Kia ora,   

We have just completed Week 6, which is just over half way through the first term.  I’d like to commend our students and staff for the manner in which they are collectively doing their best to meet the challenges of this term thus far.  Our last EOTC trips for the short-term occurred this week with  Year 11 NCEA Physical Education classes completing their surfing practical at Sumner beach.  On a positive note we have been able to set a platform for our  curriculum delivery, and this will help significantly as we negotiate the second half of this term. 

Student attendance remains comparatively good with at least 76% of students being present.  The number of students who are confirmed cases up until this point remaining relatively low. They are evenly spread amongst Year 11-13 and very low in Year 9 and 10.  This would indicate that there is not widespread transmission within the school.  Unfortunately we have experienced the impact of COVID through our staff and relief teaching pool, and this has necessitated our need to roster each year level of students home for one day a week (please see the specific information relating to this below).  

COVID Response—Teaching and Learning Week 7 and 8

From Monday 14th March the school will move into a combined model of on and off site learning, inclusive of rostering home.  The table below indicates which year level will be rostered home each day. For the other four days, students will attend as normal. By reducing the number of students physically at school each day, we can redistribute our staff to cover the remaining year levels on site. At this stage we would like to run this for the next two weeks to be reviewed during Week 8, with the aim to inform our community of any potential changes.  

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Year 12

Year 10

Year 11

Year 9

Year 13


Teachers who are at school will be working with students in class every day including covering for absent colleagues.  Therefore, they will not be able to actively teach students on the day they are rostered home. Senior students have been informed as to how they can continue with their classwork, on their rostered home day.  Junior students will enter a phase of ‘hybrid learning’ which they have been shown how to access online, whether they are at school or at home

We are continuing to provide online content for those students who are isolating at home and, who feel well enough to access it. 

If you are unable to supervise your student at home on their rostered day off and you need them to come to school please telephone the school office on 352 6119. 

COVID Phase 3 Update:    Important changes to Isolation requirements

From 11:59pm Friday 11th March, isolation requirements for positive cases of Covid-19 and their household contacts will be reduced from 10 to seven days.  If you are currently in isolation you will not have to do Day 8, 9, or 10. 

Additionally, recovered COVID cases no longer need to isolate if they become a household contact within 90 days of having the virus.

Cases

  • Anyone who tests positive for COVID 19 will be required to isolate for 7 days.
  • Day 0 is the day symptoms began or the day the test was taken (whichever came first)
  • Cases will isolate for a full seven days and are free to return to normal activities on Day 8 if they are not symptomatic.

 

Household Contacts

  • Are required to isolate for the same 7 days as the case.
  • Are required to take a RAT test on Day 3 and Day 7 of the case’s isolation period.
  • Can return to normal activities on the same day as the first case in the household if their test results have been negative and they are not symptomatic (please monitor for symptoms up to Day 10)

PLEASE NOTE:  Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 are not required to self-isolate past seven days under public health regulations, but they should not return to school if they are still feeling unwell.

In line with Ministry of Education advice we are committed to keeping school open for on-site learning as much as we can.  We are keeping a constant eye on the situation, and will continue to provide you with updates as appropriate.  We would appreciate if you could please keep notifying us of any positive COVID cases or household contacts by emailing [email protected]   

Ngā mihi nui

Jeff Smith

Principal