Website Changes

Over the next few days the school website will be undergoing some changes. As a result the pages may be a little cluttered until the changes are made. Apologies if things are a little hard to find.

Another Great Week!

Maia diving in!

Albeit was only 4 days long we have had another great week at Yaldhurst Model School. It has been our pleasure to host some visiting children while they waited for their schools to reopen. I have really appreciated the sincere thanks we have received from parents.

Some of the highlights this week included listening to children reading, participating in touch rugby lessons and the excellent efforts of students at the Ellesmere Zone Swimming Sports.

Last night's board of trustees meeting was very positive as we discussed this years strategic plan and how we will keep moving the school forward.

First Week Back Nearly Over

It has been wonderful to see everyone settling back into routines. Our thoughts still go out to those who are living in hardship.

We are contributing our mufti day and coin trail to the Earthquake Fund. We are working on the fact that every little bit helps.

A special thank you to all of the Yaldhurst Model School Staff who have worked tirelessly this week for the children. It has been great to be back at work as we feel this is the best contribution we can make.

The children started back to business as usual very quickly and we now hope we can buckle down for the rest of the term.

A Great First Day Back

It was confirmed to day that the best thing we could do for our school community was to open. No signs of trauma just a great group of children happy to be back at school.

We have nearly everyone back with a few children coming back next week. The children were happy and keen to start back into school routines.

Our teachers had work ready to go and we have just finished a very successful first day back. We have welcomed some extra students who will be staying for varying amounts of time.

Room 1 had a Welcome Back Party!

There has been a great deal of media interest in the school today from TV One, TV Three and The New Zealand Herald. We will place links to these as they appear.

It is worth reminding ourselves that we are very lucky as well as being very happy to be back.

Opening Monday 7 March

We are open for students on Monday 7 March. Please note this is relatively late notice from the Ministry of Education but we are all working to make a great start back.

Pauline Cleaver from the Ministry of Education has given permission for us to open.

Allan Robertson

We want to open but...

The board and myself are trying very hard to reach the Ministry of Education to confirm that we are absolutely ready to open. Everything in the school is safe including the drinking water.

The Ministry of Education are obviously swamped with work at the moment as they have not been able to return my calls. All we can do is wait and continue to ask for their permission to open. We will be opening as soon as we possibly can but at present our hands are tied.

Please keep checking the website for updates.

Thanks
Allan Robertson

Closure Continues

I cannot give a date for when we are opening. We are hoping for very early next week.

I attended a Canterbury Primary Principals' meeting this afternoon where we were briefed by members of the Ministry of Education. The job they have in front of them is mammoth. We have been very lucky at Yaldhurst and my thoughts go out to the schools who are in the midst of shattered communities.

At this point I cannot give a starting date for school. The staff are preparing for it being early next week. Civil Defence have stated that if schools pass the structural test - and we have - that they need to be able to assure them that they have safe water and sewerage. Our sewerage is fine. I have had one water test done and our well water is fine but the Canterbury District Health Board wants three tests. I will do these over the next two days. If the water testing lab is not open on Saturday I may have to wait until Monday to do the third test.

There is an outside possibility that children may need to bring bottled water for a day. If this is the case I will make sure we have an extra supply of bottled water on site.

School Still Closed

Our BoT chairperson has just been informed by the Ministry of Education that all schools in Christchurch will be subject to a more in-depth structural engineers report. We now hope to open on Monday 7 March but we cannot be sure until we have been inspected and given the ok to open.

Please note this is different to the first structural engineer's inspection. This is a Civil Defence requirement.

Allan Robertson

Civil Defence State of Emergency

These are very tough times for Christchurch and I know we have all been touched in some way by the tragedy. At this point the YMS Board of Trustees feel that the best way we can serve our community is to open the school. We are on the fringes of the city and there are other schools not too far from us (in Selwyn District) who have been allowed to open.

The Board of Trustees has to follow the Civil Defence rules and we will do so because we realise we are part of a bigger picture. We hope to open as soon as possible and we will be ready to welcome our students back with open arms.

When the Ministry of Education and Civil Defence confirm we can open, your child's teacher will ring the number we have for you on our file to check on your family and inform you of the reopening date.  Please ring our office as soon as possible if your contact number has changed.

Thanks
Allan Robertson