Tena Koutou Katoa

Covid Update
It is hard to believe term 1 is already near its end. I hope the year is going well for everyone as we continue to all look to find a new way of being in this strange world of Covid19.

For most of the country, we have had a relatively settled start to the year. To remind us to stay vigilant, we have had two lockdowns in Auckland this term and while of course unsettling for staff, whanau, and students alike, most of our students were able to engage quickly with the online learning support provided. Thank you to all staff, students, and families for enabling this to happen so quickly.
In regard to Covid-19, the vaccine response was announced recently and many people have been asking will schools roll these out to staff and students. Vaccinations wil will be done at centres designated by the relevant DHBs.

Below are the four main groups that have been prioritised for vaccine rollout. At this time, we anticipate school staff and students (where eligible) will be included in Group 4 unless individuals meet criteria for an earlier group eg, have underlying health conditions. These categories only apply to students 16 years and older.

An online tool that advises people which vaccination group they are in and when they can expect to get their COVID-19 vaccine is now available on Unite against COVID-19.

NZSL Hubs

We know about the importance and the need for direct communication and authentic peer interactions for all our students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing not just for academic learning but also for social-emotional growth as well. The best way to achieve this is by bringing students together where we can. One of our big challenges is how do we do this when our cohort is so spread regionally and nationally. The NZSL Hub initiative is one way to help support this.

Recently Denise Powell, Board Chairperson, and I visited Invercargill to see the newly opened NZSL Hub in Southland in action (on St Patricks Day). We were there for the second day it has been running and were very impressed with the high level of student engagement. This initiative has been well supported and there were 18 students in attendance from around the region. The hub session involves a whole school day on a Wednesday each week and is located at Wallacetown Primary School, which is in an area close to many Southland towns creating greater access for our learners. The intention is to provide an immersive environment to better support student learning, social networks, deaf identity, and culture and to build capacity and community to better respond to needs. Wallacetown School has been incredibly welcoming of our staff and students and we look forward to building on our relationship here.