Year 7 - 8; and Kristine Aitchison is the new marketing manager and office administrator.