Coronavirus Update - 24 March 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Plan for next month:
• Tuesday 24 March and Wednesday 25 March - Students whose parents are essential workers may be on site. They will be based in the school library. Please check in by 8.45am.
• This week - Teachers will be preparing for online learning. Some content will be released if we can to help parents / students have something to carry on with. This information will be emailed to your child’s email address. There may also be general links via Facebook etc.
• Next two weeks - Staff and students will be "on holiday" as these have been brought forward by the Government.
• After Easter - Term Two begins 15 April (this is a change to the original term dates). Teachers will be available from this date for student support / questions / sending out work. This is likely to occur between 9am and 12pm each day.

When we have more information about the Ministry of Education's supply of work / devices we will let you know. At the time of writing we have no details.

General expectations of teaching staff after 14 April:
• They will not be available every minute, of every day
• They will keep work / instructions simple
• Their focus will be on providing learning opportunities (and possibly electronic meet ups if possible)
• We cannot deliver full 60 minute lessons
• They will not be taking class rolls, monitoring engagement etc
• All communication should be through school channels e.g. school email or google classroom etc
• The work they provide is to supplement the work being prepared by the Ministry of Education

Pastoral and Counselling Work
After Easter, students may contact deans (email addresses below), who will work with Deputy Principal, Mr Nick Reid, (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to coordinate responses.
Year 9 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Year 10 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Year 11 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Year 12 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Year 13 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Our counsellors will endeavour to continue to work with our students over the period of any school closure. Counsellors may refer families / whanau to seek outside support. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 06 356 4817 ext 8846. The use of virtual meeting apps may be used to allow our counsellors to continue to support students and families.

Yours sincerely,
Gary Yeatman
Principal

Coronovarius Update Two - 23 March 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

With today’s announcement by Government, we are implementing with urgency our plan to support your child’s learning from home. We appreciate this is a sudden and significant change, and will be heavily disruptive to many people in our community.

For children of essential workers, we look forward to seeing your child here at school on Tuesday 24 March at 8.45am in the school library. You may wish to check if you are considered an essential worker - https://covid19.govt.nz/help-and-advice/for-businesses-and-organisations/employers-including-rse/. Please note there will be no canteen operating.

We continue to ask that children who are not well, do not attend school.

Change to Term Dates:
The announcement essentially means the term dates have changed:
• School closed - Tuesday 24 March - Friday 27 March 2020
• Holidays - Monday 30 March - Tuesday 14 April 2020
• Term Two - (distance learning / school closed) Wednesday 15 April - TBC

Message from the Ministry of Education:

Today we have launched Learning from home and Ki te Ao Mārama, two new websites to support teachers, learners, parents and whānau so that learning for children and young people can continue.nThe websites include resources for parents and whānau, teachers and leaders. Resources span the learning pathway from early learning through to senior secondary, and more resources will be added as they’re developed.

The information and resources are available at https://www.learningfromhome.govt.nz/ and https://www.kauwhatareo.govt.nz/ki-te-ao-marama/. More resources will be added as they’re developed. Hard copy packs are being prepared for learners and whānau who don’t have connectivity at home.

Yours sincerely,
Gary Yeatman
Principal

Coronavirus Update - 23 March 2020

School will be closed to all students, except those whose parents are listed as “essential service personnel” from 3.10pm Monday 23 March 2020. Those who need supervision please report to the school library at 8.45am Tuesday 24 March 2020. More information to follow.

Bus Cancellations

Following Government announcements this weekend, the Ministry of Education has advised that all drivers over 70 years old along with drivers that have a compromised immune system or have underlying health conditions are to stay at home from Monday 23 March 2020.

This decision has had a significant impact on services operated by Uzabus which has resulted in the following School route and SESTA service cancellations effective from Monday 23 March 2020: https://uzabus.co.nz/important-covid-19-notice-cancelled-school-services/?fbclid=IwAR2c4WieWALf6fxx4GozKRAiUx7owyYporLWcMu3FPXICJ_sYJ4_zkO2RUY.

We appologise for the inconvenience this may cause, this is a rapidly changing situation which we will keep you updated on as developments arise.

Coronavirus Update - 22 March 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

As mentioned on March 21 2020, the announcement regarding those over 70 years old and those with pre-existing conditions will place pressure on the College providing a “normal timetable” in the coming days. A number of our relief teachers have also made themselves unavailable.

For that reason, we will have to start rostering home year levels from Tuesday 24 March 2020. Year 9 will not be rostered home at this time. This plan is for the week beginning Monday 23 March 2020. We will update you about plans for the last two weeks of term during the week.
• Monday 23 March - Normal timetable
• Tuesday 24 March - Year 12 students rostered home
• Wednesday 25 March - Year 11 students rostered home
• Thursday 26 March - Year 10 students rostered home
• Friday 27 March - Year 13 students rostered home

If senior students have work experience / USKILLS on their rostered day off, and it’s still operating, they should attend as usual.

We understand this may be disruptive and apologise for the inconvenience.

Yours sincerely,
Gary Yeatman
Principal

Coronavirus Update - 21 March 2020

Dear Parents/Caregivers

I can now confirm our staff member returned a negative test for COVID-19; which is great news.

The announcement today regarding those over 70 years old and those with pre-existing conditions will place pressure on the College providing a “normal timetable” in the coming days. A number of our relief teachers have also made themselves unavailable.

For that reason, we may have to start rostering home year levels from Tuesday 24 March 2020. Normal timetable will operate on Monday 23 March 2020.

We will confirm this plan as soon as possible.

A reminder that only the Ministry can close the College. While we appreciate your concerns, we cannot close the College at this time.

School transport (message from the Ministry of Education):

"The Ministry has confirmed that we have a number of school bus drivers over 70 years of age and they are working with the bus companies to assess the impacts on school transport. They have asked the bus companies to contact affected schools tomorrow if they have been unable to find replacement drivers."

Yours sincerely,
Gary Yeatman
Principal