A dad who says his young son was sexually assaulted at school by other kids is demanding greater safety for students and a guarantee no other children will be victimised.

The father, whose identity the Times cannot reveal for fear of identifying his child, believes Shelly Park School failed to determine the scale of the problem which involves at least four children aged from 5 to 7. The incidents began in about August 2018.

The parent went public in a social media post on November 26, 2019 “after mulling the whole situation over and becoming frustrated the school had done nothing to protect the victims or ensure any other students had been victimised”.

Shelly Park principal Brian Rolfe and Board of Trustees chair Brendon White responded to parents with a December 4 note – which the Times obtained a copy of – explaining that an extensive investigation had been carried out into this matter “when it first came to the school’s attention”.

“The NZ Police, Oranga Tamariki and Ministry of Education were involved,” the note said.

The school says in its note that the parent’s social media post was “inaccurate and emotive”.

“We are pleased to be able to reassure parents that this incident is not a current one as the posts infers. Despite requests to provide and multiple correspondence, no further information has come to light and no further incidents have been reported,” the school note says.

“Earlier this year the Board of Trustees received a complaint with regards to the concerning behaviours of a few boys from the junior school in the boys’ toilets. The Board was satisfied as to how the matter was investigated and dealt with by the school staff. The families of those involved discussed a detailed report of the circumstance with the Principal. We are confident the issue has been dealt with effectively and that it was not of a sinister nature. No older boys or adults were involved.

“The Board were in contact with the NZ Police and the Ministry of Education (MoE) but this matter was not shared with the general school population because it was not appropriate to reveal details of those involved for privacy reasons. However, we have been left with no choice due to actions of one parent.”

The school reiterated that the MoE decided no further action was warranted.

“It is damaging to have such activity occur on social media particularly when the posting does not reveal an accurate version of events,” the December 4 school note said.

“Please rest assured that we take these matters very seriously and work through with all parties (both internally and externally) to ensure that the wellbeing of the children are at the forefront of both our actions and associated communication.”

However the aggrieved parent believes the entire situation has been badly handled. He has even questioned whether the principal and BoT chair can keep their positions.

“I have been trying to persuade the Shelly Park School principal and chairman of the Board of Trustees to fulfill their obligation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the students in their care.

“I feel they have been, since its discovery, trying to downplay the events by referring to it as the toilet games.

“I have from the outset requested three seemingly sensible things for the school to be certain of:

1 Ensure the offenders are safe in their environments outside of school;

2 Make sure there are no other victims;

3 Put sufficient steps in place to prevent any more offending and ensure the safety of victims.

He maintains the reaction and investigation by the school has been handled in a way that has left “a lot to be desired”.

“Information that my son had since disclosed states that the boy named as the most victimised was, in fact, the instigator, coercing the boys into the toilets then threatening them.”

Last month his son was put into the same class as one of the perpetrators.

“This had a severe impact on his wellbeing as we had assured him that he wouldn’t be put in any situation with either perpetrator again and highlighted my concern that the school wasn’t taking this seriously enough. Or putting enough steps in place to ensure the health and safety of its students,” the parent said.

“On the 25th of November my son didn’t want to go to school as he feared that there would be put in the situation of being forced into the same class as a perpetrator that has caused him a great deal trauma.”

The parent was also unhappy with police with whom he laid a complaint about the school on August 26 “as it was obvious (Principal) Brian (Rolfe) had no intention of finding out the scale of the offending” (Mr Rolfe refutes this and points to many hours of investigations and interviews).

“The basis of this complaint was to ensure the safety of the students involved as recommended by the counsellor not to lay some sort of blame for their offending,” the parent said.

“I have raised concerns surrounding the police investigation with the Independent Police Complaints Authority as I don’t feel they have placed enough emphasis on the coercing or threatening nature of these actions.”

He claims the police completed an investigation without interviewing any victims or perpetrators.

Police this week confirmed to the Times they received “a report of concern relating to several young children at a primary school earlier this year”.

“Police take all reports of concern for children seriously and liaised with Oranga Tamariki on this matter.

Under New Zealand law, a child under the age of 10 has no criminal liability and the correct pathway for this matter to be dealt with was between the school, the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki.”

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A kids’ lab was set up at the University of Auckland to allow primary school children to conduct science experiments in real-life labs.

More than 450 Auckland primary students – including children from Farm Cove Intermediate School  and Pakuranga Heights School were scientists for the day in the University’s School of Chemical Sciences. Seven schools participated over three days.

The children, aged between 6 and 12, carried out hands-on, safe and colourful experiments under the supervision of scientists from the University.

Locally organised in partnership with chemical company BASF, the programme provided primary school children from a range of deciles with the opportunity to explore the wonders of chemistry in daily life.

The children experimented with:

Super Absorber – super absorber polymers demonstrate that some chemicals are able to hold several times their weight in water.

Insta Worms  – instant thermochromic worms allows kids to observe the relationship between heat and thermochromic dye and how polymers are formed. 

