COVID: School at RED and Omicron

On Sunday, the government put into action the ‘Red’ setting of the COVID Protection Framework (CPF) and this does have an impact on us all, including life at school. A key change is the expectation that all staff, students and visitors to our school site must wear a mask in all indoor settings. This will be a challenge for us all but it is an important mechanism for keeping people safe and slowing the spread of Omicron. Our intention is to ensure we give students regular ‘fresh air’ breaks during the day to make this more manageable initially. It is important that you organise masks before returning to school. Trying them out for comfort and durability is super important too.

Much of the rest of school will otherwise carry on as normal. We won’t be holding assemblies and we do want to encourage any parents/caregivers to avoid visiting our site unless absolutely necessary. If you need to come in then a mask is required as is signing in and scanning.

Our EOTC plans are all set to go ahead as planned. Our providers have assured us that our groups will have their own ‘bubble’ when visiting their site.

Apart from this our usual health measures will remain in place with basic hygiene, ventilation, distancing (as best we can) and ensuring anyone who is unwell is not at school.

While I hope we are not affected, based on the experiences overseas with Omicron there is an air of inevitability about cases happening here. We have got a system in place for identifying close and casual contacts and we will communicate as promptly as we can if or when we have a confirmed case at school. The messaging from the government is that we will not close even in the event of a positive case within our school community. Remember the best way to stay safe is to be vaccinated, follow basic hygiene principles, wear a mask as required and keep track of where you have been.