Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Covid-19 daily case numbers continue to rise throughout New Zealand. We have a number of whanau who have contacted us to inform us that they are isolating which I thank you all very much for. We have been notified of our official first confirmed case in our school community, which we had been anticipating. We continue to encourage good hygiene practices, especially mask wearing, across all areas of the school to minimise spread of the virus.

Last week New Zealand moved into Phase 3 of the Government’s Omicron response, which means that only confirmed cases and their household contacts need to self-isolate for 10 days. Everyone else, including those who may have had close contact with the case but are not in the same house, must continue to monitor closely for any symptoms of Covid-19. The latest flow chart that was shared with everyone last week is included with this information.

What does Phase 3 mean?

• School remains open at Red - It is great for student’s wellbeing and learning to be at school with their friends and staff

• Everyone must continue to monitor for any symptoms of Covid-19, if unwell please stay at home and get advice to get a Covid-19 test

• If isolating due to positive household case, your child can engage with our Choice Board which will be available on our Website from Monday 28th February or via students Google Classroom or whanau can request a hard copy learning pack which will be delivered to your house

• Whanau who have a confirmed Covid 19 case must notify close contacts yourself

• Maintain communication with the school

• If you and your whanau need support then please visit the Covid-19 Health Hub

I am sure that you will support and respect the decision to not identify the specific classroom of a confirmed case as we are a small school and our students are very social and are in contact with a number of students during their time at school. We want to protect the mana and privacy of all our whanau, especially as social media has seen some bullying of positive cases in the community. If you are concerned then you can get your child/whānau tested.

We are currently operating at Stage 1- business as usual of our Covid 19 response plan. In the future as we receive notification of more positive cases in our school, we will communicate which stage we are operating at using our Covid-19 Response Plan. You would have received this information last week.

Please continue to remind your child of good hygiene practices and the wearing of masks correctly.

Regards

Titahi Bay Intermediate Team