Recycling Dirty Water – different methods of separation are used to remove impurities from wastewater.

Colours in Nature – kids learn how colour from vegetables, fruits, or flowers can be extracted, and that this natural colour changes easily with variations in acidic or basic level. 

The University of Auckland’s Dr Peter Swedlund, who co-presented the annual event with laboratory manager Katrina Graaf, said there is a budding scientist in every child.

“Engaging students with relevant science experiments opens their eyes that science relates to everyone and can be the start of a lifelong passion,” Dr Swedlund said.

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Pakuranga College students are celebrating a basketball training session alongside the NZ Breakers.

On Wednesday December 4, thanks to Fuji Xerox, a mix of Year 9 – 11 students from the school learned how to slam dunk and shoot three pointers with New Zealand’s best basketballers.

Students trained with community coaches and then watched the Breakers as they ran a skills and drills session at the Mairangi Bay training facility.

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A spotlight has been shone on achievements in the youth of Botany, Ormiston, Howick and Pakuranga at the inaugural East Auckland Youth Awards — an event organised by the Howick Youth Council.

The awards, which are supported by the Howick Local Board, were held on Saturday and saw the celebration of achievements in the categories of sporting, arts, the environment, leadership, service and community. Judging was conducted anonymously and done in collaboration with the local board.

The ceremony was held at the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club in Half Moon Bay Marina.

The prize-winners were:

The Sporting Achievement Award was presented for significant success in sporting pursuits — this may have been regional, national or leadership success in their chosen sport. Nicola Bebelman won this award for her achievements in the world of ice figure skating. Runner-up: Bryan Shi.

The Cultural Pursuits Award was presented for demonstrating a high calibre of skill while participating in cultural activities. This was awarded to Selena Guo, for her numerous leadership contributions to cultural activities within her school. Runner-up: Alanah Munn.

The Arts Achievement Award was presented for significant success in both the visual and performing arts. The winner of this award went to the ZEAL Barbershop Quartet, an acapella group formed in 2015 who has competed in numerous national competitions. Runner-up: Xixi Lin.

The Environmental Award was presented for demonstrating a willingness and commitment to the service of the local environment during 2019. This was also awarded to Selena Guo, for her numerous leadership contributions to environmental action within her school. Runner-up: Abigail Lowe.

The Service to the Community Award was presented for demonstrating a willingness and commitment to the service of others. This award was shared between two winners, Alchimae Prasad-Khan and Hussein Al-Rufaie. Runner-up: Mikayla Madden-Snoad.

The Community Leadership Award was presented to a young person who demonstrated leadership within their communities in 2019. The winner of this award was Henry Lockhart for his work within his school, as a prefect and student representative. Runner-up: Selena Guo.

The Project Award was presented to a group or young person who demonstrated entrepreneurial skills in running a project to benefit the local community. This was awarded to Millad Rashidi for his work in the local community.

From the prizewinners above, one young person was also judged to be East Auckland’s Young Person of the Year. This award was presented to a young East Aucklander who excelled at a high level in multiple pursuits.

Based on these criteria, East Auckland’s Young Person of the Year for 2019 was presented to Selena Guo for her contributions to cultural pursuits, environmental action, and leadership within her community. Runner-up for this award was Mikayla Madden-Snoad.

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Water Safety New Zealand, Auckland Council, Drowning Prevention Auckland and a number of Auckland water safety partners are working together this summer to prevent further drownings at popular summer spot, Hunua Falls.

The Falls is one of the focus areas of the Auckland regional water safety plan, a collaborative plan to better co-ordinate efforts and activities in Auckland, with three fatalities recorded at Hunua in the last three years and huge numbers of visitors over the summer months.

A pilot programme is underway this summer to better educate people about the dangers at the falls, with onsite water safety advisors stationed at the falls over the summer months. Data will also be gathered to gain better insights into visitation and activity at the site.

Hunua Falls boasts the highest number of preventable drownings for Falls in New Zealand since records began, and despite onsite warnings, people continue to lose their lives unnecessarily.

“Hunua Falls while a beautiful spot is also incredibly dangerous” says WSNZ CEO Jonty Mills. “Like all of our waterways everyone needs to be aware of the risks. It’s our hope that this work at Hunua will help us better target important water safety messages to those who may come to the falls and prevent further drownings.”
Auckland Councillor and Parks, Arts, Community and Events Chairperson Alf Filipaina says that the number of deaths at the falls are alarming. “We want people to come and enjoy the beauty of these incredible falls but people need to realise that the falls are unsuitable for swimming”.
Cr Filipaina says that education is important and having an on-site water safety advisors shows how serious the situation has become. “Too many people have died here in the past. We want to do what we can to see no more families suffer the loss of a loved one here”.

Drowning Prevention Auckland CEO Nicola Keen-Biggelaar says the water safety advisors are a great way to educate visitors about the dangers. “It’s so important visitors do not underestimate the risks at Hunua Falls. We really want people enjoying what Auckland has to offer but we want them returning safely to their families at the end of the day”.

