Kia ora Waipawa Whanau
I hope the last two weeks have gone well for you all and you've been able to successful balance work commitments and having your children at home. No doubt many have had to battle illness and / or COVID as well.
We've had 6 staff fall to COVID over the break. Some of our staff will not be beginning the term, however, at the time of writing this, we do have a teacher for each room on Monday. If your child's class is having a reliever you will be notified via HERO and Seesaw
We have been told the next 4 weeks may be the trickiest of the year so far with COVID and other winter illnesses. Our goal for the first 4 weeks will be to keep all of our school open and running for all. We've managed to do this all year and we are determined to carry this on.
Mask Wearing
The offical statement:
For the start of Term 3, 2022, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health strongly recommend that all schools and kura amend their mask policy for the first four weeks of term to require mask wearing in all indoor settings (where it will not have a significant impact on teaching and learning – see below) for students in Years 4 and above.
I am asking you to encourage your child (Year 4 and above) to wear a mask when indoors at school.
We will be encouraging the children to wear a mask when indoors. We will not be making or forcing them to do so.
Staff in the Year 4 and above classrooms are also encouraged to wear a mask - when it does not affect their ability to teach in an effective way.
The Ministry have made a 'strong recommendation' rather than a mandate. This means there is no need to let me or the teacher know about mask exemptions etc. If you don't want your child to wear a mask then that is your right and staff will respect that.
On the other hand if you do really want your child to wear a mask at all times while indoors then just let your child's teacher know. The teacher will then be able to follow up with confidence and ensure this is happening.
The Ministry tell us to expect a large number of children friendly masks to be delivered to school next week. When this happens we will be able to supply children with masks.
We have also been told that wearing masks can reduce new cases of the virus by as much as 53%. However it works alongside other measures including vaccination, good ventilation, staying home when sick, and hand washing and other hygiene measures. We will also be focussing on these in classrooms.
Thanks for your continued support.
Ngā mihi nui
Mr J
