Memo 2nd May, 2022
As you are aware, we are now in ORANGE light settings.
The biggest change for us is that of mask wearing. Under ORANGE settings they are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED when indoors. At MIS we aim to create a culture of care and responsibility (i.e. making educated choices while caring for self, and others accordingly). While the current legislation states masks are not mandatory in classrooms anymore, we believe they provide an added layer of protection that may help the prevention of contracting or spreading of Covid-19. As a school, we would appreciate you talking with your tamariki about the importance of helping to keep everyone safe, through continuing to wear masks correctly in classrooms.
With the dropping of limits on the number of people gathering indoors, this term we will commence having full school assemblies every fortnight. However, mask wearing will be required (unless a mask exemption is in place).
Students aged 12+ will also be required to wear a mask while travelling on buses, or public transport.
Thanks for your ongoing support. We look forward to a fantastic term.
Memo 22.02.22
Kia ora tatou and good afternoon,
We have just received updated information from the MOE/MOH regarding changes to the classification of close contacts. We have just been asked that these changes be backtracked and put in place from 18th February.
What does this mean for us?
Students who are wearing a mask in class and test covid positive will need to isolate but the rest of their class groupings and staff will not have to isolate or get tested any more. They will now be called 'Casual Contacts' and unless symptomatic will be treated as covid free. If your child is in a class with a positive covid case and develops symptoms, they will need to go home and get tested.
If your child is in Room 7 and is currently isolating:
- They are free to return to school tomorrow unless they are unwell and have been isolating.
Further to this, if your child is isolating because they have been very close to someone who is unmasked, symptomatic, and waiting for Covid test results, as a school, we ask that your child continues to isolate. If symptoms develop please get your child tested. This is a school precautionary measure, when it is highly likely that your child has been directly exposed to a positive Covid case.
The key message I want to reiterate, is the importance of mask wearing. Please continue to encourage your child to continue to wear their mask correctly over both their nose and mouth; we will continue to ensure our students are given mask breaks to make things more comfortable for them.
This is an ever changing platform, and we fully appreciate it is difficult to keep up-to-date with the changes. We are doing our best to keep you informed and would like to thank you all for your support and patience as we navigate these tricky times.
I will keep you informed as any further information comes to light.
Memo: 30.01.22
Kia ora koutou and good afternoon. I hope you are all enjoying the long Auckland Anniversary weekend.
We are looking forward to seeing our tamariki on Tuesday 1st February and hope they are excited to begin the new school year. We will be doing our best to maintain as much normalcy as possible whilst working collectively, with you and our tamariki, to settle them in to Term 1 and also keep them safe and happy.
Please remember your child is required to wear a mask on the bus to/from school, and on site while indoors (and if outdoors in close contact with others e.g. bus lines). For those unfamiliar with the buses, we will be having a bus assembly on Tuesday to familiarise them with protocols.
On arrival at school, I know your child will be keen to catch up with their friends but to keep them safe, we are asking they keep their physical distance; sorry but this includes no hugging. Please remind them to head straight to their classroom, sanitise and check in with their teacher.
Under Red Light settings we are required to organise our students into bubbles (this will be in pairs of classes indoors, and in teams outdoors). Bubbles cannot intermingle. The purpose of this is two-fold; to keep them physically distanced but also for ease of tracing in the eventuality we have a case of covid-19 enter our school. Fingers crossed this doesn't occur but in reality it is highly likely in the near future given the highly transmissible nature of omicron.
Further to my email/Facebook post on Tuesday 25th January outlining key features of our Covid-19 Response Plan, I will be sending out our first official newsletter on Tuesday. It provides further detail about how our school is managing the Red Light settings along with other key information about our school. The newsletter is accessible through:
- email
- Facebook
- our website
- Skool Loop
- hard copies of the newsletter are available from the office on request
Unfortunately our Picnic Evening scheduled for 9th February has had to be cancelled; we will communicate with your in regards to information pertaining to Music, MI Mates, Whanau Hui and of course, classroom learning programmes; your child's teacher will be sending home a newsletter in Week 1 introducing themselves and outlining information about the term ahead.
The pōwhiri on Wednesday to welcome new students/staff will proceed but unfortunately we cannot extend an invitation to parents/caregivers, as all non-essential visitors are not permitted on site during Red Light settings. I hope you understand we are simply applying the MOE and MOH guidelines in restricting visitors on site (particularly while students are present).
Thank you for your understanding, cooperation and patience;
He waka eke noa - we are all in this together.
Memo #1 - Red Traffic Light Framework
Kia ora koutou and good evening,
Welcome back after what we hope has been a wonderful summer for your whānau.
