Chinese Language Week, and the Tuvalu Language Week.

 你好

Nǐ hǎo

 

Fakatalofa

Hello to everyone.  This week is both the Chinese Language Week, and the Tuvalu Language Week.  I hope you enjoy the activities online.  We are now in the last week of a very unusual Term 3, and I would like to thank the staff for all the work they are doing to keep an online school environment up and running.  I also want to acknowledge the students who are turning up day after day to the online sessions to extend their learning.  Well done everyone.

Throughout this week the staff will be meeting to plan for Term Four.  Just to show you what an  online staff meeting looks like, it looks like this….

….very different from face to face, but at least everyone is still smiling.

We are desperately hoping Term 4 will start in Level 2  (though Level One would be even better), on Monday 18 October.  School is slightly different at Level 2 with social distancing, strict hygiene standards, and class ventilation procedures.  Masks can be worn but are not mandatory.  We also request that every student brings their own drink bottle to school with them.

You will all be aware that our Prime Minister is seeking to get 90% of Aucklanders vaccinated as soon as possible.  Please note: there is no cost to receiving the Covid vaccine.  The Mt Roskill Healthcare on Stoddard Road, and the Stoddard Road Medical Centre are the two closest places to school to get the vaccine.

Take care everyone.

Hope to see you all face to face very soon.

Mr Nigel Davis

Tumuaki / Principal

Wesley Intermediate School

Amazing Te Reo Maori Language Week Assembly

 Kia ora everyone.  

What an amazing Te Reo Maori Language Week assembly this morning.  Kia ora and thank you to our assembly team for putting this together.  I was very impressed with the amount of Te Reo Maori spoken by our tamariki and staff.  It was also great to see parents and past pupils taking up the opportunity to participate.  It was awesome to have Whaea Mel from the Northern Territory in Australia as our guest speaker, and I appreciate what she shared with us. 

I would also like to commend our students and staff today for the increase in digital and editing skills, even since last week, which enhanced the online assembly. This was truly a Learn, Create, Share event. Ka pai everyone.

We now have some certainty regarding the school holidays. I received the following announcement from the Ministry of Education this morning.

The school holiday dates will remain unchanged. They will start from Saturday 2 October and Term 4 will start on Monday 18 October.
 
The Minister has carefully considered advice on how moving term dates presented challenges that would have had a wider and long-term impact by disrupting curriculum and activity plans already in place for students, whānau and educators.
 
Keeping the holidays as they are will avoid adding stress and anxiety to children and their education and wellbeing.
 
The Minister was also aware that an extended length of Term 4 for Auckland would add to fatigue among your students and staff at the end of a school year.

Next week there is a high possibility that Auckland will move to Level 3. While there is not much change between Levels 3 and 4, it does mean that we are getting closer to returning back into a full school environment at Level 2.

tēnā koa tiaki ia koe

me te atawhai

Mr Nigel Davis (tumuaki)

Maori Language Week begins today

Kia ora everyone.  This week we are celebrating Maori Language Week and I want to encourage everyone to get involved in the activities similar to last week when we celebrated Tongan Language Week.  Once again I am setting a blogging challenge and prizes will be given out to those students who complete three blogs this week based on Maori Language Week activities. As with other language weeks, this week is held to promote our indigenous language and celebrate Maori culture.  Everyone is encouraged to learn some te reo Maori and where possible experience the Maori culture.  Lets see how creative we can be to do this in a Level 4 lockdown situation.

I do want to thank the students, parents, staff and community members who joined us in our special online assembly last Friday where we celebrated Tongan Language Week.  At one time during the assembly we had 62 screens open, with people participating.  I also know that some of those watching online had siblings and parents watching, so in reality we probably had approximately 80 people attend this online event.  A huge thank you to those who actually participated and shared aspect of the Tongan Language Week to us all, plus a huge thank you to the students in the assembly team who put this together.

In closing, as a cancer survivor, I would like to thank Mrs Haioti for her support for the Cancer Society Daffodil Day. Mrs Haioti had the courage to have her hair shaved as a way of encouraging people to support this cause.  If you would like to support her fundraising efforts please contact her via ghaioti@wesleyintermediate.school.nz

tēnā koa tiaki ia koe

me te atawhai

Mr Nigel Davis (tumuaki)

REMEMBERING MS LYNLEY LEILONA.

Today we finish our 3rd week of lockdown. Earlier this week I received the sad news regarding the passing of Ms Lynley Leilona who worked as a teacher aide, sports coach and mentor at Wesley Intermediate School. Lynn was also a well known community member through her work at Mt Roskill Grammar School as a tutor, and she also supported a number of schools in training up their Niuean cultural groups.

I remember Lynn with great fondness and love. She would do anything for any one in need. I vividly remember the time when she 'adopted' one of our students for approximately three months. This student wanted to stay at our school but government agencies wanted him to go and live with extended family in Northland. He was heartbroken to be leaving our school as he really wanted to graduate from our school at the end of the year. Our lovely Lynn took on the government agencies and battled her way through numerous red tape so that he could stay with her for the final three months of his Year 8 year.

Lynn had a huge heart, and even though she had been through so much following a very serious car crash that left her with all types of health issues, she cared more for others than herself.

In recent years she moved to Australia to be with her grand children, whom she loved dearly. She would ring me 3 -4 times every year to see how things were progressing in the Wesley area. This was her home and she missed it dearly. Approximately ten weeks ago she rang me to say 'Good bye' as the cancer that she had fought for so long had returned, and even though she was a fighter, I believe she knew her time was coming to an end.

I consider it a real honour to have known her. She blessed so many of us in so many ways, and she will be missed by many in the community.

Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go to her family. God bless you Lynn. Gone but not forgotten.

Photo: Lynn and Mr & Mrs Haioti celebrating our Niuean Language Week