Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The quick move to Level 4, record volumes of testing for COVID in the community, extensive wastewater testing, huge numbers of New Zealanders being vaccinated (more than 2 million people have now received their first dose), and a very wide net being cast around confirmed cases, has given the Government confidence that we are safe to move to Alert Level 3 on Wednesday 1 September.

At Alert Level 3, we still need to stay within our household bubbles unless for essential movement including food and/or grocery shopping, pharmacy requirements, possibly going to work and possibly bringing boys to school. As the Prime Minister noted on Friday, schools are essentially closed at Alert Level 3 with the exception of those few children whose parents and carers must go to work at Alert Level 3, and there is no appropriate caregiver at home.

Further to receiving survey responses over the weekend, the majority of our parents have indicated their sons will not be attending School and thus will continue their learning programme remotely, just as all boys have during this approximately two-week period whilst at the Alert Level 4 lockdown.

So Hereworth will partially re-open on Wednesday, for a small number of boys who need to attend. As you imagine it will not be school as we know it under Alert Levels 2 or 1. All our usual safety precautions for Alert Level 3 will be in place which include following all the recommendations from the public health experts. This means we will regularly clean and disinfect high touch surfaces, encourage everyone to frequently wash their hands and cover their coughs and sneezes, and keep everyone physically distanced from others as much as possible (1 metre inside and 2 metres outside). We will also keep school bubbles to no more than 10 students. These bubbles will not mix with other bubbles.

Our contact tracing systems will be in place, which includes our attendance register and visitor register, and we will be limiting staff onsite with the majority of our team working from home.

You can also assist everyone’s safety by keeping your child at home if they are feeling unwell and please do contact your GP or Healthline, to seek advice.

We will continue to support all boys who continue to learn from home, through our distance learning programme.

While we know how difficult it is trying to work from home as well as support your son’s learning, please keep your son at home if there is an appropriate carer available. For those of you with no other option, we will look forward to seeing your son at school on Wednesday. Mrs Field will provide further information shortly to those families who have indicated that their son/s will need to return to Hereworth under Alert Level 3.

It is pleasing to hear that across New Zealand compliance is high. As you have been doing, please continue to follow all the alert level requirements at Levels 4 and 3. It is the best tool we have to keep our community safe.

Ngā mihi

Trevor Barman

Headmaster

Article added: Monday 30 August 2021