From the Principal: 21 August

Requirements at Alert Level 2

• Children are encouraged to take additional precautions when leaving home. Parents, caregivers and students will need to work with the school to develop a plan to manage a safe return to school. Distance learning will continue to be available to those who choose to remain at home.

• Staff are able to work on-site if they can do it in a safe way. Staff and employers should discuss and agree whether additional control measures can be put in place, whether these workers can work from home, or if not, what leave and pay arrangements will apply.

• Staff to work with their GP or specialist if they need help understanding their own level of risk and how best to stay healthy.

• Hand sanitiser at entry to classrooms and in shared spaces.  Soap, water and the ability to dry hands must be provided in bathrooms. If hand sanitiser is in short supply, washing and drying hands with soap is still the most effective hygiene measure.

• Children, young people and staff should be far enough away from each other so that they are not breathing on or touching each other, coupled with good hygiene practices and regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces. There does not need to be a specific measurement but where practicable and reasonable 1 metre can be used as a guide, particularly between adults.

• Physical distancing of 2 metres is recommended for parents and caregivers, from people they don’t know (to align with public health measures outside the school grounds).

• Disinfect and clean all surfaces daily

• Schools, like workplaces are not considered to be gatherings.

• If however a school brings others onsite eg, hire out school hall, use of buildings by community groups, or events like school productions and school balls then rules for gatherings and other public health measures would apply.

• Physical education classes and break time activities can include access to sports equipment including playgrounds but hygiene practice should be observed before and after playing with equipment. There will also need to be regular cleaning of shared equipment such as balls, sticks etc.

• Physical distance is not possible in some sporting activities. In these situations extra emphasis on handwashing and drying (or cleansing with hand sanitiser) before and after activities and regular cleaning of equipment is very important.

• Contact tracing remains a priority through your visitor register, timetable and attendance register. You are required to display QR code posters for the NZ COVID Tracer App.

• To support contact tracing, record all visitors who are on-site for a period of time, including parents and caregivers, in your visitor register (as is usual practice but also to assist if contact tracing is necessary).

• For drop offs and pick ups, if the parent or caregiver uses the app you don’t need to capture them in your visitor register.

• For parents and caregivers who cannot use the App, you may wish to continue to record their details in a simple register when they do pick-ups and drop-offs.

• Volunteers can be used at Alert Level 2 in class as long as they are meeting all the public health requirements and are recorded in your timetable and/or visitor register (make sure you have up to date contact information for them).

• Please keep your visitor register for at least 2 months.

• Teachers are able to teach more than one group/class of students

• If you prepare food on site you must check the MPI guidance on re-opening food businesses and ensure your school and any suppliers meet all health and safety requirements before you recommence the supply of food to your students.

• Libraries can be operated as the virus does not survive for long on paper and cardboard (less than 24 hours), so books and other paper and cardboard can be put aside overnight and used the next day by other students. Books with plastic sleeves should be wiped down with a disinfectant wipe before re-issuing the next day.

• Other schools’ students can come on-site during the week and for school-run out of hours’ programmes. External providers can come onsite including for example other teachers and team coaches/managers.

• For hosting External students onsite (eg, music programmes, technology schools), you will need to treat the running of these programmes with strong caution, particularly if there are a number of different schools participating or large numbers of students (and parents and caregivers) involved.

• It is recommended that you develop a specific health and safety plan for managing the programme. Minimising congestion should be a key priority for that plan, including in the classrooms or spaces being used for delivery.

• If parents and caregivers come into the classrooms or other teaching spaces to observe, you need to apply the current rules for gatherings at this alert level.

• Shared supplies and equipment are able to be used if students and staff are undertaking regular hand washing and staying away if sick.

• Practices, rehearsals and performances can go ahead – physical distancing of 1 metre is recommended where practicable including singing and using wind instruments.

• Consider whether appropriate to use, particularly are students capable of using them safely? Encourage using water bottles where possible.