A warm welcome to the 2022 school year
Mana with Mana
Kei aku nui, kei aku rahi, tēnā koutou katoa i roto i ngā āhuatanga o te wā.
Talofa Lava, Melo le lei, Bula Vinaka, Noa’ia, Kia Orana and warm Pacific greetings to you all.
Welcome back after what we hope has been a wonderful summer of rest for you and your whānau after a quite stressful year for many in 2021.
I want you to know that our staff and leadership team are feeling refreshed and ready for the 2022 academic year and are really looking forward to this year. We have had two years of learning how to operate under the Covid 19 environment and won’t let this current situation dominate or even prevent your son/daughter from experiencing an awesome education!
In regard to COVID-19 planning, we have moved fully into the new traffic light framework for all our school and kura activities and events this year. You will be familiar with all the health measures we will have in place and it is good to know that at Red setting, we are able to support everyone learning onsite.
In terms of a newsflash, please check with your whanau regarding the Soundsplash event has the potential to be a ‘superspreader’. Anyone who was at Soundsplash between Friday, January 21 at and Sunday, January 23, is asked to self-monitor for symptoms until Wednesday, February 2 and get a test if any appear.
Events and activities Term 1
Large hui and gatherings especially when indoors continue to be one of the riskier activities we can undertake. We have therefore reviewed all our events and activities for the upcoming term to ensure we meet the health guidance for Red:
Year 9 Pōwhiri Wednesday 2nd February – the Ministry of Health recommends fewer than usual numbers at outdoor and indoor pōwhiri. This means that we will hold pōwhiri for students only. Year 9 students should bring kai for following the pōwhiri but a free school lunch will be provided later in the day.
At this stage we are looking forward to sport in Term 1. Under the red setting there will be a ‘no spectators policy’.
Monday 31 January - Year 10-13 Course confirmation.
TWA students in Year 10 and up do not need to attend Course confirmation. The first day of school for TWA students in this year will be Friday 4 February.
- Year 10 - 10am
- Year 11 - 11am
- Year 12 - 12 noon
- Year 13 - 1pm
Wednesday 2 February - 9am - Year 9 and new students Powhiri. Year 9 all day.
Thursday 3 February - Year 9 students only 9am to 3pm
Friday 4 February - Whole school in attendance
Monday 7 February - Waitangi Day observed (School closed)
Tuesday 8 February - Whole school in attendance
The following information is advice from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. If you are a student you need to:
• Wearing a mask - the widely available ‘blue’ medical grade mask is most recommended (please bring a mask from home). Students will need to wear a mask at school, in class, in assemblies, in public transport or in the school van in LA or at Assembly. Students will not have to wear masks on the way to school or generally when they are outside.
• Observe social distance protocols (1 meter)
• Organise gatherings so that numbers and locations are within the framework
• Stay home if you are sick
For parents it means:
• Not visiting school unless essential. All visitors are through the school office.
• Presenting ‘My Covid Pass’ if coming to school
• We also ask that parents review and update all student, caregiver, emergency and medical details where applicable.
Ministry of Education advice to school whānau
1) Face coverings
Staff and children must wear face coverings when inside at school when we are at Red.
Government is also now requiring that a face covering be an actual mask. That means no more scarves, bandannas, or t-shirts pulled up over the face, for example. This is to ensure that it is a mask designed to cover your nose and mouth properly.
Public health advice is that an appropriate face covering will fit snugly and seal well around facial contours. This can include single use, disposable masks (medical masks) and re-usable fabric masks with three layers.
Don’t worry if you don’t have these specific types of face coverings, as public health experts also say that any face covering is better than no face covering.
The Unite Against COVID-19 website also has information on how to make a face covering.
For those of you with children who might be reluctant to wear a face covering, there is some helpful advice from Michigan Health, including using simple, specific explanations about why they need to wear a face covering, adults being the role models, providing small rewards for wearing them, bringing face coverings into play such as drawing face coverings on characters in colouring books, or letting them choose/make the mask.
