This communication comes off the back of the government announcement yesterday and subsequent communication we have had from the Ministry of Education regarding schooling at Alert Level 2.

Dear parents/caregivers

The Prime Minister has advised that in Alert Level 2 schools are safe environments for students and staff. However, additional public health control measures will be in place to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing.

The good news is that when we are able to, we will be ready to welcome all students and staff back to our school site. A tentative plan (to be confirmed next week) is that senior students will return to school on Monday 18 May and all students return on Tuesday 19 May.

The key Public Health approach at Level 2 is to minimise the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and second to ensure we can identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with a person, if someone in a school is infected.

As we have done in Alert Level 3, you can be assured that in Alert Level 2 we will know who is at school, who our staff and students have been in close contact with and take appropriate measures to keep everyone safe.

Physical distancing is a good precaution to prevent the spread of disease. We do however know it is challenging in schools, so good hygiene practices and regular cleaning are even more important here. This includes staff and students coughing into their elbows, washing and drying hands thoroughly and regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces.

Under Alert Level 2, we advise any students and staff to stay at home if they are sick, and we will send anyone home immediately if they show any symptoms.

Our school has safe and sensible practices to maintain the health and safety of everyone on the school site. As described by Dr Payinda in his NZ Herald article, “Covid's not measles or chickenpox, it doesn't hang in the air for hours waiting to infect passers-by. It travels on invisible drops of spit. You don't have to cross the street to avoid anyone. Just avoid getting in their 'moist breath' zone”. We all just need to remember to have some breathing space at Alert Level 2!

Some changes that students will notice at Level 2 include the following:

• Students will be required to sanitise or wash hands upon entering a classroom and before using school equipment.
• Students should not touch or breathe on others.
• Students will not be able to leave the school grounds during the day unless they are sick or have a pre-scheduled appointment. This includes Year 13 students and students that usually have a lunch pass.
• Assemblies will not run initially but may resume in future weeks.
• The Kuaka Café will have strict rules regarding entering and leaving the building.
• All visitors to the school must sign in and provide a current address and phone number.

Extracurricular activities and camps may resume at Level 2. However, there will be some increased hygiene and contact tracing measures adopted.

It’s important however that safe hygiene habits are practised by everyone, not just at school but at home as well. 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 Covid-19 website: https://covid19.govt.nz/

If you have any questions about our health and safety plan, or have a child who might be vulnerable to serious illness and would like to discuss a plan for them, please contact the school.

We will be in touch again soon to update you on our plans. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter with a large range of entertaining stories.

Ngā mihi

Daniel Wilson
Principal