Kia ora Whānau,

The Government announced on Monday that Auckland will stay at Alert Level 3 Step 1 with no change to the restrictions in place, with a review to take place in 2 weeks, on Monday 1 November.

We had hoped this afternoon's announcement would provide some clarity on the return to school for our children, what this might look like and when we can likely expect this. The focus of today’s COVID update was on senior Secondary students, and we expect a further update for Primary schools next Tuesday. We were pleased to hear that a return to school, even under alert level 3, has not been ruled out, and understand that this requires careful consideration and planning as those under the age of 12, who are not able to be vaccinated, are at a greater risk. We will continue to keep you updated of any changes.

Until we know more, distance learning will continue and we are super impressed with the high attendance rates to kick off term 4 - yesterday we were at a whopping 93.7%!

We will keep you updated with information relevant to Covid and alert levels via these Community Updates as well as, starting next week, our regular fortnightly Communication Updates.

Noho ora mai,

Sarah and team

We have had a number of families get in touch in regards to their child/children attending school onsite during alert level 3. We are only open for those children whose parents/carers are required to leave home to go to work, and who do not have appropriate care at home. If you are working from home during level 3, unfortunately, your children will not be able to attend school. We wholeheartedly appreciate the challenges involved as many of our staff are also juggling working from home with their children.

Last week we mentioned that a further series of hardcopy booklets have been created for year 0-4 learners. We are taking delivery of the booklets this week.

Year 0-2 booklets will be available for contactless collection from School on Tuesday next week, and Year 3-4 booklets on Wednesday. We will provide further details about when and where pick up will take place at School, you will also receive a link to book your preferred time for collection on these days.

Mandatory Vaccinations for School Staff
All of our staff who are working onsite this term have provided a negative Covid-19 test before returning to school. Anyone who is not yet double-vaccinated will continue to provide a weekly test, while those fully vaccinated are not required to undergo further testing unless they experience any symptoms of Covid-19.

All staff will need to be fully vaccinated by the 1st of January 2022, and we are well on track to achieving this.

Vaccinations for children aged 12 years or older
The Prime Minister has urged students who are 12 or older, along with their parents and caregivers, to get vaccinated as soon as possible, if they aren't already. Stonefields school supports this; vaccination is the strongest and most effective tool available to help ensure that we are able to re-open, and stay open. If all of those who are eligible to be vaccinated are vaccinated, it means we are all doing our part to provide protection for our community.

We know things can be particularly challenging during these uncertain times.

If you or know of anyone who needs support, we encourage you to utilise the services on our Wellbeing page on the COVID site for whānau | families.

We continue to update this, and we've added lots of contact details for support agencies, including essential food services. You’ll also find some great ideas to support your whole family's wellbeing. Click here to access.

Alternatively you can get in contact with ssadmin@stonefields.school.nz to help get support to gain access to services.