Coronavirus
Find our most up to date communications here.
14/03/22
Updated Covid Safety Plan Version 7
Key changes
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- new self-isolation requirements
07/03/22
Hobsonville Point Covid Safety Plan Version 6
Updated.
If a student or household member tests positive for Covid-19 please email the HPP helpline covid@hpps.school.nz
28/02/26
Hobsonville Point Covid Safety Plan
Updated to reflect contact tracing and notifications of positive cases in Phase Three of RED.
26/01/22
Hobsonville Point Primary Covid Safety Plan
Version 1/2022
Document Link Here
Excerpt from the start of year email sent to all new and current families.
In regard to COVID-19 we have moved fully into the new traffic light framework for all our school and kura activities and events this year. You will be familiar with all the health measures we will have in place and it is good to know that at Red setting, we are able to support everyone learning onsite. If your child is sick, they must stay at home. Any child who shows any symptoms during the day will also be sent home.
16/11/21 -
Email to our parent community
Kia ora whanau,
Thanks for your understanding and patience as we work through the challenges of opening school. As you can imagine information is changing on a regular basis and we are working hard to keep on top of it all.
Our new way of working will begin tomorrow. For some the changes won’t be big, for others, it will be. The one constant is no matter how we are working we are here to welcome your children safely, warmly and with the view towards connecting them to us and each other again. Our staff are very mindful of the range of emotions some might be feeling either coming back to school, brand new to school or keeping with distance learning from home.
Some operational schoolwide nuts and bolts
We are operating in 3 different ways.
1. Learning from home - Distance learning is provided by designated staff members whom will have been mentioned to you through a communication notice from individual Learning Commons
2. ‘Bubble School’ Learning at school for children of essential workers who need their children at school (5days/week)
3. Part-time School - Learning at school for face to face schooling with home learning followups being provided for days at home.
Distance learning will continue in the same way it has since we started lockdown. Please use HERO to keep on top of what is happening for your child.
Bubble School- I have sent you a separate email with all of the details of how it will operate.
Face to face part-time school.
What you need to know:
LC 1,4,9,10, 11 and 12 will be at school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on a reduced timetable.
LC2,3,5,6,7 and 8 will be at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays again on a reduced timetable
Some things to chat about with your children to help ease the transition back into physical presence at school.
There are a number of guidelines you need to be aware of when coming to school
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School will look different, we need to manage social distancing, so students will have their own desks and mingling/congregating will be avoided whenever possible
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Year 4 and above are mandated to wear a mask, we encourage all students in years 0-3 to wear one as well.
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Break times will be different and students bubbles will not be mixing
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Lunch waste will be taken home rather than disposed of here.
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If you have been using a school device, please bring it back cleaned and return to your teachers
Health and Safety
Our biggest challenge lies in keeping everybody safe.
We will be very vigilant with the rules. Anyone who struggles with them will be sent home.
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Masks for years 4 and above are mandatory (we ask that all students wear one)
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Social distancing is mandatory
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Any sign of illness, students need to stay home, if they arrive ill, they will be sent home, if they become ill during the day, they will be sent home.
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Any behaviours that put themselves or others at risk they will be sent home
Entrances and exits are attached. Please follow the rules around these. We need parents to wear masks and social distance.
Learning
Distance learning will carry on as it has been.
Bubble school students will be engaging with distance learning set by their individual Learning Commons with the support of staff on-site.
Face-to-face students will be doing learning that is well-being-based and re-introducing students in social situations and participating in workshops. On the days they are not at school, they will have work to complete based on the face-to-face learning they have been participating in.
We understand this is a lot to digest, please remember to follow the rules and keep us all safe.
Keep an eye on HERO as specific information for your child’s LC will be there.
Thanks
Stay safe
Daniel
17/08/21 - Alert Level 4
Email to our parent community
Kia ora whanau,
As many of you will be aware we have been instructed that we will be moving into level 4 lockdown.
In Auckland we have been through this situation 4 times before and because we followed the important lockdown rules we came through well. We can do this again.
Tomorrow we will be working online as a staff to prepare for a connection with learners on Thursday.
