Kia Ora Whanau 

Thank you for your support and understanding as we navigate our way around Phase 2 of the Red Light settings.

The aim of this setting is to keep school open with health measures in place that are appropriate. We continue to update our school protocols as the Ministry of Education and Health provides new health advice.

Contact Tracing at Phase 2

Due to the high number of Omicron cases now occurring in the community, the Ministry of Health relies on schools to carry out contact tracing and communications related to positive cases with their communities. Schools have a step-by-step guide and toolkit that guides us through the process of dealing with positive cases. The process involves: 

• Verification of a positive case (via caregivers or Ministry of Health).
• Confirming when the case was infectious at school.
• Contact tracing to identify close contacts of the positive case.
• Sending the list of contacts to the Ministry of Health so that the National Contact Tracing System logs the contacts and follows up.
• Communicating with close contacts and caregivers to provide instructions about self-isolation, testing and where to find further advice and support. 

Please note that the Ministry of Education allows schools up to 8 hours to complete the above process because contact tracing can be a time consuming and complex process depending on the movements of the positive case. Also, the email and/or text we send out to notify close contacts is modified from a Ministry template. I apologise in advance for the generic style of this message but given the potential number of cases and the need to communicate swiftly, this is the only practical approach. 

To date 20 students and 6 staff have been positive case and we are coping very well in terms of keeping the dorms open and school running. One of the hardest tasks is making sure our staffing numbers are adequate. While numbers of positive cases are relatively low, a number of staff (and students) are absent as close contacts. The waiting time for in Auckland is up to 5 – 8 days for a test result.

Isolation periods and transitioning to Phase 2

In Phase 1, of the response to Omicron, close contacts of people with COVID-19 were required to self-isolate for ten days.  

In Phase 2, the isolation period has been reduced to seven days and including a test on day 5. This means that close contacts can now return to school on day eight if their test day five was returned negative and they are symptom free. 

An important note confirmed Positive cases isolate for 10 days. If they are symptom free for the final 72 hours they may return to school. There is no need to retest as a positive case.  

All students will have work online to complete. It is imperative that they keep up with their schoolwork.  

Mask Use 

Students are doing very well with mask wearing and I have been particularly impressed with the serious and compliant approach they have taken since the start of the year.

It is also important to know that at a time like this our counselling and health clinic services are fully operational should students need to check in here. Students may feel anxious or unsettled during this period of disruption and it is important to know they have people they can talk to. 

I trust this message provides you with the reassurance that we have clear procedures in place to respond swiftly to Covid-19 cases in our school community. We will maintain regular communication with you as we work through the contact tracing steps and as we endeavour to keep the College open for on-site learning.

Ngā mihi nui
Dr Brian Evans
ONZM
BA, Dip Tch, MEd, PhD
Principal