22 March 2020

Dear Parents / Caregivers

COVID-19 Update

I have heard the situation with COVID-19 described as unprecedented a number of times in the media and online in the past few days, and I would agree that for us all at Waiopehu College, this is exactly the word I would use. We have begun to think and plan differently and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you all some of the work we are doing and decisions we have made. 

Overseas Returners

Many thanks to those families who have been in touch to let us know that you or your child is in isolation having returned from an overseas trip. If you are keeping your son or daughter at home for this reason and you have not yet been in touch with us, please give the school office a call so that we can update our records.

Sports

As you may be aware all competitive sport has been cancelled or postponed by the various sporting bodies, and there are no games planned until the start of Term 2 at the earliest. I will keep you updated as soon as further information is received. We had been planning to try and keep some of our training sessions going, in order that students can keep up their fitness and skill levels. Unfortunately, given the latest updates from the Prime Minister at the weekend, it is clear that COVID-19 is continuing to spread in New Zealand and that community transmission in 2 cases cannot be ruled out. The strong advice coming from sporting bodies is that we need to do all that we can to stop non-essential activities and to promote physical distancing wherever possible. I think that training falls into this category and, as the health and safety of everyone at school is the number one priority, all training activities will be put on hold until Tuesday 28 April 2020, when the situation will be re-assessed. The message is clearly to go early and go hard, and we have to play our part.

Electives

Our comprehensive electives programme will continue as normal as these are a core part of our school curriculum and the normal school day. If students are involved in physical activities we will be taking additional precautions to promote hygiene, zero contact and physical distancing.

Cultural Activities

At this stage rehearsals for Showquest, Kapa Haka, Choir, and Poly Club will keep going as normal. Again, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure students are not coming into close contact with each other.

Online Learning
All staff have begun preparing material as a precaution against sudden closure. As I mentioned in my last letter, please let the office know if your son or daughter does not have access to a device at home. By a device I refer to a Chromebook, tablet, laptop, PC or similar.  A smartphone will not work well in this situation. If you do not have access to a device, or to the internet, please be sure to let the office know so that we can try and help. Thanks to those parents who have already been in touch about this.

Contact Details

You should have found your son/daughter bringing home contact details for checking with you. This is so that if we have to close suddenly we can ensure contact with you is quick and reliable. We will be using email, texting, the school website and the school Facebook page to get our main messages across. If you have not been asked to check a contact details sheet it might be a good time to have a look in your child’s schoolbag! We would also strongly advise you to download the Waiopehu College App from Google Play or the App Store (just search for Waiopehu College). All communication going out from the College can be accessed from here, through links to Facebook, the website, the KAMAR portal and news alerts.

How will you know if Waiopehu College needs to close?

The Ministry of Health will contact me if, for any reason, there is a need to close the school. I will then be in touch with you to let you know about this, and the length of time involved. For example, if there were to be a confirmed case, then the school would be closed for 48-72 hours to allow for contact tracing and a deep clean. It is only when community transmission occurs in a school or region that a longer closure would be considered. 

When is sick, sick?

The messaging remains clear. If your child is feeling unwell please ask them to stay home. However, at the tail end of a cold there will be runny noses and possibly coughing and this might be worrying for some who are being vigilant about their own and others’ health. I have attached a diagram that might be helpful, as it outlines the symptoms of COVID-19, flu and a common cold.  As you will have seen in various media releases, if you are concerned that symptoms may be those of COVID-19, self isolate and contact Healthline immediately on 0800 358 5453, as well as the school.

High-risk Individuals

While the majority of people who are confirmed with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms, some individuals are at risk of more severe symptoms.

Older people, particularly those with pre-existing health problems are more likely to get severe illness and are therefore considered at risk. High risk individuals also include people with underlying medical conditions, such as:

• a compromised immune system
• liver disease
• cancer
• kidney disease
• heart disease
• diabetes mellitus

If you believe your son/daughter needs to stay at home as they are considered high-risk, please let us know at school. We will be making plans to ensure we are able to continue supporting their learning at home.

In addition, we are currently assessing the impact this may have on our own staff and persons connected to Waiopehu. For example, we know there are school bus or taxi drivers who are no longer able to provide transport and the majority of Uzabus services have been cancelled for Monday 23 March. We will work quickly with The Ministry of Education and Uzabus to find a way forward with this. Thank you very much to parents who are already arranging to car pool!

Cleaning and Sanitisation

We have managed to acquire additional stocks of hand sanitiser, as well as surface cleaner. We will be paying particular attention to frequently used surfaces such as keyboards, door handles, and metal surfaces, but the most effective way of avoiding the spread of germs is through the frequent washing of hands for at least 20 seconds. Your support in emphasising this to your children is much appreciated. In addition, we will be reminding students of the need to stop handshakes, hugging and hongi. I have seen all sorts of wonderful foot tapping routines emerge, as well as the use of the east coast wave! 

Hardship

This is a tough time for many in the community and some businesses are struggling and trying to avoid redundancies. If there is any way we can help, please get in touch with me. This is a time for us all to watch out for our neighbours and our wider community who may be under stress. 

Further advice and support

You will most likely have seen the Prime Minister release the COVID-19 Alert Levels and at the time of writing New Zealand remains at Level 2: Reduce. I have attached a copy of the Alert Levels for your reference and I would point you to www.covid19.govt.nz for all the information you are likely to need. We will be keeping a careful eye on our students and we can provide advice and support to those who may be feeling anxious as well as general reassurance to all.

I will continue to provide updates and I thank you all most sincerely for your support. Do look after yourselves and let me know if there is anything further you think we can do to support you or your child in the coming days and weeks.

I should also point out that advice and information is changing on a daily, if not hourly basis. We may therefore need to make additional changes to our curriculum delivery at short notice and we will, of course, let you know quickly if this happens.

Yours sincerely

Mark Robinson

Principal

Article added: Monday 23 March 2020