Staff will communicate with you via HERO notices so please keep an eye out later on Wednesday, so you know what will be happening in terms of learning over the next few days.
Important re:school loaning devices
As this is most likely the DELTA variant we will hold off on sharing school devices until we get clear guidance on the safe way to do this.
I imagine the situation may change rapidly so we will be in regular communication.
Please stay safe, look after yourselves and follow the rules.
Nga mihi
Daniel
Remember to keep up to date on https://covid19.govt.nz/
28/02/21 - Alert Level 3
Email to our parent community
Kia ora whanau,
As we have moved into Level 3 we ask that you look after each other. This is a stressful time for all, including staff.
The guidelines for level 3 are here, it is crucial everyone does their bit and follows these guidelines.
If you are an essential worker and you have no one at home to look after your child, please fill in this form so we can organise support at school. We need this information by 5pm tonight. It is a short turn around, however, we don’t have much time.
If your child requires a device, you must email your child’s learning Advisor to request one. These will then be available for pick up on Monday morning from the main entrance from 8:30am. If you are picking one up, please come wearing a mask and social distance while waiting.
LC teams will be in contact ASAP with their plans for the week, a reminder the school-wide plan is here. This is based on best practice and reflection from last year.
We will be using HERO and the school website to post any updates. If you have any questions please contact one of the leadership team members.
In the meantime, I would like to reinforce the absolute need for:
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signing in or using the Covid App wherever you visit and have Bluetooth enabled
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maintaining rigorous hand hygiene
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coughing or sneezing into your elbow
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maintaining physical distancing
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and, if unwell, self isolate and get a test
Nga Mihi
Daniel, Lisa and Kristyn
The information below is directly from the Ministry of Education. Please read this carefully.
1. Schools are open for children who need to attend
Any child who can’t be supervised at home by an appropriate person needs to be able to attend school. Schools must be open for these children to attend. Papatoetoe High School is an exception to this requirement as has been closed by health authorities while they undertake testing.
Distance learning will need to be provided for all students who are off-site including those required to self-isolate and those individuals who health authorities have asked to stay away while waiting for a test result.
2. School bubbles will need to be put in place for those attending on-site
For those who are on-site, school bubbles of no more than 20 children/students will need to be formed and keep a 2-metre distance from other school bubbles. Where possible, it is recommended that teachers stay with the same school bubble of students.
3. Sick people must stay at home.
They should seek medical advice if they have COVID-like symptoms and get tested if advised to do so. If that person displays relevant symptoms of COVID-19, tests positive for COVID-19, or has been in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, they must self-isolate.
4. Fundamental public health measures continue to apply:
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Physical distancing of 1 metre inside and 2 metres outside at Alert Level 3
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Hand hygiene
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Cough and sneeze etiquette
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Regularly cleaning and disinfecting high touch surfaces (daily at Alert Level 3).
18/02/21 - Alert Level 2
Learning is taking place back at school with safety and hygiene practices in place.
15/02/21 - Comm sent out with outline for learning for the next two days
See link here for that message
Today was a planned Teacher Only Day - this is still taking place online
Additionally, here is the link to our main guiding document for Distance Learning.
14/02/21 - Comm from Daniel regarding Auckland in Level 3
'Covid Information for the next few Days' sent via MailChimp
12/08 Level 3 - Auckland midday today
Communication Updates:
Daniel will be sending out updated information through Community Notices on HERO, updating Facebook and this website as we have updates for you.
Home Learning:
Your child's Learning Advisors will be in touch over the next few days with more information once we have received guidance from the Ministry of Education.
Abbrieved email communication from Daniel to parent community sent last night:
Hi all, many of you will have seen that we are moving into level 3 again. This means that school is closed to all but essential workers from this morning. Please email me daniel@hpps.school.nz as soon as possible to let me know if you need your children to be at school, remember this is only if they can't be at home.
Once I get more guidance from the Ministry of Education I will communicate again.
14/5 Return to School Level 2
Kia ora whanau,
Today’s newsletter is a long one with information about level 2 systems at HPPS.