2) Ventilation
We have used the Ministry of Education self-assessment tool to review all our ventilation in readiness for the start of the year. Providing good old fashioned fresh air remains the most important thing we can do in our learning spaces to minimise risk for ākonga and kaiako (and the same goes for you at home). We will also be receiving a CO2 monitor in the coming weeks to further support our ventilation plan
3) Omicron and testing
We have all seen the very large numbers of cases overseas and we will very likely see much larger numbers of cases in Aotearoa than we have previously experienced in the last two years. While Omicron is more transmissible than previous strains, most people who get COVID-19 will have a mild to moderate illness and will fully recover in their own home.
However, some of our community who are immune compromised, are ill or have other vulnerabilities, even when they are fully vaccinated, could be more affected by Omicron. So, we all need to continue to play our part to minimise the spread of the virus.
In regard to testing, the health system currently has capacity to process 40,000 PCR tests a day. PCR testing is the most accurate test for COVID-19 and will continue to be used while New Zealand is in the stamp-it-out phase.
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will begin to be used more widely over time. They are not as accurate as PCR tests and this means that some people who do have COVID-19 will get a negative test result back. There are currently 4.6 million RATs in the country and 10s of millions ordered.
If you are symptomatic or need to be tested to access a workplace or service, you will be guided at the time on which test is best for you.
4) Managing cases in our school
We have a good contact tracing system in place so that if there is a confirmed case who has been at school while infectious, we can quickly identify who was a close contact of that person. We will then quickly advise those contacts of what they need to do.
Only if the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education advises to do so, would we consider closing a physical onsite school and moving to distance learning for everyone. At Red we will keep everyone learning onsite for as long as we can.
Please make sure your contact details we have on file are up to date, so we can get in touch with you if needed. You can contact the school office by email: office@mana.school.nz or by phone 04 237 5424.
Preparing for COVID-19
You can also prepare for COVID-19, making sure you and your household have a plan and know what to do. This will mean your whānau and community can help each other if needed. Find out more here:
· Download the COVID-19 Readiness Checklist [PDF, 121 KB]
· What to expect when self-isolating at home
Self-isolating at home because of COVID-19
Many people will be able to manage self-isolation with help from friends and whānau, but there is help available if you need it – both with health support and access to food and other essentials.
· What to expect when self-isolating at home | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz)
· COVID-19 positive – managing your symptoms | Health Navigator NZ
If you know anyone in your community affected by COVID-19 and who may need help, such as food and other financial assistance, Work and Income has a range of supports available for individuals, families, employers and self-employed people affected by COVID-19.
Work and Income support
The beginning of the year can be a tough time for parents who are faced with many costs and it is important you are aware of what assistance you may be able to get from Work and Income. These are available to people on a low income as well as those on a benefit.
· Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) Subsidy
· School and Year Start-up Payment (for people getting Orphan’s Benefit or Unsupported Child’s Benefit)
· Help with living costs (including food and rent/mortgage)
Use the links above or call 0800 559 009 to find out more, or to apply.
MoneyTalks can assist with free budgeting and debt help
You can also contact your local community provider. Please find more information here.
Getting ready to return to school
The Ministry of Education has some helpful information on their Parents and Whānau website to support your tamariki to get back to school. There is also a very important reminder about how you can take care of yourself.
While this might all feel a little overwhelming at times, we know that all these measures will help our children return to school, reconnect with whānau and friends and do what they enjoy.
We are also here to help. Please get in touch if you have any concerns or need help in any way.
Our Year level deans are:
Year 9: Marina Anderton - marinaa@mana.school.nz
Year 10: Elizabeth Knowles - elizabethk@mana.school.nz
Year 11: Jeff Chapman - jeffc@mana.school.nz
Year 12: Tupe Papali’i - tupep@mana.school.nz
Year 13: Lana McLaughlin-Khan - lanam@mana.school.nz