Can you believe it is the end of Week 8 already! We are now over halfway through our first and longest term and the time continues to fly by. 

What has happened since the last newsletter, Red Heart Charity Day – see more about this below in the newsletter. The students all looked wonderful wearing their red accessories.

A big thank you to the students and their parents who provided baking and other sweet treats for fundraising. 

2/3 Way Conferences - teachers reported great learning discussions with parents and students, focusing on areas to develop and how to meet the goals set.

Our Senior Athletics were held on 11th March. It was a great day, being a bit cooler as well, which was nice.  See the photos below.  The junior athletics are being held today and photos will follow in the next newsletter. 

Congratulations to all the students with their MAP testing. Overall, we had some very pleasing results, with some students showing some awesome growth.  It is great to see the students taking these tests so seriously. 

Thank you, parents, for your support in providing students with masks and ensuring they bring them to school every day. We have noticed a huge improvement in both the provision and wearing of these.

So many schools in the area have positive cases amongst both the students and teachers, causing some disruption to their learning programmes.

When we have cases, we can rest assured that OneSchool are well placed to carry on with our learning as seamlessly as we did during lockdown.

Meanwhile, our students and teachers are greatly encouraged to stay at home if they are unwell. 

Stay safe, everyone!

COVID-19 infection and care and what to do if you are Covid positive.

If you take a rapid antigen test (RAT), you will have your result in person at the time. If you did this yourself at home, you should record your result in My Covid Record.

If you cannot do this, you can call 0800 222 478 for assistance. Once you have done this, you will receive a text message from the official 2328 number.

This text will include a link to a data free online form that you will need to fill out.

This form will provide information to your health team about any health needs you may have, such as if you are pregnant or have diabetes. 

As a positive case, you should self-isolate if you can, in a separate part of the house and have access to your own bathroom if possible. 

You and everyone in your household will need to isolate at home (or in other suitable accommodation) for seven days or until you are symptom-free. 

You must begin your self-isolation from the date you either developed symptoms or were tested (if you do not have symptoms).

If your symptoms get worse or you need urgent medical care, call your local healthcare provider or Healthline on 0800 358 5453. 

Most people with COVID-19 develop cold and flu-like symptoms that can last up to two weeks. 

Most symptoms can be managed with:

• bed rest (if lying down, change position every 30 minutes to two hours)
• taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve headaches, aches and fevers
• keeping hydrated with regular sips of water
• honey or lozenges for a sore throat
• decongestants for a blocked nose 

You are likely to recover within seven days, but some people may have symptoms which persist for longer.  

If after seven days you are still unwell, stay home. 

Positive cases

• The isolation period for COVID-19 cases in the community is seven days. If you are still unwell, stay home.
• Start counting the seven days from day zero. Day zero is the day that your symptoms started or that you received a positive test result (if you do not have any symptoms).
• Your household members will need to remain in isolation with you until your seven days from day zero are complete.
• If another member of your household tests positive, the rest of your household can still end their isolation when you do. However, the second positive case will need to restart their seven days from their day zero.

Release from isolation

After seven days, and as long as you are free of COVID-19 symptoms, you will be free to leave isolation.

You do not need to be tested. If you were, the result would likely show as positive as you have the virus in your system. 

For further information: 

Advice for people with COVID-19 | Ministry of Health NZ

Congratulations to the following 110% award winners.

Starship sent through the following letter and certificate to thank 2021 Year 10 Social Studies students for their fundraising efforts.

They raised a total of $9,491.04 to donate to the children’s hospital.

Amazing!

West Coast Campus

West Coast had a very successful Red Heart Day, raising $206.10 for the Heart Foundation.

A huge thanks for everyone’s support. 

Nelson Campus

Blenheim Campus

Red Heart Day on the Blenheim campus was enjoyed by everyone.

Everyone showed their support and wore red accessories. The morning tea went well and we made a profit of $176.50 for the Heart Foundation.

Everyone enjoyed the fresh sausage rolls and other goodies we had prepared.

A shout out to Dusky and Poppy for stepping up and helping with the morning tea!

Following is the senior athletics day photo collage and final results.

A couple of weeks ago, the Year 3-6 class in Blenheim were fortunate enough to be given a swan plant from Mrs. Ju Hewetson.

It didn’t take long for the tiny caterpillars to munch their way through an entire plant and grow into very fat caterpillars!

After an SOS call to Mrs. Hewetson, a second plant was delivered. The caterpillars quickly turned into chrysalises, and soon after, the first monarch butterfly emerged.

It has been amazing watching the entire process, especially when we got to see a butterfly coming out of the chrysalis!

It has certainly been a great learning opportunity – thank you Mrs. Hewetson!  

Whilst out riding her horse, Mrs. Muir found a baby hawk with a broken wing.

Mrs. Muir rescued the hawk, brought it to school, and before Diana from Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust came to collect it, students enjoyed seeing an up-close view of the incredible bird.

Diana also brought along a Shiny Cockatoo, a very rare bird which was on it's way to the Soloman Islands.

The Year 11 Horticulture students have been busy completing their 'Practical Skills' task.

Here are some photos of Dominic Senior and Oliver Clifford showing their spraying skills.

The Nelson Year 7 and 8 class have been learning how to sketch using the principles of perspective. 

We have been exploring vanishing points, the horizon line and perspective points. 

We have also been discussing how selective use of colour and light/dark shading can be used for effect.

The Year 7 and 8 classes in Blenheim and West Coast have been studying an artist called Tom Friedman. 

Tom is a painter, a sculpturer and sketch artist who was born in 1965.  He does conceptual art which means he does not worry about what the art will look like once completed, he only focuses on 'the process'.

We followed 'the process' and created art which is pictured below.

The Blenheim and West Coast Year 7 and 8 students have been researching a country of their choice and a relevant dish of either breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. 

On Monday 14th March, the class created and cooked their dishes.

They each presented their dish to their class and gave a short presentation about either their country or their chosen dish. 

They also had the opportunity to wear clothing from their chosen country.

All of the dishes looked delicious and were enjoyed by all students. 

West Coast Year 3-6 students were challenged to work collaboratively (or independently) to create a calendar page for a month of this year.

They negotiated the success criteria which included the dates having to be represented by equations or symbols or using a different language.

Their month needed to mark all the important dates (especially birthdays), events, and holidays.

It wasn’t as easy as they thought but they persevered, learned a lot about making tables, using symbols and brackets, and even factorial numbers.

After a lot of problem-solving, eventually, it was completed.

Birch took on the responsibility of creating the cover.

Some lucky people have been given their own copy.

Please note there is a Teacher Only Day on Friday 25th March.

Following is the link to the Upper South 2022 Calendar.

Please note the next and final Upper South newsletter for Term 1 will be on Friday 1st April.