Our team is feeling refreshed and ready to go for the 2022 year and can’t wait to welcome everyone back onsite.
In regard to COVID-19, as per Ministry of Health and Education regulations, we have moved fully into the new traffic light framework for all our school and kura activities and events. As a school we have planning in place to minimise risk of contracting covid including:
- essential visitors on site only (by prior appointment unless in an emergency); scanning in and sanitising
- vaccination passes for essential service workers or volunteers coming into contact with students
- mandatory wearing of masks for all students and staff when indoors or in close contact with others (as per Ministry of Health regulations)
- ventilation measures (maximising good air circulation) and keeping rooms cool
- monitoring health and wellbeing - checking in with teachers on arrival to school
- hygiene etiquette: sanitising on entry/exit, washing/drying hands before/after eating and playing, coughing/sneezing into elbows, daily disinfecting of hard surfaces and high use areas, students providing own water bottles
- avoiding large gatherings indoors e.g. no assemblies
- physical distancing wherever practicable
- mandatory masks for all bus students (previously only for students 12+ years)
At the Red light setting, our school will continue to provide quality learning opportunities for our students. This will include access to online learning through Google Classroom (as part of regular practice).
Large hui and gatherings especially when indoors continue to be one of the riskier activities we can undertake. We have therefore reviewed all our events and activities for the upcoming weeks to ensure we meet the health guidance for Red, including:
- Open Afternoon 26th January 1.30 - 3.00 p.m. is not considered an event. One parent/child is permitted to pop in briefly to visit the classroom, introduce themselves to the teacher and drop off stationery. You must wear a mask, scan in, sign the visitor register in the classroom, and sanitise. A maximum of 10 will be permitted in a classroom (to ensure physical distancing)
- Pōwhiri Wednesday 2nd February 11.00 a.m. will proceed outside in the dome. Unfortunately we cannot extend an invitation to parents as we usually do, on this occasion.
- Picnic Evening 9th February. We cannot proceed with the ‘picnic’ side of things but are in the process of working out a plan to continue with meet and greet with teachers, MI Mates, Music Information and whānau hui (information to follow in our first newsletter due out on Tuesday 1st February)
We will continue to communicate further information as is timely and relevant.
Thank you for your ongoing support as we work hard to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our tamariki, staff and wider community.
Delta Alert Level 2 Protocols Memo # 4
I am happy to announce that we will be reopening Morrinsville Intermediate School for all learners and staff on Thursday 9th September. School transport will resume as normal.
You’ll be aware that all of New Zealand (with the exception of Auckland) is moving to Alert Level 2 from Tuesday 7th September. Our thoughts and positive wishes are with everyone in Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland.
Extensive wastewater testing and the numbers of people getting tested across the country has given the Government confidence that it is safe to allow a shift down to Alert Level 2 across most of New Zealand.
We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone back onsite on Thursday. On arrival at school (preferably between 8.30 a.m. and 8.50 a.m.), students are asked to go directly to their classrooms to sanitise and check in with their teacher. Visitors that are non-urgent are discouraged from coming onto the school site, unless by prior arrangement. Any visitors are asked to please report directly to the office for scanning and contact tracing purposes.
At Alert Level 2 there is low risk of community transmission and it provides us with a lot more opportunities to engage and connect with others. However, there are still a number of public health requirements we all need to follow. Please continue to monitor your health and do not send your children to school if they are not well (and please seek advice about getting a COVID test).
For us, all the required safety precautions for Alert Level 2 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 cough and sneeze into their elbow.
We encourage all students to bring a water bottle to school as a safety measure, however, drinking fountains will be operational.
Students who had a chromebook distributed to them for use during lockdown/Alert Level 3 are asked to return this to the office on Thursday, along with the charger. We would also appreciate the return of the school journals that were sent home in the learning packs.
While physical distancing is not a requirement in schools, we will be doing our best to keep students from congregating in very large numbers and keeping spaces well-ventilated. We will also be encouraging students to keep a 1m distance from others wherever practicable.
Face coverings are not required to be worn in school or on school buses. However, the Director General of Health has recommended that children 12 years+ wear a face covering at school – just as older children are required to wear face coverings in some other places. The decision to wear a face covering is up to you and your whānau (you will need to provide your own masks), whatever your decision it will be respected.
In summary, we will be working hard to keep everyone safe by following our protocols with rigour. I know you will agree with me that health and safety is of paramount importance for all. Thank you for your ongoing support to reinforce our key messages outlined above, with your child/ren.
A BIG thank you to you all for the wonderful assistance you have provided over the past four weeks, with your child’s learning; we have been extremely pleased with the high level of engagement with distance learning. Tino pai!
