Kia Ora Whanau of St Kevin’s College,
As we prepare to move to Alert Level 2 here at the College, I wish to take some time to address parents and caregivers about our response to this change and to address any issues that may arise from this. Please forgive the length of this statement, but I do feel I need to ensure that we are all on the same page before our return next week.
Given the disaster unfolding around the world related to Covid-19, it is perfectly natural to be afraid and often our natural response to fear is to want to retreat to places where we feel safe. For most of us, that place is home. It is also a natural response for a parent or caregiver to want to protect their child. The world is a scary place and since April, it has just become a whole lot scarier. To those parents who feel that they are not able to send their students back to school next week because of pre-existing health conditions, or simply because of fear, I want you to know that I do understand this and that we will continue to provide support for you and your student via the online platforms but we do need to manage expectations around this.
Unlike the weeks under Levels 3 and 4, teachers will not necessarily be available during the period times when your student would normally have had contact with them. This is because we are expecting the majority of students to come back to school next week and the teacher will need to address lessons in the traditional manner. For example, in a PE period, this will involve active lessons which would mean that the teacher is not in front of their computer. Similarly the same thing will occur in the Arts and Technologies. What will continue to happen is that teachers will post and mark work from the Google classrooms and ensure that task instructions are added to their online platforms for those working from a distance. It will be very important that students who continue to work from home have adequate supervision so that they are able to stay focussed and on task. I am anticipating parental and caregiver support in this respect as we are unable to have staff in two places at once.
Pastoral services will continue to be offered online as well as on the school site. Students who have been struggling with their wellbeing are encouraged to contact the Guidance Counselor Mat Harris. Mr Harris runs an online booking system which is accessible both from site and from home (see school website under ‘Connect’). Deans can be contacted via e mail and Ms Walshe, our Head of Pastoral support, is also available. Similarly, the SENCO Mrs Dooley is available for anyone to contact who may be needing learning support.
On our return to school next week, our guiding principles will revolve around two areas of focus. The first is on hygiene, sanitising and washing hands, cleaning each classroom each day and high touch surfaces such as handrails etc. Please note, this does not mean social distancing as we have come to know it, which the Ministry of Education recognises is impossible to police in a school environment. The official advice we have had is that students should stay out of each other’s ‘breath zone’, in other words avoid situations where close contact could potentially spread the disease. In the past similar advice has been given out by schools regarding the spread of head lice, explaining to children to keep their heads apart. It's the same sort of message for us and from us.
The second will be around contact tracing. This is the reason why the government is relatively relaxed about allowing students to come back to school, not because they will keep social distancing rules, or even because they are young and much less vulnerable, its because this is a captive audience and we can contact trace. Unlike the vast majority of areas in the community, schools are able to know who is where and whom they have come in contact with at all times. Should a case of Covid-19 be discovered in a school the entire school is shut down and everyone is tested. In this way, a school is able to operate like one big bubble where, because we take rolls every hour and have timetabled movements, we are able to trace where a potentially infected person has been and who they are in contact with. To this end, we also need the help of our community. We are asking that when you drop students off you stay in your car; that you do not have casual contact with students which is not formally recorded and that if you are on-site, you sign in, and sanitize your hands. In that way, with your cooperation, we can maintain good levels of hygiene in the school and know where everyone has been.
Finally, it is important for parents and caregivers to know that while we are doing our best to mitigate any spread of Covid-19, we are also expecting our students to step up to this challenge. We are unable to offer the same leniency that we traditionally may have around poor behaviour and social nuisance. For example, if a student behaves in a way which jeopardises our ability to keep others safe at school, for example leaving school grounds without permission, refusing to follow hygiene protocols, we will not hesitate to ring you and arrange for a distance-learning option to be put in place. Parents and caregivers must understand as we return to school that we value the lives of our students and staff and will protect them to the best of our ability. In this strange time, we are asked to talk through the implications and consequences of poor behaviour with the student you care for, as we try to implement the guidance from the Ministry of Health.
I am very much looking forward to seeing the return of our staff and students in the coming days. I am appreciative of the monumental effort made by our community over the past few weeks to stay home and save lives and I do not underestimate in any way the enormous toll this has taken on households. I believe that if we continue to work together in a responsible and respectful way, we as a school, a community and a nation will come through this.
God Bless
Paul Olsen
Principal
