26 April 2022

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Whaanau,

Moving to Orange

You’ll be aware that we are now operating under the Orange Traffic Light protocols at school.

The decision to move to Orange was made by the government on public health advice and reflects the fact that the country is moving past the peak of cases and our health system is able to cope. We are seeing that cases are declining due to high levels of vaccination and natural immunity after infection.

I want to give you an update on what the move to Orange means for our school.

At Orange, face masks are no longer mandatory at school. However, public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whaanau, wear a mask whenever they are indoors on school grounds. Students in Years 5-8 are still encouraged to wear masks in classrooms.

We will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette and, most importantly, staying home if you are sick. Any student sent to school who presents as unwell will be sent home.

Parents/caregivers who are simply dropping off or picking up their children from classrooms before or after school are no longer required to sign in at the office. During the school day (9:00am-3:00pm), signing in/out is still required.

We are all looking forward to fewer restrictions and returning to school life that is a bit closer to normal. In the meantime our learning programmes remain in place for all and we will still be open every day for every student.

Very best regards and thanks for your continued support of our school.

Steve Dunsmore

Principal