Term 1 Week 3

Kia ora,

Tonight the Prime Minister advised that Auckland will be heading into alert level 3 Covid-19 restrictions and the rest of the country will move to Covid-19 Level 2 restrictions. We again ask for your support in carrying out our alert level 2 safety plan.

I would like to reassure you that we have a number of measures in place to reduce the risk of Covid-19. Tomorrow morning we will hold a staff meeting to go over our alert level 2 safety plan. Please see a detailed list of our requirements and measures below. We would really appreciate you discussing the information with your child/ren tonight.

Drop off/Pick up

• Please drop off/pick up your child at the school gates

• Remember we have three gates that your child can use; front gate, bus gate, and hall gate

• Staff will be located near all three gates at the end of the day to ensure traffic safety

• Most of our Room 6 students can now walk into school by themselves, but if your child still needs to be walked in by a parent/caregiver, please remember to write your name down in the log book in the Room 6 cloak bay

• If your child becomes anxious and you need to walk them into school, please sign in at the school office. This does not apply to the parents of children in Room 6 as you will have written your name down in the Room 6 log book.

School Bus

• The school bus will be operating as normal

• The seats in close proximity to the driver will be unavailable

• Please follow any guidelines the bus driver sets

Hygiene

• Hand hygiene is incredibly important

• We require the students to sanitise their hands on arrival and before leaving, as well as before and after breaks

• Surfaces will be disinfected daily

• Students to cough/sneeze into their elbow

• Students need to bring their own filled water bottle daily; drinking fountains closed

• Respect the ‘moist breathing bubble’ of others - teachers will go over this on Monday

Information for Parents/Caregivers

• The school site is for essential visitors only

• Essential visitors will sign in and out at our school office

• Please utilise the ‘drop off’ car parks if available

• If your child is sick, please keep them at home

• If your child is sick, please contact your GP or phone Healthline 0800 611 116

• If your child arrives at school sick, they will be isolated in the sick bay and their parents/caregivers will be contacted to pick them up immediately

• All essential information will be emailed to caregivers, with an APP Alert, please ensure you have downloaded the school app

If you have any questions, please ask. Your first point of contact is your child’s classroom teacher, please find their email addresses at https://www.matapu.school.nz/about/staff. I know the information and requirements stated above seem like a lot, but please keep in mind we only have the well-being of your child/ren, their peers, and staff at heart. We really appreciated your support during alert levels 2-4 last time and know that we can count on it again this time. Our message is one of be alert, not alarmed, and together we can keep our community safe.

Ngå mihi nui

James Willson