Kia Ora Whanau

I hope you are safe and well in your bubble.

You may have seen the news that several more schools, including Pukekohe High School, have been notified about Covid cases. The list of locations of interest is also increasing.

At this stage Wesley College has not been notified about any cases but if this should happen I will let everyone know as soon as possible and what actions should then be under taken.

In the event our school has a confirmed case of COVID-19, we will ensure you are well informed of next steps. The Ministry of Education regional staff work with local health authorities to quickly provide support to assist us to communicate with and support our parent community, students and our staff. 

Please note what some actions would include:

• Even if the country moves Alert Levels, all students and staff at affected schools will need to complete their full 14-day isolation, even if they have been vaccinated.
• Apart from our usual cleaning processes to get ready for reopening at the end of that period, the 14 days it is closed is more than sufficient to eliminate risk.

For now please follow the Ministry of Health guidelines, remain in your bubbles, if you have any symptoms, please do get a test, otherwise we are all safer at home.

By now your children should be set up with their learning plans and have plenty of school work to get on with. Contact their learning Coach if you need any help or have any issues around home learning to discuss.

We also hope you are doing OK at the moment – but it is also OK if you aren’t. Seeing the locations of interest growing and the number of cases rising can make us all feel a little anxious. 

As the Mental Health Foundation of NZ says, “it’s all right to feel a range of emotions right now. Going into a Level 4 lockdown is a big deal and it brings all sorts of different feelings to the surface, including frustration, worry and even gratitude. However you are feeling, know that you’re not alone – we’re all going through this together.”

If you or your children need to talk, check in with a friend or whānau member, or free call/text 1737 to chat with a trained counsellor. It's free and confidential. There are also a lot of other supports available to you, your whānau and your community if needed. 

You will also understand the importance of routine for your family. If your routine has been shaken up, it’s good to structure your time. Routines are reassuring and promote health and physical wellbeing.

For our Pacific families, if you are not aware the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ has been working to ensure useful information is available to Pacific peoples in nine different languages.

A big thank you to all of you for taking the lockdown so seriously – we’ve seen before that staying at home will break the chain of transmission and save lives. Breaking the rules could risk someone close to you and if the rules are not complied with, this could risk the lock down period being extended or could risk the virus being spread to thousands. 

Please keep checking the locations of interest and get tested if you were at that location at the specified time, or if you have symptoms which could be COVID-19.

Have a blessed day and stay safe. 

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