CORONAVIRUS – ADVICE FOR PARENTS
For all COVID-19 Updates see the school website: https://www.middleton.school.nz/latest-news/
The best way to help your children deal with ‘scary’ events – earthquakes, pandemics and even family emergencies is to stay calm and in control of the situation yourself.
- Turn off the TV and don’t let children feed off the media ‘frenzy’. The news media love to dramatize and sensationalize events, and this creates worry and fear. You should be the source of information for your children, not the news media
- Model resilience by making positive statements about what you will do. Example: “I’m going to wash my hands carefully every time I use the toilet and before I eat, so that my hands are really clean”.
- Choose carefully the key messages that you communicate or model to your children. Example: Instead of saying ‘lots of people are dying of coronavirus’ (which isn’t true in NZ) it would be much better to say, ‘Most people will be fine’.
Example: Instead of keeping your children home from school out of fear, send them to school and keep them as calm, worry free and happy as possible. (Remaining at home when it’s not necessary sends a message of fear)
- Pray with your children and focus on gratitude and thankfulness in your prayers
IS OUR SCHOOL LIKELY TO CLOSE?
At this stage we have no plans to close the school. However, we are preparing ourselves for ‘remote learning’ in the unlikely event of school closure. We are thinking about how we would support parents/caregivers by providing resources for children to learn when they are at home. These would only be provided in the case of school closure.
There are some steps that you could take now as a precaution, in case this happens.
- Check that your child’s login and access to Reading Eggs, IXL or Mathletics is working properly and that they can access it from home. Let us know if you are having any problems.
- Ensure that you have a good supply of reading materials and ‘activity materials’ so that children can read, draw, paint, bake, solve puzzles, create things with cardboard, glue, sellotape etc. Audio books are also a great resource, but don’t rely solely on digital resources for suitable activities.
- Download the Microsoft suite of programmes onto your home computer – these are free to all our students and include WORD, Excel, Powerpoint, Teams and One-note. These would be useful for older Primary School students. Free access is available by using your child’s school email address (every child has one) and their password. The email address is surname, followed by initial @middleton.school.nz For example, David Smith’s email would be smithd@middleton.school.nz You can get the password by phoning or emailing Primary Admin. We can tell you what it is.
- If you’re not a member of your local library, join up, and ask about e-books. Most libraries have free apps that give you access to a huge range of e-books. You can download them without leaving home.
ARE WE DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY AT SCHOOL?
We are following advice from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. We have cancelled large gatherings, such as assemblies, at present. If your children use Wednesday 2.30pm supervision, consider picking them up at 2.30pm if you are able to. We have talked to all our students about hygiene and hand-washing and put up signs to remind them.
Inter-school sporting and cultural events have been cancelled along with events such as Easter Camp and our Senior Formal.
We are strongly advising parents who have unwell children to keep them at home until they have completely recovered. Many common illnesses such as colds and stomach bugs are not related to Coronavirus, but it’s better to keep everyone as healthy as possible.
Thanks for your help in keeping children calm and focused on the positive.
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’ John 14:1
Kind regards
Rod Thompson (Head of the Primary School)
