ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC
SCHOOL
TAKAPUNA

Alert Level 3

22 April

Dear Parents

The information contained in this post informs you as to what our school will look like under Covid19 Alert Level 3 . Please can all parents read this whether or not you are intending to send your child to school. It will cover the following topics;

• Government Expectations
• Contact Tracing
• Registering Students as ‘Learning from Home’ or ‘Learning from School’
• Online Programme of Learning
• Student Groupings
• Bubble Groups
• Breaks
• Spacing
• Drop Off/Pick Up
• Student Injury/Illness
• Student Equipment
• Before and After School Care

Government Expectations

“So here’s a reminder of the principles for Level 3 when we get there.

1. Stay home. If you are not at work, school, exercising or getting essentials, then you must be at home, the same as at Level 4.
2. Work and learn from home if you can. We still want the vast majority of people working from home, and children and young people learning from home. At-risk students and staff should also stay at home, and they will be supported to do so. Early learning centres and schools will physically be open for up to Year 10 for families that need them.”

Contact Tracing

• Schools have to be set up in such a way that should contact tracing need to be carried out it can be done easily
• Students and Staff need to stay 2 metres apart outside and 1 metre apart inside
• The number of people allowed on site will be kept to a minimum.
• The spaces that the people enter will be kept to a minimum
• All students and staff will be in bubbles of no more than ten
• Bubbles will have designated areas/toilets that they can access
• No additional adults other than essential teaching staff will be permitted to enter the school grounds

Registering Students as ‘Learning from Home’ or ‘Learning from School’

• • Parents who are able to have their children learn from home are asked to keep them home for all of Alert Level 3 and register their children as ‘Learning from Home’ 
  • Students who are returning for the Alert Level 3 need to be registered as ‘Learning from School’. These students are expected to arrive at school daily for the period the school is open under Alert Level 3 unless they are unwell

• ALL parents need to register their children as ‘Learning from Home’ or ‘Learning from School’ on our school survey through this link. Please complete this survey by tomorrow Thursday 23 April 3pm.

Online Programme of Learning

• All students, whether at school or at home, will be continuing with the school’s Online Programme of Learning
• Teachers will be supervising a bubble of students while continuing to plan, monitor and provide feedback to their Home Group students Online Programme of Learning

Student Groupings

• Students and teachers will be put in school bubbles of 10. This is 9 students and one teacher
• Bubbles will be made up of family groups/siblings and students who are the only family member at school.
• Students may not have their Home Group teacher or friends in their bubble
• The school will be determining the bubbles and they will not be changed for parent/student requests

Bubble Groups

• Each bubble will have a set area and each student/family will have a set table/space to sit at for the period of Alert Level 3
• Bubbles entry and exit to their space will be set
• Bubbles crossing each other’s area will be kept to a minimum
• Bubbles will have an allocated toilet to use
• Bubbles can access different parts of the outdoor areas under direction and supervision

Breaks

• Bubbles will have a break of between 15 and 30 minutes every half hour
• Students will stay in their bubbles during the breaks. They will not interact with other students in other bubbles or break their personal bubble to sit/play with other students within their bubble
• Students will only use play equipment designated to them for the period of Alert Level 3.
• Students will not share play equipment with other students in their bubble
• The school playgrounds are closed to all students
• Students will be taken to the fields for fresh air and will be required to stay 2 metres apart

Spacing

• The requirement for students and staff to stay 2 metres apart outside and 1 metre apart inside at all times will be monitored thoughout the day
• The learning spaces and day, will be planned to allow students and staff to achieve the spacing requirements within their bubbles
• Students and staff will only have access to their bubble and will not be able to cross bubbles
• Students in the same immediate family bubble will be able to work and play together while following the required spacing expectation in relation to other families/students in their bubble
• The only way we can guarantee a child/staff member will not have their 1 – 2 metre space compromised is if they stay at home in their bubble 

Drop Off / Pick Up – In order to ensure the 2 metre spacing is able to be achieved

• All students, other than those travelling by bus, must brought to school and collected by an adult or Rosmini student
• Adults must stay in their cars at all times
• Students exit/enter the cars when directed
• Students will be guided from/to their car from/to their school bubble by a staff member
• A timetable for Bubbles drop off/pick up times will be sent out once the school knows how many students are returning
• Drop off will be between 8.30 am and 9 am and pick up will be between 2.30 pm and 3 pm
• No student is to be dropped off or picked up without the supervision of a staff member
• The basketball courts will be closed at pick up as they will be the waiting area for students to be collected
• Rosmini students will be able to access the school grounds via the Dominion Street entrance, to be collected or to collect their siblings. Parents of St Joseph’s and Rosmini students who arrive after 3 pm, are to park in the Parish car park, and wait in their cars
• Students who walk to or from school with their parents will be dropped off/collected from the front field
• Parents who normally drop off/collect their student from the Lake House Cafe will need drop off/collect their student from the drop off/pick up zone
• Students catching buses outside Rosmini college will be escorted to the bus as normal
• Students catching public buses from Taharoto Rd will be escorted to the bus as normal

Student Injury/Illness

• All bubbles will have basic first aid equipment
• The first aid room will be accessible for an emergency
• Parents will be contacted if their child needs to go home and will be asked to park in the pick up zone, not get out of the car, and the child will be guided by a staff member from their bubble to their parents car

Student Equipment

• Food: please pack your child snack sized food in their lunch boxes. Students have become used to grazing through the day at home so there will be a number of food breaks through the day.
• Water: Please ensure students have a bottle of water as they will not have access to the drinking fountains.
• Families/students can bring a game to play at their table on their own or with their family/siblings
• Students cannot bring sports equipment
• Additional information re devices and stationery will be given to parents of students who are returning to school for Alert Level 3

Before/After School Care

• The Government have determined there will be no Before/After School Care in Alert Level 3

We appreciate that this is an extensive range of measures. They are designed to ensure that both students and staff are safe and are based on information we have received to date from the Ministry of Education.

Thank you to the families who will continue to support their children at home with their Online Programme of Learning. 

For parents who have no option but to send their children to school, please be assured that we have put all these measures in place to keep your child safe to the best of our ability and that they will continue to do their Online Programme of Learning under the supervision of the teacher in their bubble.

Register Your Child

• • After reading through this Alert Level 3 information could you please register your child as ‘Learning from Home’ or ‘Learning from School’. This takes effect from Wednesday 29 April through to Monday 11 May. Please remember the Prime Minister has asked that at Alert Level 3: Work and learn from home if you can. We still want the majority of people working from home, and the majority of children and young people learning from home.

• ALL parents need to register their children as ‘Learning from Home’ or ‘Learning from School’ on our school survey through this link. Please complete this survey by tomorrow Thursday 23 April 3pm.

Ka manaakitia koutou e te Atua

Alister Bridgman

Principal