Kia ora koutou te whanau, Staff have been keeping a watchful eye on the COVID-19 situation with regards to the best health and safety protocols for our school. It would be fair to say we are cautiously optimistic :) Nationally numbers are going down however we know COVID is still around in Nelson and the impact this could have on our school community is still significant. This term we will be joining our team bubbles together and operating largely as one school again. Morning teas will be 10.30 to 10.50 (with eating time included in this) and Lunch will be 12.30-12.45pm eating our school lunches with the class teacher and 12.45 to 1.15pm play time. The public health advice is to also continue wearing masks where practicable - classrooms still pose a considerable risk of transmission so teachers will be encouraging children to mask up indoors. While we know this won't suit everyone, everyone's health has an impact on others so it is everyone's responsibility to do their best. Masks are a minimal inconvenience when compared to other strategies such as bubbles, calling off events, checking vaccination status and lockdowns. I therefore ask you as parents to wear masks while on the school site and to encourage your children to continue wearing masks (year 4 and up especially). As before we will be encouraging, not policing. Your modelling and messaging will be important in this. The Ministry of Education (and Health) has provided guidelines regarding ventilation over winter. We will heat spaces with our heatpumps as before and have windows open at least 10cm to ensure airflow. We will monitor the CO2 readings across the school to ensure safety. While we don't expect people to be cold, we do expect people to wear more than a T.Shirt as the temperatures drop. Again, we do need your cooperation and commonsense regarding this - polar fleeces ($5 second hand) and our free Kidscan jackets are available at the office if needed. Nga mihi nui kia koutou Barbara