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SouthSci is now accepting funding applications for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related projects in 2020.

South Auckland schools, universities, community and iwi groups are encouraged to apply.

SouthSci’s aim is to show young people the value of science skills and to highlight career pathways through collaborations with local STEM businesses, researchers and engineers.

It particularly funds innovative projects that give young

people more opportunities to experience science and technology through hands-on activities and collaborative research.

Project manager Dr Sarah Morgan says you can apply for up to $20,000.

“This year we’d would love to see projects focus on solid data collection and have a plan in place to use that data to drive meaningful change in your world,” she says.

Previous examples of projects funded by SouthSci have included the design of a water self-sufficient living space for a family home conducted by Willowbank School and monitoring and trapping pests to lift birdlife numbers at Hunua School.

Dr Morgan says the project teams are a collaboration between young people and scientists from universities and research organisations, working to complete their projects “which helps schools and community groups find expertise, knowledge and resources they may not otherwise have had access to.”

There are a set of criteria for applications. The project must have community relevance and participation; be tackling a substantive scientific question in active partnership with a scientist(s); and be offering enduring educational value and two-way learning for those involved.

For the best chance at designing a successful application, get in touch quickly by contacting Dr Morgan directly on 027 283 3412 or at STEM@cometauckland.org.nz. For more information visit www.cometauckland.org.nz /southsci. SouthSci is an initiative of COMET Auckland – Te Hononga Akoranga and Curious Minds – He Whenua Hihiri i te Mahara.

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The Good Home in Howick has given out thousands of dollars again to local schools.

Good Home Proprietor Barry O’Shaughnessy has been running his Dollars for Schools competition since 2012 “with a couple of years break in the middle”.

“It is very simple – I award points to each school whenever someone from a particular school dines at the Good Home between July and November,” he said.

“The one with the most points gets $3000 cash.”

To date he has donated at least $27,000.

This year’s promotion saw him give away $4500 cash at the end of the year with 12 schools participating.

The three winners were Howick Primary $500; Mellons Bay Primary $1000 and as Shelly Park School which received $3000

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Education

Schools in the Farm Cove cluster have joined forces to promote positive student wellbeing.

Farm Cove Intermediate, Wakaaranga School, Sunnyhills Primary School. Elm Park Primary and Pakuranga College have joined together to promote positive wellbeing in their schools and in the Farm Cove/ Pakuranga community.

On Tuesday January 29, Adrienne Buckingham, from the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience will host a one-hour presentation “Kicking for the surface’ which will focus on what wellbeing is, why it is important and she will share practical, evidence-based ways to support wellbeing.

The event is being held in the Farm Cove Intermediate hall from 7 pm-8 pm. Tickets to the presentation are limited.  Tickets $10 at Eventbrite.

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A local Pakuranga cricket fan was excited to meet his heroes on Sunday (26 January) when he joined Captains Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli for the pre-match coin toss on the pitch prior to the Blackcaps vs India match.

Eight-year-old Sachetan Ippa, who attends Pakuranga Heights School and plays for Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club, won the ANZ competition to be the Coin Toss Kid which involved joining the two team captains on the pitch before the match. Sachetan said, “I started playing cricket when I was about one so I have always loved cricket.

“I felt so lucky to be chosen as a Coin Toss Kid and be able to meet my two favourite cricket players. I practice all the time because I want to be a Blackcap when I’m older.”

ANZ Pakuranga branch manager Natalie Wang said Sachetan was one of 28 young cricketers selected to take part in the pre-match ritual this cricket season.

“Young Kiwi cricket players are often inspired by New Zealand’s professional players, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to meet their sporting heroes. We hope Sachetan and all the Coin Toss Kids winners have fun, enjoy the experience and are inspired to continue to play the game,” she said.

The Coin Toss competition is one part of ANZ’s long-standing support of Kiwi cricketers.

Since 2009 ANZ has given almost $1 million to local cricket players, teams, fans, clubs and schools to help them reach their cricket goals, the bank said.

Cricket players, clubs, teams and fans across New Zealand can apply for grants or to take part in games as a Coin Toss Kid at ANZcricketworld.co.nz.

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Kiwi-born artist Ant Utama, a former resident of Cockle bay who now lives in Germany has just released a song in partnership with Lifeline Aotearoa.

It is aptly called ‘I Got Your Back’ and is inspired by the unfortunate suicide statistics in New Zealand. 685 people passed away in the 12 months prior to June 30th 2019. Males are among those at the highest risk with 72 per cent or 498 deaths this past year.

The song’s message is to encourage people to be more open and look at each other more closely and 100 per cent of the proceeds from the song are going to Lifeline.

“After moving to Germany 12 months ago, I was surprised to see how appalled Europeans were when they heard about these statistics. They imagine a green Lord of the Rings-esque landscape and an entire population that is high on life. This is sadly not the case for many people,” says Ant.

Hundred per cent of the proceeds from ‘I Got Your Back’ will go towards Lifeline in an effort to help them continue their mission to reduce distress, save lives and build more resilient and caring communities, schools and workplaces.

