The announcement made yesterday afternoon by the Government regarding the shift to Level 2 means that Casebrook Intermediate will change from a Level 3 environment to a Level 2 one on Monday 18th May.
Our aim in the shift into Level 2 at Casebrook is to provide a positive and welcoming environment for our students, reconnecting with their friends, teachers and the school community, but with a prioritisation on health and safety.
The age group of the students we work with enables us to focus quickly on re-establishing learning routines and school expectations but also prioritising the establishment of strong health and safety expectations of students.
On Thursday and Friday this week our staff will return to school to set classrooms up for our Level 2 opening on Monday.
We ask that parents please keep students at home until Monday 18 May unless they are already at school under the Level 3 essential workers requirements.
The information in this communication is once more extremely important and to be read carefully. We ask that you read it with your child returning to Casebrook. To date, we have ensured everyone in our community is clear around their approach to risk management and this can only happen with the positive support from home in following up on the information provided. We thank you in advance for this.
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INFORMATION REGARDING CASEBROOK ALERT LEVEL 2 REOPENING:
Casebrook is open from Monday 18th for all students.
Students will return to their classroom and timetable, with breaks at the same time and school hours operating as normal.
We are aiming to keep things as close to ‘normal’ as possible for our students and staff. There will be some obvious exceptions to this as we are still operating in a pandemic situation (and maybe for some time) but generally speaking, it is back to the business of learning at school and the regular school timetable.
The Ministries of Health and Education and WorkSafe NZ have provided schools and workplaces with guidelines and we have used these to create our Alert Level 2 environment.
Casebrook COVID Level 2 Expectations:
All students are expected to return to school unless a child is unwell or has compromised immunity, or if someone in the home does, and they are advised by a doctor that they are at greater risk and need to stay home ( please open the form link below).
We ask if children are unwell with an illness that parents and whānau are proactive in keeping students at home. We will send anyone home immediately if they show any illness symptoms as a precautionary measure.
We will emphasise the importance of physical distancing as a precaution to spreading illness as well as regular hand washing and sanitising. This is good practice as we head into colder months anyway. This includes staff and students coughing into their elbows, hand-washing and drying and regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces.
Students with illness or immunity concerns:
If your child is not returning to school on Monday 18th May please complete this form:
Please complete this form before 12pm on Thursday 14th May
Students with Wellbeing concerns:
Please contact both your classroom teacher and our learning support coordinator Mark Russell via email if you have any worries about your child’s return to school. It is important to communicate any issues that have arisen since the lockdown so that we can be prepared as best as possible and do our best to support them.
Staff Contact list - CLICK HERE
Visitors / Track & Tracing:
As we already have all student and whānau contact information on file we are only required by MOH & MOE to take the attendance register as normal each day for students. But for track and tracing purposes we have to register any parent visitors on-site through the main office (admin area of the school).
In Level 2, parents and whānau are allowed on site but MUST enter through the main office only and log their name on the visitor register in the foyer - this is required by the MOH for track and tracing purposes.
We ask that parents keep a social distance at all times with other parents/children and staff. If you need to meet with your child’s teacher please arrange this at least 24 hours prior to entering school grounds. Parents are asked not to enter classrooms.
Any visitors are expected to hand sanitise when on the school site. Notices will be posted at the school regarding this.
Classrooms:
Classrooms will be equipped with ample quantities of disinfectant spray, cloths and hand sanitiser and we will instruct the students to clean their work areas regularly and sanitise their hands every time they enter and exit classrooms.
Classrooms will operate with one point of exit and entry so as to manage student movement around the school.
Students will be required to follow teacher instructions and directions, including following health and safety requirements as taught to them at all times.
Desks and seating arrangements in classrooms will be modified slightly to maximise distance.
Our technology classrooms will be operating as normal with expectations of cleaning after equipment use and increased distancing where necessary.
Bathrooms:
Bathrooms will be cleaned twice daily - prior to breaks and will be supervised closely over the first few weeks to avoid too many students accessing them at once.
Water:
Drinking fountains will remain closed - we ask that students bring water bottles to school each day - these will be able to be filled up in classrooms (but probably best they are filled up at home each morning). Classrooms without sink spaces will be assigned areas to refill during the day.
The Canteen:
The school canteen will be open for food purchases. We will organise the queue to be more like a supermarket shopping experience than the pre-lockdown queue that students will be used to.
Juicies and Moosies will not be on the menu to keep numbers manageable to start with but will return over time.
School Chromebooks / Devices:
Students who have loaned a device over ‘learning from home’ are required to bring the device and the charger back to school on Monday and take them directly to their classrooms. We will then ask students to place them in portable device bins where they will then be taken away to be checked and cleaned before going back into classrooms.
We shared out over 100 Chromebooks with our school community.
Students with BYOD devices:
Students are welcome to bring BYOD from Monday, as is usual. Please ensure they are given a thorough clean before Monday and are wiped down daily before they come to school. Likewise, when they come home from school.
If a device has been purchased since the lockdown or Level 3 restrictions they will not be able to connect to our network straight away. Your child can request a BYOD form to fill out at home and return to school for setting up as is normally required.
Mobile phones will need to be switched off and returned to lock drawers on arrival to school each day, as was standard school practice pre-lockdown. Students who break these conditions will have phones confiscated and taken to the office for collection by parents. This is a normal student code of conduct practice.
Uniform:
Students must be in full school uniform. A school jacket or school jersey is a compulsory item in the colder terms. Jackets are required to be removed in classrooms.
Some students will need to work hard on the removal of any leftover lockdown hair dye before Monday...
Breaktimes / Lunchtimes:
Students are not to share any food or drink
Break times will remain as normal and students are allowed to access playgrounds and sports equipment. We will endeavour to keep these cleaned on return to the sports shed.
Although allowed under Level 2 in a school, we will be asking students to refrain from any contact play at breaks in the short term. Organised sports will be re-established in the coming weeks under Level 2.
Casebrook Student Whānau Assemblies:
We will be going ahead with these in a reduced and well-managed capacity from Monday in order to re-establish school culture and ensure consistency of information about hygiene and health expectations. These will be held in the school hall - there is plenty of space to do these safely.
Over time we expect to be able to hold the Term 1 Casebrook challenge assembly - more information about how this will be managed in a Level 2 environment will be shared once things are running smoothly.
More information about Level 2:
Finally, It’s important that at home safe hygiene habits are practised by everyone - this is essential to minimise the risk that someone gets infected with Covid-19.
For more information about the public health measures at Alert Level 2, you can visit the covid19.govt.nz website: https://covid19.govt.nz/
Important Contact info:
School phone number: 03 3597-428
Sharon Keen - Principal: skeen@casebrook.school.nz
Christine Gillard - Office - office@casebrook.school.nz
Nick Leith - Deputy Principal - nleith@casebrook.school.nz
Will Stribling - Assistant Principal - wstribling@casebrook.school.nz
Mark Russell - Learning Support Coordinator - mrussell@casebrook.school.nz
Thank you for your support in helping us get routine, social connection and learning up and running next week at Casebrook. We look forward to our students’ safe return on Monday.
Ngā mihi nui,
The Casebrook Leadership Team