Kia Ora Parents/caregivers,
Welcome back to 2022 at Reporoa College.
Kei aku nui, kei aku rahi, tēnā koutou katoa i roto i ngā āhuatanga o te wā.
Welcome back after what we hope has been a wonderful summer for your whānau.
Our team is feeling refreshed and ready to go for the 2022 year. There has been a change in senior management with Lana Delamere moving to Palmerston North. In her place we have Miss Knisha Ruland , who has recently worked within the Ministry of Education and Western Heights High School. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge, and links to whanau already attending the college. We also fondly welcome back Stephanie Witton (Takurangi) to Reporoa College in the PE department.
In years 7 to 9 we combined curriculum subjects such as English and Social Studies, together in order to better meet the needs of our Tamariki. You will see from the timetable that they have the same teacher for different subjects or in the case of Year 9, Social Studies and English have been combined together.
In regard to COVID-19 we have moved fully into the new traffic light framework for all our school, kura activities and events.This year it is good to know that at Red setting, we are able to support everyone learning onsite.
Buses
Ritches has taken over the bus service and we are working with them to overcome any early glitches. There have been situations where the previous company did do things that were considered to be out of their contract and this has caused some bus routes be shorter or be slightly different to what our families have been used to. If you have any questions please contact Sophie Lyon slyon@reporoa.school.nz, our bus controller. A reminder that it is a legal requirement for all students to wear their masks while on the school buses.
Events and activities
Large hui and gatherings especially when indoors continue to be one of the riskier activities we can undertake. We have therefore reviewed all our events and activities for the upcoming term to ensure we meet the health guidance for Red. This includes Powhiri, Athletics Day and Swim sports.
School Sport and Vaccinations
Andrew sent out a message to all whanau to confirm that in order to compete in any sport the student must be double vaccinated. We have been asked to gather this information by the sporting bodies as a condition of entry. We will be beginning next week to gather this information. This will be stored in a database and will not be shared to anyone else.
If you can, send a screenshot of your child's vaccine record to counter@reporoa.school.nz or send them along with their vaccine pass. We will not be asking all students for this information, only those that wish to participate.
Ventilation
We will be using the Ministry of Education self-assessment tool to review our School’s Ventilation Systems’ in readiness for the start of the year. Providing good old fashioned fresh air still remains vital in our learning spaces to minimize risk for ākonga and kaiako (and the same goes for you at home). We will also be receiving a CO2 monitor in the coming weeks to further support our ventilation plan, it is also reassuring that A block has an HVAC system that monitors CO2 levels and introduces fresh air into the classrooms.
Omicron and Testing
We have all seen the very large numbers of cases overseas and we will very likely see much larger numbers of cases in Aotearoa than we have previously experienced in the last two years. While Omicron is more transmissible than previous strains, most people who get COVID-19 will have a mild to moderate illness and will fully recover in their own home.
However, some of our community who are immune compromised, are ill or have other vulnerabilities, even when they are fully vaccinated, could be more affected by Omicron. So, we all need to continue to play our part to minimise the spread of the virus.
In regard to testing, the health system currently has capacity to process 40,000 PCR tests a day. PCR testing is the most accurate test for COVID-19 and will continue to be used while New Zealand is in the stamp-it-out phase.
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will begin to be used more widely over time. They are not as accurate as PCR tests and this means that some people who do have COVID-19 will get a negative test result back. There are currently 4.6 million RATs in the country and 10s of millions ordered.
If you are symptomatic or need to be tested to access a workplace or service, you will be guided at the time on which test is best for you.
Face coverings
Staff and children in Years 4 – 13 must wear face coverings when inside at school when we are at Red.
Public health advice is that an appropriate face covering will fit snugly and seal well around facial contours. This can include single use, disposable masks (medical masks) and re-usable fabric masks with three layers.
Don’t worry if you don’t have these specific types of face coverings, as public health experts also say that any face covering is better than no face covering.
Managing cases in our school
We have a good contact tracing system in place so that if there is a confirmed case who has been at school while infectious, we can quickly identify who was a close contact of that person. We will then quickly advise those contacts of what they need to do.
Only if the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education advises to do so, would we consider closing a physical onsite school and moving to distance learning for everyone. At Red we will keep everyone learning onsite for as long as we can.
Please make sure your contact details we have on file are up to date, so we can get in touch with you if needed.
Preparing for COVID-19
You can also prepare for COVID-19, making sure you and your household have a plan and know what to do. This will mean your whānau and community can help each other if needed. Find out more here:
Self-isolating at home because of COVID-19
Many people will be able to manage self-isolation with help from friends and whānau, but there is help available if you need it – both with health support and access to food and other essentials.
Getting ready to return to school
The Ministry of Education has some helpful information on their Parents and Whānau website to support your tamariki to get back to school. There is also a very important reminder about how you can take care of yourself.
While this might all feel a little overwhelming at times, we know that all these measures will help our children return to school, reconnect with whānau and friends and do what they enjoy.
We are also here to help. Please get in touch if you have any concerns or need help in any way.
Have a great weekend
Brendan