Currently, Lifeline supports more than 10,000 callers and 12,000 texters each month – figures that continue to grow exponentially.

With phones needing to be manned 24/7 by qualified counsellors and trained volunteers, this service comes at a cost and without government funding, Lifeline relies heavily on public donations to be able to continue to provide this necessary service.

Lifeline’s Community Fundraiser, Chloe Skeggs says, “For a musician like Ant to use his creativity and talent to ensure people in New Zealand continue to access life-changing support is incredible. Ant receives $0.006 per stream of the song on Spotify which means if every Kiwi streams the song, he would reach a donation total of $30,000.”

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Saint Kentigern College Year 11 student Ethan Fung has been awarded a joint equal ‘Top in the World’ for Cambridge IGSE Mathematics.

In the past, middle school students who had been accelerated in mathematics and had completed the Year 10 course as a Year 9, were offered the opportunity to sit the Cambridge exams in Year 10, prior to embarking on their senior school courses.

Last year, 25 of Saint Kentigern Year 10 mathematics students were studying above their year level. In the last year that Saint Kentigern offered students the opportunity to sit this exam, not only was Ethan ‘Top in the World,’ he scored 100 per cent as a Year 10 in an exam intended for students in the Year 11 age range.

Cambridge ‘Top in the World Awards’ are awarded by Cambridge Assessment International Education to learners worldwide who achieved the highest standard mark in the world for a single subject. The Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards programme celebrates the success of learners taking Cambridge examinations in more than 40 countries around the world.

At the end of 2019, as a Year 10, Ethan was awarded Dux of the Middle College. Last year he consistently achieved Excellence or Excellence Plus in his core subjects, which included Year 11 Science and Year 11 Cambridge Mathematics, with a total grade point average of 397. In 2019, Ethan also received a distinction award in the Australian Mathematics Competition and was placed in the Top 100 in the New Zealand Junior Mathematics competition. He was also awarded Academic Honours and his class prize.

Excelling not only academically, but in his varied co-curricular involvement, last year Ethan was also awarded the Badminton Singles Trophy as a member of the badminton premier team. He was a member of the Junior Premier Debating Team and a participant in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Musically talented, Ethan plays the clarinet in the symphony orchestra and was a finalist in the 2019 Solo Music Competition. He has also been a member of the Concert Band and the Lepidoptera Society.

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As Howick and districts count down to the 175th anniversary, the Times continues its series by Alan La Roche giving readers a glimpse of life as it used to be. The countdown began at the 170th in 2017

Corporal Thomas Heath died in January 1902 aged 87 and was buried in All Saints Anglican cemetery with full military honours. Thomas came from Trowbridge, Wiltshire in England. He joined the Royal Marines as a young man but was wounded fighting in Syria for which he received a Silver Medal and was discharged when only 27-years-old.

Only six soldiers per regiment of 100 men were allowed to marry while on service. When they were discharged, they looked for a wife. Thomas married Jane aged 22 years six months before sailing to New Zealand. His pension for military service was five pence a day for life which was a paltry income.

The Fencible soldiers and families on the Sir George Seymour sailed from London in August 1847. Thomas suffered from dysentery and the ship’s doctor gave him small doses of turpentine with opium with good results.

Sailing down the coast of Africa, a well-armed pirate ship circled the Sir George Seymour, forcing the captain to order all women and children below decks and soldiers in uniform to parade on deck. The pirates demanded, “what are you carrying and to where?” After three days the pirates gave up and sailed away.

The Sir George Seymour’s captain was greatly relieved as in the ship’s hold he had wooden crates of gold sovereigns and half sovereigns for 700 soldier’s pensions over their seven-year term of service in Auckland.

Thomas, Jane and other passengers were trans-shipped from Auckland to Waipaparoa-Howick Beach on December 16,1847 where local Maori helped build raupo whares until the Government built their wooden cottages.

Corporal Thomas Heath and his wife Jane lived in Wellington Street and soon had seven children. After Sergeant Patrick Pearce died, they moved in 1861 into his larger cottage in Nelson Street. Thomas was able to buy five acres in Gills Road, Pakuranga, for 10 guineas [just over $20] and grazed six head of cattle.

Making butter was a good income in the early years. Later potatoes and cabbages were profitable crops.

Thomas Heath was one of the younger Fencible soldiers and worked as a labourer for Anglican Reverend Vicesimus Lush on his Cockle Bay farm where he dug ditches for drainage and boundary fences, as well as harvesting wheat and oats.

His youngest daughter Sarah Heath used to clean All Saints Church and launder the priest’s surplice using the old-fashioned iron with a curved funnel kept hot by using red hot coals from the kitchen fire.

Their cottage and garden in Nelson Street (opposite Owairoa School of today) was bought after Sarah died in 1957 by the Howick Play Centre. But in 1968 the old cottage was demolished for a new building as well as the old orchard behind with camellia and holly trees that were in front of the cottage.