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s kaiako or me if there is something you need assistance with. See you Thursday!
We are all in this together.
Jenny Clark Teresa Higham
Morrinsville Intermediate Board of Trustees
Alert Level 4: August 21st, 2021 Memo #3
Morena koutou,
As you will be aware, the Prime Minister announced yesterday that Alert Level 4 has been extended until Tuesday 24th August at 11.59 p.m. Morrinsville Intermediate School therefore continues to be closed. A review of the alert status will be held on Monday by the government.
I want to reassure you that our school staff and board will continue to be available to support your child’s learning and wellbeing in the coming days.
With the length of lockdown unknown, enabling your child to continue to learn from home is important. Under new Alert Level 4 guidelines schools are able to distribute electronic devices and hardcopy learning resources under strict protocols.
On Monday 23rd August, a small team of staff will be on site to organise this. If your child DOES NOT have access to a device at home and you have internet access, please communicate with your child's teacher by 5.00 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday) to request to borrow a school-owned chromebook; you will be required to sign a device loan agreement taking full responsibility for the care and use of this. We have already established a device database and have a fairly clear idea of who may need a loan device. Please only request a device if it is urgently needed to enable your child to continue with distance learning programmes. A limited number of devices are available.
For those of you without internet access, hardcopy learning packs will also be available on Monday. Please only request one or the other, not both a device and a hardcopy pack.
To ensure everyone's health and safety, the pick up of the learning resources will be from the MIS bus bay on Monday 23rd August between 12.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m. (if wet, drive in under the Dome). Please remain in your cars, and wear a mask to ensure both your safety, and the safety of our staff.
Only those who have registered for resources will be able to receive them.
We also hope you are doing OK at the moment ... but it is also OK if you aren't. 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.”
Family/Whānau Support: for anyone struggling, or who needs further support, a site called heretohelpu.nz is a great place to start. Here whānau can access information from a variety of community organisations that provide support to people in various ways. If you need to talk, check in with a friend or whānau member, or free call/text 1737 to chat with a trained counsellor, it is free and confidential.
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 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.
And just a quick point – please don’t use our playground during lockdown. Playgrounds cannot be used at Alert Level 4.
As always, please let us know if there is anything you need to support you and your tamariki during this time.
Alert Level 4: August 18th, 2021 Memo #2
I hope your first day in Lockdown has gone as well as possible and that you have had valuable time to spend with your family.
As a school, we will continue to communicate with you when we are informed of any change to the Alert Levels. In the meantime, your family's health and wellbeing is of paramount importance.
I am not expecting classroom teachers to be spending too much time focusing on distance learning this week as we all adjust to moving into lockdown, but they will be available via email or through their normal online learning platform during school hours. Learning opportunities will be available for your child/ren if/when they are ready to engage through their Google Classroom or Site.
Please find a
link here to clarify any matters pertaining to Alert Level 4.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to make contact with your child's teacher.
Alert Level 4: August 17th, 2021 Memo #1
As you will have no doubt heard, the Prime Minister has announced that there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 identified in the community in Auckland, resulting in New Zealand going into Alert Level 4 lockdown as of midnight tonight. This will be for three days with the exception of Auckland and Coromandel who will be in lockdown for seven days.
That means Morrinsville Intermediate School will be closed for the next three days.
Distance Learning:
With such short notice we weren’t able to hand out devices or hard packs to students in order to support distance learning. For those students who do have a device at home, they can continue to access their Google Classroom/Site. Teachers will ensure there is learning available for students to continue with.
Alternatively you can utilise the following TV resources:
It is really important we do everything we can to keep our community safe. Alert Level 4 means we need to stay home in our bubbles and avoid any travelling as much as possible. Supermarkets, pharmacies, foodbanks and other essential services will be open – but remember to wear a face covering if you are out and about (even a scarf wrapped around your mouth and nose will help). Check in using the NZ COVID Tracer App wherever you go and please also keep a distance from people you don’t know and wash your hands well and often, especially before and after using any public facilities.
Please go to the Ministry of Health website if you live in Auckland or the Coromandel region, or have recently visited there. There is a list of locations the confirmed case has visited while they were considered to be infectious. If you were at one of those locations and at the same time as specified on the website, then please follow the relevant instructions to isolate and potentially to get tested. Please keep checking that webpage as new locations may be identified over time.
Our focus as always will be to support the learning, safety and wellbeing of our rangatahi and tamariki and we continue to be here to support you as well.
Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s kaiako or me, if there is something you need assistance with.
In the meantime please stay safe.
Kia kaha.
Jenny Clark (principal@mi.school.nz)
Alert Level 1: March 7th, 2021 Memo # 3