Tēnā koutou,

We have now come to the end of a very busy term 3 and have some quite tired learners that have well and truely earned their 2 week break! 

Thanks again to all our families and friends that have helped make term 3 a success. Now that we are at Alert Level 1 again - we look forward to inviting you all back into school throughout Term 4. We have really missed our families at our school events.

Please read our message to the community below about school life in Alert Level 1.

If you haven’t already caught up with the news, the government have announced we are now at Alert Level 1. Thank you for your commitment to working with us as a school and community, being flexible when the need arises and supporting us in the changes in school process due to alert level restriction. It is indeed great news to be back in level 1.

Things you need to know about Alert Level 1

Schools are open to all and are safe places to be!
At Alert Level 1 the virus is contained in New Zealand but not overseas. The Ministry of Education has guidelines and systems in place to keep our schools safe and will act quickly if COVID 19 should appear in our community.

There are no restrictions on personal movement at Alert Level 1 – all children and staff should be at school.

The only people who will need to stay away are:

- those required to self-isolate

- individuals who health authorities have asked to stay away while waiting for a test result (most people will be able to go back to school/work while waiting for a result)

- children, students and staff who are unwell

Testing remains a crucial component in preventing an outbreak.
If a child or staff member is sick, they should stay home. If they have cold or flu symptoms they should call their doctor or Healthline on 0800 358 5453 for advice about getting tested. If recommended to get tested, they should do so.

At Silverdale, the public health measures continue to apply:

- Hand hygiene - sanitising on entry to learning spaces

- Cough and sneeze etiquette - coughing into elbows

- Regularly cleaning and disinfecting high touch surfaces.

Help us to support contact tracing through scanning in when you visit using the NZ COVIS Tracer app.
Please scan the QR Codes at all our entry points, even on drop off or pick up. This will really help if we are required to contact trace and will speed up our school’s response. People coming onsite for only a few minutes (i.e. to drop off / pick up children) will no longer need to sign the visitors register. If you are planning on entering the class and staying for any length of time - please report to our school office and sign in there (in line with our emergency evacuation procedure).

There are now no restrictions on numbers at gatherings.
This is great news and will mean things like whole school assemblies and community events can resume. Please stay tuned as information on these will be coming out in Term 4.

Please send me an email or call in if you have any questions, wonderings or worries!

We have had a number of reports of quite “out there” rumours circulating on social media - none of which are even remotely accurate. Please remember, all our plans and our approach to manage life at Silverdale under the various alert levels is communicated with you 100% - either through email or on our school app. These are the messages to trust! If you hear anything out there on social media that concerns you about the Ministry of Education’s approach to managing potential outbreaks of COVID 19, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

For more information on life at Alert Level 1, please visit: https://covid19.govt.nz/latest-updates/alert-level-1-measures/

Thanks again for your continued support. We have been so successful to date because of the ways you have supported and partnered with us. What a great community we have here!

I will also take this chance to wish you and our amazing group of learners and staff a happy and restful term break!

Important Dates:

Last day of Term 3 - Thursday, 24 September

Teacher only day - Friday, 25 September

First day of Term 4 - Monday, 12 October

Teacher only - Friday, 23 October

Labour Day - Monday, 26 October