Thomas Heath’s wife Jane died in 1913 aged 88 and many of their descendants still live in the area today. Many of the hard-working but moderate drinking early settlers lived long and productive lives.

Alan La Roche

Howick Historian

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Nervous on her first day at school, Tracy Leader anxiously announced, ‘Please don’t just stare at me but come and shake my hand.”

The next thing she knew was every child in the school hall was shaking her hand and happily introducing themselves to the new principal of Anchorage Park School.

Now the newly anointed principal’s goal is to get to know every child’s name. And from the looks of it she is doing pretty well.

Meeting up with the little ones of Anchorage Park Kindergarten that are on their weekly visit to the primary school as part of an orientation programme, Leader knows each child by name.

“The transition of the kids is seamless as they come and spend some time with us once a week. Their school life doesn’t start at five years of age but from early childhood,” she says.

A former deputy principal of Pigeon Mountain School, Leader says that the transition from a big primary school to a more intimate one is something she is very proud of.

“When you walk around the school you realise how special it is. This small country school in the city that is tucked away in this pocket is so safe and secure. It has amazing facilities. The play area, the school grounds and we even have a wetland–our school is environmentally sustainable,” she says with pride.

“Some of our classrooms overlook an estuary with breath-taking views. But what our kids love most is our very own swimming pool. Children get to swim every day.”

Showing off the reception area of the school originally built in 1966, she says that when she first walked in the school she asked the staff if the area had been newly refurbished and was surprised to find that the entire school is in pristine condition.

Now her aim is to ensure that the roll is healthy. “We have no enrolment zone so all are welcome.”

Leader is also excited about growing the Enviroschool from bronze to silver and focus on the wellbeing of every child.

The commitment of the teachers is huge, she says.

“There is no one sitting in the staff room unlike big schools and during lunch time we have so many clubs including the kappa haka, card club, Stem group. Sports club, enviro gardening, swim club and art extension classes to name a few.

From the school choir participating in community to activities to organising a on Thursday March 12 she says that though she was sad to leave Pigeon Mountain she is happy to be here.

“Honestly I don’t have time to be sad, it is just go, go, go from the time I’ve been here.”

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Te Uho o Te Nikau school principal Mel Bland is exasperated by lack of action from Auckland Transport over a temporary pedestrian bridge and the implementation of digital speed signs, saying “a child could be killed” if measures are not put in place immediately. 

The school is pushing for a temporary pedestrian bridge to be built on Flat Bush School Road while a decision is made on building a long-term full vehicle/pedestrian bridge.

Currently, students as young as five have to cross a narrow bridge with no footpaths while cars speed past at up to 100km/h. The temporary bridge, which has a price tag of $1 million, was approved by Howick Local Board last year.

Recently there was yet another frightening near-miss on the bridge, witnessed by parents.

Bland said in an e-mail to AT’s team leader of road safety Adam Beattie: “The child would have most definitely have been killed and I have spent more time in conversation with my parent community.  This community is absolutely outraged.  They understand that you can’t control motorists but you do control roads, speed zones.. it has been three years we have been waiting for support to keep our children safe.”

Beattie did give a timeline for the completion of the bridge next year and suggested a stop-gap measure “It is my understanding that the new pedestrian bridge and associated footpath connections is anticipated to be completed by June 2021. He proposed to “narrow the bridge and approaches to one lane, and provide a temporary, segregated footpath until the new bridge is built. This may receive some negative feedback from drivers and other sections of the local community.”

There is currently an 80km/h speed zone in front of the school which the school wants reduced to 40km/h to bring into line with other schools in Auckland. The school has begged AT for electronic warning signs to be installed.

When quizzed about the implementation of the signs, Beattie said: “There are no plans for additional signs of this type to be placed outside the school. Additional warning and advisory speed signage will be investigated for the crossing point.”

As a result, the school has resorted to suggesting to AT that they (the school) should buy their own active warning signs, but Beattie poured cold water over the idea. “Cost is not the issue and it is something that we have budget for. The issue is that digital 40km/h signs require a bylaw to allow them to be legal speed limits and to allow them to be enforced. Also, the school has to meet criteria, which is set out in law, before a change can be made to the speed limit. These are national requirements and Auckland Transport does not have the authority to change this.”

There is also a desperate need to get a pedestrian crossing painted in front of the school.

In regards to this, Beattie said: “We will arrange for the zebra crossing markings and associated signage to be installed in the near future.”

Bland said constant delays and empty promises from AT had them considering removing speed signs from nearby Ako Place (which currently has no through traffic).

This common-sense approach was again shut down by Beattie who said: “No, they are necessary for the traffic management plan that the contractor has put in place…we will provide additional signs.”

At the date of publication, these additional signs have not been provided, and Mr Beattie has not responded to the Times inquiry.

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Schools in east Auckland were yesterday bracing themselves for news of possible closures due to coronavirus which would impact not just tens of thousands of students and teachers, but parents as well.

At the time of deadline, the Ministry of Education was expected to make a statement amid growing fear of the potential spread of Covid-19.

