Kia ora, Malo e Lelei

With the current health situation in Christchurch, it is a good chance to remind ourselves of the Level 2 Pandemic Plan in place at St Thomas’. School is open and running with the following precautions.

Please do continue to monitor your health and do not send your children to school if they are not well (and please seek advice about getting a COVID test).

For us, all the required safety precautions for Alert Level 2 will be in place which include following all the recommendations from the public health experts. This means we will regularly clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces, encourage everyone to frequently wash their hands, and cough and sneeze into their elbow.

While physical distancing is not a requirement in schools, we will be doing our best to keep students from congregating in very large numbers and keeping spaces well-ventilated.

Face coverings are not required to be worn in school. The Director General of Health has recommended that children 12 years+ wear a face covering at school – just as older children are required to wear face coverings in some other places. The decision to wear a face covering is up to you and your whānau, whatever your decision it will be respected.

Public bus and ferry services

• All passengers must be seated. Therefore there is restricted capacity to the number of seats on each vehicle.

• When the seats are full the bus driver will display “Full Bus” on the display and will not stop for passengers at stops until there are seats available.

• Face coverings must be worn for everyone aged 12 and over unless they have an exemption for health reasons.

• QR scanning is expected. QR codes are displayed on all buses and ferries.

Attached is the school’s Level 2 pandemic plan for you to read.

In the end a key message is to be kind to each other as we navigate these times.

Ngā mihi 

Hamish Barclay