Please read the following with kindness to ALL of us here at Inglewood Primary School.
We are in the process of digesting the new COVID-19 Public Health Response Order which came into effect at 11.59pm on Monday 25 October. Clearly there are implications for school life, and it is going to take some time to appreciate what all of these are.
A school like ours is highly dependent on the support of parents and the community, and this is something that we appreciate a great deal.
The direction that we have received from the Ministry of Education is that everyone who works or volunteers for a school who may have contact with children or students, or will be present at a time when children and students are also present must have had a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 15 November and be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.
This also applies to
* principals
* teachers
* relief teachers and casual staff
* administration staff
* caretakers and cleaners
* contractors and other tradespeople (if on site when children are around)
* service managers
* caregivers and other staff
The vaccination requirements apply wherever in person schooling occurs, such as on the school site, but also at school camps, swimming pools, museums, or where other education outside the classroom (EOTC) programmes take place.
This means under the Order from Government that we are only allowed to allow people to help at school events with children if they have had at least their first dose by 15 November, and are fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.
Please note under the current Order from Govt, when school starts next year, we will need evidence of full vaccination by 1 January 2022 for any school helpers (or evidence of exemption). We will ask you to share this with either Debbie or Karen, who are the Privacy Officers for IPS. We will store your information privately in our school server with double password security.
For the remainder of this year and next year the requirements do not apply to people who are just visiting the school, such as for a learning conference/parent-teacher interview or meeting, or a parent, whānau and community evening. Also for the remainder of the year, we have NO events where we are asking for Parent Volunteer to assist.
We realise that there will be plenty of questions, and it is likely that we will not have answers right away.
All schools are in the same boat and working through various situations and scenarios.
Thanks very much for your understanding and support as we have already said, we really do value the support from ALL parents we have had to date.