Most schools already have strict protocols for staff and students in place. The Times contacted several local schools. Not all responded to our requests for information.

Owairoa Primary School principal Alan McIntyre told the Times they invested a huge amount of time and effort trying to keep everyone safe.

“We’re determined “to be strong, act decisively and protect our students, staff and the parents.”

“We are abiding by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health guidelines and expect to hear today (Monday) what we need to do in preparation for possible school closure.

Some of Owairoa’s initiatives include a concerted effort to have all staff and students to practice safe and hygienic practices. The school has also engaged a nurse to take student temperatures and sent home students with identified higher-than-normal temperatures. The school has enforced self-isolation for students from at-risk countries.

They’ve also informed staff that they must wash their hands before entering the staffroom and purchased hand sanitiser, Dettol spray and antiseptic wet wipes for all classes.

The school cleaners are also making an additional effort when cleaning door handles, toilets etc and are using more cleaning products to stop any transmission of germs

Owairoa has also cancelled all assemblies and other major public gatherings canceled its PTA family picnic, and stopped daily school milk distribution.

“With the Government announcement over the weekend we are getting even more vigilant trying to maintain a healthy and hygienic environment at school,” McIntyre said.

“Public health warning signs have gone up around the school this morning (Monday) asking all new visitors to New Zealand not to come onto the school site and to self-isolate for 14 days.

“Things are moving fast for us but we are doing our very best to keep ahead of the virus.”

Pakuranga College told the Times that this stage (Monday afternoon) everything at school is learning as usual.

“However we are increasing vigilance around students who are sick and ensuring they stay at home (even this is usual practice),” Mike Williams, principal of Pakuranga College, said.

“We all have a part to play in preventing the risk of infection.

“Our school staff and leadership team remain well-prepared for the possibility of a case in our community. If that were to occur, we are confident we can put our plans into action and know that we will be supported by regional health authorities.

“We are fortunate that our digital environment means that any student that is away from school or needs to self-isolate can continue with their learning. Teachers already use the Google classroom application heavily and students can complete classwork even if they are away.”

Current measures employed at Pakuranga College includes a nightly anti-bacterial wipe-down of the main reception areas (reception, student reception, health centre, international department), messaging to the public on our entrance doors (including Chinese).

Hand sanitiser and tissues have been made available to all staff while the normal nightly cleaning by the cleaning crew is using biological cleaner.

“Regarding future plans, these will be dictated by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education over the coming days,” Williams said.

Pigeon Mountain Primary School principal Ian Dickinson said the school board had worked proactively to provide its community with up-to date information “and to articulate the steps we are taking in school to keep our students, parents and staff well”.

“As a school, we are very much directed by the Ministry of Education with regards to special measures arising from the COVID-19 outbreak,” Dickinson said.

“As a team of educators, we are embarking on discussions about how we can best support student learning in the unlikely event schools are closed for a prolonged period of time.

“Steps being considered are based on the array of resources we currently have and use for learning- things like Google Apps for Education, Teacher Dashboard, online applications such as Reading Eggs, Mathletics, and Basic Facts.”

Principal of Mission Heights Junior College Ian Morrison said that all the principals of the Flat Bush Cluster of schools met up on Monday and have pandemic plans in place.

“We are awaiting further guidelines from the Ministries of Health and Education and will communicate all relevant information to our community as and when this becomes available.

“The best message at the moment  is to reinforce the advice from the Prime Minister which includes considering whether overseas travel is essential and following advice about social and physical distancing, staying at home if feeling unwell and washing hands.

“We also appreciate the calm, positive and supportive manner in which our community has responded to the challenges emerging from COVID-19.”

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While it might not be the most conventional way to spend a Saturday morning, a group of fifty students from Botany Downs Secondary College  (BDSC) recenlty took to the streets on their annual street clean-up for national Sea Week.  The students were surprised at how much rubbish they found—including an old traffic cone and a shopping trolley!

Annie Chen, a Year 11 student commented, ‘’Cleaning up the rubbish felt very rewarding,’’ and said it was eye-opening to see the number of small pieces of rubbish that had accumulated on the streets.

 “It felt good doing something for the community,” said Year 9 student Olivia Dixon.

Olivia found it interesting to learn about how much of the rubbish they found that would have ended up on our beaches and in the sea.

All the students agreed that while picking up rubbish can hugely benefit the environment, not littering in the first place and avoiding the purchase of products with unnecessary packaging will make the biggest impact.

This clean-up was the final event at the College’s celebrations for national Sea Week that involved many sea-themed activities including music, a quiz and chalk drawings around the school.

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Between his wife Dawn and him they have taught for 101 years, says Kevin Peterson on the eve of his 93rd birthday.

Just a year younger than the Queen who will be celebrating her 94th birthday this week, the former principal of Cockle Bay School (1967-1984) says that he has lived on the same street in Howick for 62 years.

“So many people who pass by my house wave out to me and often you have 40-year-old ex-students saying, ‘Sir do you remember me?’ ” says Mr Peterson.

