The Homework Centre is now up and running after school every Tuesday and Thursday in the Avondale College library from 3:30pm-4:30pm. If you need a quiet place to catch up on homework or schoolwork, or if you just need some extra help with a particular subject or assignment, come along - all are welcome! There are subject teachers available to help you catch up with your learning, as well as computers to use to check in with your Teams sites if needed. Not to mention access to all the library resources as well! See you there!

We have received the below advice re school bus services. Good afternoon schools Please find below an update from the Auckland Transport Metro Bus Team. Tāmaki Makaurau is at the red setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework. As Omicron spreads, many bus operators are experiencing staff shortages and service cancellations across bus, train, and ferry services. Although Auckland Transport is working hard to update cancellations in our systems, there may be some occasions when these are last-minute and can’t be communicated in time. We recommend checking service updates on the AT Mobile app, Live Departures, or on digital signs at stops and stations. If you're using AT school Bus. We are trying our best to make school bus services our priority and run most school bus services to a regular timetable. However, we are expecting to see last-minute cancellations due to the spread of Omicron in the community. Although we’re working hard to update cancellations in our systems, there may be some occasions when these are last-minute and can’t be communicated in time. If any of your bus services do not arrive on time, please liaise with the students, and request them to find or use alternative transport options. https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/journey-planner/. We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause.

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Dear Parents and Caregivers Thank you for your support as we have started to roster students home for one day each week. We will review this weekly, and hope that all students can return to attending daily very soon. The school library is available for students who need to study at school on the day that they are rostered home. It is important that students attend school every day that they possibly can. We are at the mid-point of the term, and many classes are coming to the end of their first unit of work for the year, with assessments and tests taking place. Attendance at school will provide students with the best opportunities for success with their learning. We understand that the ten day self-isolation period for COVID cases and household contacts is a long period away from school. We know that students want to be able to catch up with any work that they miss if they are sick, and they want to be clear about the independent study that they should be doing on the day they are rostered home, or if they are self-isolating. We also know that parents and caregivers want to be able to support their children with the work they are doing at home. From next week, all of our teachers will provide a weekly Teaching and Learning Plan (see template below). This is not to replace the detailed information and resources that are provided on Teams, rather it is to give a brief overview of the week to support students to organise their work, and provide parents with a tool to assist with their child’s learning. The Learning Plans will be published through each class’s Teams page and/or student email. I strongly encourage parents to discuss the work for the week with their child, especially if they are working at home or if deadlines are imminent. If you have any concerns or questions, please do get in touch. Your child’s Home Room teacher or class teachers should be able to help you with most queries, and all of the contact details for our staff are on our website. Ngā mihi nui Lyndy Watkinson PRINCIPAL T 09 828 7024 W www.avcol.school.nz Victor Street, Avondale, Auckland 1026, New Zealand

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Dear Parents and Caregivers New Zealand’s COVID-19 response continues amid much larger numbers of daily cases. This is reflected in the number of cases that we are recording at Avondale College. The numbers of students who are confirmed cases remains relatively low, with our cases spread quite evenly across mostly Years 10 to 13. The number of cases in Year 9 is extremely low. Whilst this would indicate that there is not widespread transmission within school, there is inevitably some, and so it is more important than ever that students stay home if they are unwell, wear a mask inside at all times, only eat outside, and wash hands / sanitise regularly.  Rostering Home Over the last few days we have an increasing number of staff who are either COVID-19 positive, or are household contacts and so must stay at home for 10 days. Therefore, we have reached the point where we need to roster students home for one day a week as follows: Monday - Year 13 Tuesday - Year 12 Wednesday - Year 11 Thursday - Year 10 Friday - Year 9 The rostering home will start on Tuesday 1 March, so Year 12 students should work at home tomorrow. The school library will be available as a study centre for students who need to study at school on the day they are rostered home. They must report to the duty teacher at 8.50am, and will be dismissed at 3.15pm Teachers who are at school will be working with students in class every day, including covering for absent colleagues. Therefore, they will not be actively teaching students on the day they are rostered home. Students should continue with their work and study independently on the day that they are home, which may include finishing classwork, doing homework, working towards assessments or going over class notes. In line with Ministry of Education advice, we are committed to keeping school open for on-site learning as much as we can. It is important for children’s learning and wellbeing to be at school with their teachers and friends. We have good systems in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. The Ministry of Education note that research from New South Wales about their recent Omicron outbreak indicates that onward transmission within the school setting is very low. For every child who is infected and attends school only 3.7% of their close contacts at school subsequently tested positive. We have seen that in New Zealand too – public health teams on the ground have seen that even though cases pop up in schools, there has been very little onward spread through the school because of the protective measures we have in place. Transmission of COVID-19 is still most likely to happen in your home, or through the busy social lives of teenagers. Confirmed cases and household contacts are the only people who need to self-isolate. At Phase 3 of New Zealand’s Omicron response, the key change is that it is only confirmed cases and their household contacts who need to self-isolate. Everyone else may attend school, but must continue to monitor really closely for any symptoms of COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are now being used to diagnose COVID-19 as well as PCR tests. This means that you will get a test result back almost immediately if a RAT is used. If anyone in your family is confirmed as having COVID-19, you will be asked to notify your close contacts yourself. Please get in touch with us as soon as you can if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, using the links that we circulated last week: Notify us that your child is a Covid Case Notify us that your child is a Household Contact The most important advice we can give to keep your whānau safe is to act as if you have COVID-19. More than a third of people who have COVID-19 will not have any symptoms if they have had three doses of the vaccine. Please think about who you visit and what health measures you can put in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. We are very aware that the impacts of COVID-19 continue to be hard for many families in New Zealand. If you know of a family in your community who is struggling, please encourage them to reach out for support - for example, to access food, medicine, or access financial support: Help is available – COVID-19 Health Hub. If you have any concerns or questions, please do get in touch. Your child’s Home Room teacher or class teachers should be able to help you with most queries, and all of the contact details for our staff are on our website. Aku mihi, Lyndy Watkinson PRINCIPAL

