NZ have now moved into Phase three.

You will now be aware that the government has announced the country’s move to phase 3 from 11.59pm 24/02/2022.

At Phase 3, the focus is on safely managing COVID-19 at home.

Phase 3 will mean changes to how we manage cases within our school and kura community and how we support you.

Please do continue to advise us as soon as you are aware of having a positive case in your household.

In Phase 3, only household contacts of confirmed cases are required to self-isolate. The isolation period will be 10 days. All other contacts of COVID-positive people are not required to isolate, but they will need to monitor for symptoms. Rapid antigen tests will become the primary testing method.

This is a decision that has been made based on public health advice – the high vaccination rate across the country will do its job in protecting us from transmission during the next surge of cases. 

School is open and we remain at Red Setting. We will continue to implement safety guidelines so onsite learning can continue to take place.  

Please monitor these symptoms. 

If your child/ren present these symptoms (2 or more) at school, we will contact you for pick up.  

Your job remains the same, too: please continue to keep a really close watch of your whānau for anyone with symptoms. If unwell, please stay at home and get advice about getting a COVID-19 test.

With Phase 3 of the Omicron response, the key change is that it is only confirmed cases and their household contacts who need to self-isolate. Everyone else, including those who may have had close contact with the case but aren’t in the household, must continue to monitor really closely for any symptoms of COVID-19.

Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are now being used to diagnose COVID-19 as well as PCR tests. This means that you will get an almost immediate test result back if a RAT is used.

If anyone in your family is confirmed as having COVID-19, you will be asked to notify your close contacts yourself. Please get in touch with us as soon as you can if your child has tested positive for COVID-19.

Transmission of COVID-19 is still most likely to happen in your home – so please keep doing all those good things to keep your whānau safe. Wash your hands, get lots of fresh air, cover any coughs and sneezes, clean surfaces regularly, and seek advice if anyone is not feeling well. And please wear a mask when you are out and about. There is information online to help your family prepare to isolate if you need to.

The most important advice we can give to keep your whānau safe is to act as if you have COVID-19. More than a third of people who have COVID-19 will not have any symptoms if they have had three doses of the vaccine. Please think about who you visit and what health measures you can put in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Finally, we know how hard the impacts on COVID-19 have been for many families in New Zealand. If you know of a family in your community who is struggling, please encourage them to reach out for support for example to access food, medicine, or access financial support: Help is available – COVID-19 Health Hub.

Please remember it is great for a child’s wellbeing and learning to be at school with their friends and school staff, and we have very good systems in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.  If your child is symptom free with no positive case in the household, please send your child to school. 

If you have any concerns about sending your child to school, please do get in touch. We are here to help.

Aku mihi,

Heidi Moeller 

Sefton Principal