“This morning one of our former students dropped in at our home to hand over a box of gloves, mask and sanitiser,” he says.

“My wife was a teacher at Cockle Bay School for 43 years. Then she made the mistake of marrying the headmaster,” he says of his wife of 60 years.

“You ask any parent, and they will tell you that she was the best teacher they’ve ever had.

“In 1984, I moved from Cockle Bay School and taught one-on-one Maths to students who had difficulty at St Kentigern College. I retired as the age of 75. Prior to that, I was a teacher in Samoa.”

Cockle Bay School was established on September 3, 1956 with a roll of 217. The roll shot up to 796 in 1974 during the time Mr Peterson was principal.

“That’s the time they built Shelly Park School and some of the children went there,” he says.

To acknowledge the contribution he and his wife and made at Cockle Bay School, a new school block containing six classrooms and a multi-purpose area was named the Peterson Block.

Mr Peterson says the highlight of his life was being a teacher.

Reflecting on his childhood he says he was brought up in The Great Depression. “Those were very hard times. We had very little money and at the age of 12, I was a milk boy. I used to deliver milk before going to school. It didn’t upset me because families had to work very hard during the depression and all the kids used to work.”

He admits that even after 50 years, he still misses his mother who had great aspirations of her son becoming a teacher someday.

“My only regret is that I graduated as a teacher in 1947 and my mother died in 1948. It’s been at the back of my mind for all these years that she didn’t really get to see me as a teacher.”

Another special memory is of the Fulbright scholarship awarded to him in 1972.

“We got to go to Seattle with my wife and two sons for an entire year. In 1972 they gave me a permit to go to the US for 364 days to teach in a school there. It was a fantastic experience,” he says.

Talking about the change in teaching methods, he says “These days education is all online and I am a dinosaur, an old-fashioned man, reading-writing- arithmetic person, who only knows how to switch on a TV with a remote,” he laughs.

“But I’m very proud of the fact that my sons have done well. One is an engineer and the other a lawyer, and my grandchildren have also done very well academically.”

As for his 93rd birthday, he celebrated it with a box of chocolates that his granddaughter gifted him and a visit from Donald and Daisy Duck—organised by former student Bo Burns, a Howick businesswoman and Howick Local Board member – dressed up in costume to greet the much-loved teacher on his 93rd birthday.

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Pakuranga College principal Michael Williams says he is very disappointed with some educators saying they are not `babysitters’ as the nation moves closer to Alert Level 3 of New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown.

Strong opinions have been expressed in response to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announcing that early childhood centres and schools will be available up to Year 10, with attendance voluntary at Alert Level 3.

Educators annoyed at being put at risk as parents return to the workforce have made headlines saying they are not `de facto daycare centres’ or `babysitters’ and are being treated like ‘sacrificial lambs’.

The former president of the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand (SPANZ), Williams says it’s time educators stepped up.

“I’ve told our staff at Pakuranga College that this is the time to contribute and provide service to our community,” he told the Times between Google meetings with staff.

“So many parents have had it tough and are struggling. There’s been a lot of stress with people getting paid less or being made redundant,” he says.

“As businesses may start, we will do whatever it takes to help families out.

“Some of the parents are essential workers and they have worked day and night to look after our community and this is the least we can do as our Year 9 and 10 return to school.”

Williams says that the teachers have had it good as their salaries have not been affected and no one has lost their jobs.

“But there is a lot of financial stress in our communities and the lockdown has had a huge impact on families, which may not be very visible since we are all in our bubbles. It’s all the more reason for us to step up to the challenge and help parents.”

He says that in Level 3, the teacher’s role will be more of supervision. Students will continue to do online learning in small groups as they sit a metre away in class.

“It will be refreshing for students who have been isolated to have different people to talk to at school,” he points out.

“There will be no sports, cultural or leadership council activities but the students get to make some social connections which are good for our mental wellbeing.”

And while digital learning has been part of the college curriculum for a while now, Williams says they have been actively engaging with students online throughout the four-week lockdown period.

“The positives are that students are taking more responsibility for their learning now and are extremely engaged. We have been closely monitoring students—those that ask online questions and finish their project work and those who may not.

“I’ve asked my staff to follow-up not just by email but also by a telephone call if needed as human contact is very important.”

He says that some of the feedback from students was asking teachers to slow down.

“This has also given an opportunity for our students to do some base learning as internal assessments were pushed behind.

“I’m sure we will recover soon from all this and all students will be back in school in May as we will move to Level 2.”

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In light of the announcement made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about schools reopening tomorrow in Alert Level 3, and children of essential workers returning to school,  IAN DICKINSON, Principal of Pigeon Mountain Primary School reflects on the implications and the logistical challenge.

It’s unusual times for us and our biggest challenge, other than finalising numbers likely to attend, is identifying the staff able to attend (obviously, there are multiple situations affecting this large group of people); and then pinning down our systems for maintaining the safety and wellbeing of those who will be with us from Wednesday.