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We continue to celebrate the academic success of our students in their qualification pathways in 2021! Some highlights include: 94% achievement overall across NCEA and CAIE pathways Increase to 93% NCEA achievement for Years 11-13 students is contrasted with an overall drop in NCEA achievement nationally for 2021 Avondale College's literacy rates for Year 11 students were at the highest they have been for the past five years The number of students who gained more than 14 credits in their courses was higher in 2021 than it has been in the previous three years Students gaining endorsement in NCEA in 2021 was also significantly higher than in previous years: 11 Year 13 students gained all of their five subjects with an Excellence endorsement 7 Year 12 students gained all of their five subjects with an Excellence endorsement 8 Year 11 students gained all of their five subects with an Excellence endorsement 32 NZ Scholarships were gained, including one Outstanding In the Cambridge International examinations, two students came Top in the World; nine achieved the best marks in New Zealand! Congratulations to all our students on achieving such outstanding results!

Dear Parents and Caregivers As we work to manage the current COVID-19 outbreak, the health and wellbeing of our children, staff and community is a top priority. Over the last few days, and since my previous email regarding COVID-19, we have had about 20 further cases amongst students who attend our school. We are communicating with families as fast as possible when we believe their child may be a close contact. Public Health do not notify us of any confirmed cases under Phase 2 of the Omicron response. If your child is confirmed as a COVID case, please notify us as soon as possible, so that we can pass on relevant information to their contacts at school. Please be aware that students who are wearing a mask or are outside will probably not be designated as a close contact. What we’re doing School will stay open. We have appropriate public health measures and cleaning procedures in place. We will inform the families of any school-related close contacts as soon as we are able to. What you need to do We have set up a straightforward digital form that you can use to report to us that your child is a confirmed case or a household contact. This is available below, and it will also be on Student Hub on our intranet, and in this week’s edition of Heartbeat. This is for new cases only, you do not need to report cases that you have already spoken to one of our staff about. Report your child as a confirmed COVID-19 case Report your child as a household contact If your child is confirmed as a COVID-19 case, please talk with them about who their close contacts may have been, and support them to message those people. It is helpful if you could also share that information with us at school. The confirmed case is probably the best judge of who they have been in close contact with. Please do not send your child to school if they are unwell You and your whānau should watch for COVID-19 symptoms If any develop, get tested immediately, then stay at home until you receive the result If your whānau hasn’t been vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible. You can book on-line at bookmyvaccine.nz or by calling 0800 28 29 26. It’s free. If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s learning, please contact their Class Teacher or the relevant subject Director. I will continue to update you about the COVID-19 situation at our school regularly, and if we have any concerns for your child’s health we will contact you as soon as we are able. Communications will be through email and our website. If you need to speak to any of our staff please use our website to access contact details. Take care, and stay safe. Kohia ngā Taikākā. Yours sincerely Lyndy Watkinson PRINCIPAL

Two of our Year 13 Students from last year, Hunter Easterbrook and Abigail Meads, have been selected to be part of the Young Shakespeare Company. This national company will (or hopes to) travel to London later this year to perform on the stage of the Globe Theatre with other young actors from New Zealand. This selection has come from a recent production week in Wellington, where they performed in a professionally directed reimagining of Henry V. (See Heartbeat T1W2 for more info and photos.) Hunter and Abigail join Avondale alumni Sammie Rae (2017) and David Tuitama (2020) in this amazing opportunity. "Both the recent Wellington trip, and the upcoming London experience is a testament to our students' talent, passion, and aspirations for the performing arts and Shakespeare as well as their mature and professional conduct," says Avondale College's Director of Drama, Mrs Erica Norton. Hunter Easterbrook Abigail Meads

A very special presentation ceremony was held in the PAC on Monday, at which our prefects were presented with their badges, and the Head and Deputy Head Prefects were announced. Congratulations to the following students on their selection to the Avondale College Prefect team of 2022: Head Prefects Emily Reddy and Nathanael Tivoli Deputy Head Prefects Castor Chacko, Grace Kerr, Amelia Perry, Nathan Powell, Joy Shi, Jackson Wang Avondale College Prefects 2022 Aylin Akbari, Precilla Asovale, Kabir Bhargava, Christian Black, Georgia Broughton, Cole Brown, Roger Cen, Castor Chacko, Rithymony Leap Chan, Kush Chandra, Hetanshi Chauhan, Zejun Chen, Zara Colaco, Danica David, Ganesh Digamarthi, Grace Eade, Brooklyn Eti, Kohin Fulop, Sahil Goyal, Anne Guo, Uale Te Opea Hope, Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli, Maria Jose, Grace Kerr, Carys Long, Mark Lyall, Wynstan Metuataopu, Namita Misherwan, Yohan Naidu, Alice O'Brien, Lemalie Paila, Aayushi Patel, Urvi Patel, Amelia Perry, Yada Phimsee, Nathan Powell, Stacey Raina, Brodie Rawiri, Emily Reddy, Temima Rigg, Hilton Savaka, Tony Shao, Ye Qian (Joy) Shi, Agam Singh, Jessica Stewart, Xarya Tama'ali'i, Molly Tate, Davion Tevi, Nathanael Tivoli, Annie Tsao, Siien Filixa Valdez, Leah Vopel, Aryan Walanj, Ka Ho Wang, Tess Watson, Francis Wee, Tilde Wilson, Suphapat Wongthimarat, Hok Yung

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