Kia ora koutou.

Level 2 is here! It feels surreal to celebrate a life with restrictions, but given these are now a lot less than over the past 7 weeks, it is worth celebrating. However, it does not mean that everything is back to “normal” and that is certainly true for school.

We wish to outline some of the plans we have put in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.

1. Gates will be open from 8am. The new pedestrian gate will be latched open from 8-9am so there will be no need to touch the handle. The gate will also be latched open from 2:50-3:10pm. Sanitiser will be available at the gate
2. Students are permitted to bring their own sanitiser to school to use throughout the day. School will also have sanitiser available
3. Any adults coming onto the school site will need to sign in for contact tracing purposes. For parents/ caregivers bringing their children to school or collecting them, there will be desks near each classroom with sign in sheets on these. These sheets will be available from 8-9am, and from 2:45-3:15pm. If you are onsite at other times (eg bringing your child in late or collecting them early), then please sign in at the office. Please sign in if you are on site at any time! Please also remember social distancing while doing this. Other visitors are still expected to sign in at the office
4. All break times will be the same as usual and students will be allowed to mingle, and to play on school equipment
5. Children need to bring their own lunch AND their own drink bottle (all school water fountains are not to be used). There will be water glasses available in each class if students forget their bottle
6. All families that borrowed devices during lockdown- these devices must be brought to the office so Joy can record names of who has returned their device. These will all be carefully cleaned before being returned back to classrooms
7. During the day, there will be extra cleaning in rooms, especially high touch areas such as door handles and tables. Where possible, doors will be latched open to avoid as much touching as possible. All shared equipment, including PE equipment will be cleaned each day also
8. All students and adults will be washing and sanitising hands regularly, and especially before eating, before going outside to play, after playing outside, before and after PE. Of course, we will continue to expect the high standard of handwashing (including after toileting) and of coughing or sneezing into their elbow
9. Class programmes will focus on connecting again, well being, routines and expectations (similar to the first week of a new school year) before focussing on formal school work. It is important that all students are feeling happy and safe, then they will learn better. Classrooms are set up so students are further away from each other than usual- we are mindful they need to be out of the “warm breath” zone of other students
10. If your child is unwell, please keep them home and advise the school of this. If any child shows cold or flu symptoms during the day, they will be sent to the office and families rung. It is important we have current phone numbers for you so we can contact you straight away to collect them
11. After 2 days, and then after a week, we will be reviewing our plans and making any necessary changes. If you have suggestions to improve our plans, please share these with staff or email office@linden.school.nz

All staff are looking forward to seeing their students face-to-face after this long absence. We will keep your children safe while they are at school! If you have decided to keep your children home for the first week of level 2, we will contact you on Friday 22nd May to confirm your intentions for the following week.

See you on Monday 18th May.

Linden School Staff