We are not actively encouraging our community to flout rules and attend school but we see ourselves now as an essential service, for essential workers- very much in-line with our school vision of providing ‘Education with a Heart’.

We will not make parents feel like outcasts or criminals when they have no option other than go to work. Some of the things I’ve read from some other schools have made me feel embarrassed to be an educator!

We have sent out a survey to the parents through our school website, Facebook, social media and emailed for them to let us know if their children who have no supervision at home (since their parents are essential workers) will be returning to school.

As a school, we will maintain safety for children, teachers and members of staff and for that we will develop a plan.

Prior to lockdown, we were lucky that we were planning about three weeks for this eventuality – a colleague overseas was sharing some useful materials about their planning in the event of a lockdown and we developed it further for our own community.

I spoke to our community on video, through Facebook and WeChat ahead of the new term, revisiting the plans/systems/structures we had initiated at the end of T1 when we were closed down.

Our teachers had already started the ball rolling ahead of the holidays break so we were able to just pick up where we’d left off to some extent.

A number of us maintained the connection with students and parents during the holiday break – little things like face-to-face meetings online, mini video messages every day, reading a story online etc.

We felt it was important during the early weeks of lockdown to do this to try and reduce stress and create a little ‘normality’ (if that was possible).

We attempted to identify our most needy parents in terms of devices before the holiday break, but we’ve found that we are amazingly lucky with the number of households in our school already equipped with the means to engage in learning.

As such, we felt it better to provide our own machines on a loan basis to the families without anything for their children to use. I think it is every school’s responsibility to meet the needs of its own community and not to prejudge what parents want.

Our teachers have worked hard to meet the needs of all our learners, our families and their diverse situations. We had three simple goals when developing our approaches–maintain some routines, learning and connections.

There are some elements of time-tabled sessions that children could attend if possible with open-ended learning they could do through the day.

We had provided links to online sites and applications for them to explore or practice independently, some ways of submitting/returning learning for feedback and all this wrapped in ‘Education with a Heart’. There was an understanding that some children will do everything, some will do a chunk and some will dip in and out depending on circumstances and parent expectations.

And no one will be given a hard time or stress as a result of how much or little they did.

Now, as our school reopens in two parts, we will continue to maintain connections with children doing online learning at home and have those kids in school whose parents are essential workers. It’s exciting times and we’re proud to be part of this community.

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How would you react if someone says horrible things about you online? What if someone makes you uncomfortable by repeatedly sending embarrassing photos of you to your group chat? Or sends screenshots of a private conversation to your friends without proper context to try and turn them against you?

These are some of the questions that Victoria Pickett, unit team leader of Uxbridge Girl Guides that meets at Vincent St (when not in lockdown) asked guides from age nine to 12-year-olds about cyber safety.

Girls created their own avatars, working through hypothetical cyberbullying scenarios; played online games and learned about computer viruses. One of the leaders even set up a game where Guides had to pretend to be hackers trying to guess her password to demonstrate the importance of password security.

In the wake of Coronavirus Covid-19, GirlGuiding New Zealand is hosting virtual programme for all guides via Zoom instead of face-to-face meetings.

Talking about the cyber safety badges at a time when the world is navigating its way with video chats,  21-year-old Victoria says that ‘Surf Smart’ has always been a part of the guide programme.

Even the Pippin programme (for girls age five to six years) introduces the concept of cyber safety. We knew that girls would have to do their schoolwork virtually and many of them would be interacting with their friends virtually.

Running the programme with 20-year-old Amber Peek, the unit team leaders believe internet safety is the need of the hour.

“It puts students in a vulnerable position as parents are less able to supervise their internet use and provide guidance.”

She says the hypothetical cyberbullying scenarios were all based on situations she had experienced or witnessed in her childhood and teenage years.

“As young leaders, Amber and I are in the unique position of being able to speak about internet safety since we were brought up with the internet.

“All the videos I’ve seen on cyberbullying seem to involve young people receiving horrible messages online from random people at their school for no reason with the general advice being to just not go on the internet.

“But cyberbullying is a lot more complicated than that and trying to avoid the internet as a young person in 2020 can be socially isolating (not so much at 9-12, but definitely as a teenager),” she says.

Last week, they held a short Anzac Day Service on Zoom, playing the Last Post, holding a minute’s silence, and having one of the guides read out the Ode of Remembrance.

“We are also learning about rations which seemed relevant to our current situation…and the Guiding International Service teaching them about how adult guides all over the world took action in a time where it was easy to feel powerless.”

Upcoming activities include talent shows and an international night of food and activities but Victoria is particularly excited about a virtual camp-themed Fantasy Monster Hunters.

“We have a lot of fun and educational activities lined up like getting them to explain how they would perform first aid after a dragon attack or which knots they would need to rescue a boy from a Faerie trap,” she says.

GirlGuiding NZ offers programmes to girls age 5-18.

Leaders, girls and parents are being encouraged to post their activities with the hashtag #VirtualGroupGuidingNZ

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