Firstly, thank you to the staff for all their work managing this complex time over the last 7 weeks, they have worked tirelessly to enable learning to happen.
The school will be open for all on Monday 18th May. As such we have a number of changes that need to take place.
Please read the information below and attachments carefully. Help your children to understand the systems as we work together to keep school a safe environment.
School hours:
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School will be open for students from 8:40am.
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Students upon arriving are to go straight to their LC and not be in the playground. See the attached map for the specific entrance point each individual LC needs to use.
Parents, we ask that you do not enter the school grounds unless it’s an emergency.
(school grounds are defined by the fence surrounding the school and include the outdoor spaces on the grass banks at the front of the school)
If you have to go to the office (only for an emergency), drop off your child at the gate the students are designated to use, then come back to the office through the main doors of our main entrance rather than through the building.
If you wish to see the teacher, please email to organise this.
Please note all those parents (including caregivers) who enter the school grounds will need to fill in a contact register either through the QR Code or at the front desk or at the gate they enter in. The poster that will be at each entrance is attached.
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School will be closed from 3pm. Whilst traditionally many families have stayed after school and played, we strongly encourage you to head home to reduce contact. (If you wish to use the playground out of hours, it will be open for use from 4pm - it is however not part of our cleaning regime).
Finish time for students in LC1 and 3 is at 2:45 to avoid the crowds at 3pm but you will still need to wait at the designated gate. If there are siblings in other LC’s they can leave at this time too, you will need to arrange with your children and their teachers to meet you at the appropriate gate. Siblings should not meet inside the school and leave via the same gate, it is important that they stick to their designated entry/exit gates.
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Pick up of students after school will be at the same gate/door that drop off occurred.
Anyone entering the school grounds after school for pick up, will also need to fill in the contact register.
Please use social distancing as adults, while waiting for your children. Better still teach them a place to meet you or how to get to and from school independently.
Learning Commons:
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On entry to each Learning Common, the students will need to sanitise, we ask that you work with your children so they know how to do this effectively. The school has a supply of sanitiser however if your child wants to bring their own to use that is fine.
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All food will need to be brought from home and all rubbish is taken home too. No facilities will be available for heating or cooking food. We will not be having Pizza, Sushi or FED for a couple of weeks.
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Students will be encouraged to social distance as much as possible while in class. Please support them in understanding what this means.
Hygiene
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All areas will have hand sanitiser, this will be used regularly throughout the day. We also have cleaners coming in twice a day to clean handles, toilets and commonly used surfaces. Cleaners will also do a deep clean at the end of each day.
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The MOH advises that it’s “us” that need to stay clean, not so much the surfaces. So students will be washing hands on a regular basis. Please remember to teach them how to do this at home.
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Contact with others will need to be managed. Please remind your children about this, especially the face to face contact we need to be aware of.
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Any child who has any kind of illness must stay at home. Any child at school who presents with any illness will be removed from the LC to the sickbay, parents will be called to pick them up straight away.
Breaks:
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Breaks during the day will now be staggered. Smaller numbers of students will be out in the playground.
Learning:
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Learning will be back to our new normal as soon as possible.
We have noticed some interesting things while students have been managing themselves or working alongside you. This will lead to some changes to continue to develop some of the emerging skills we have seen.
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Our big focus on return will be well being, making sure everyone is OK and is able to reconnect again.
Other:
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We usually end the term with IEM’s. This may not happen now, we will need to see how we go in level 2 and follow the guidance from both the MOE and MOH.
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If you need information from the school, office, or your child’s teacher, email is the best way at present as we want to avoid contact as much as we can.
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If you are choosing to keep your children home, distance learning will continue, however different designated staff will be managing this. Information on this will come out soon.
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Lateness will cause challenges, please make sure students arrive by 9am.
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If you have had a school device over the lock-down, please return it with the charger to your learning common teacher.
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LC10 will continue to operate at HPSS as the lockdown has delayed the construction of temporary spaces. We will have an update on this soon.
Please make plans as a family to manage this complex time to keep everyone safe.
If you have any questions, please email the office
Thanks
Daniel
You will see this poster on all entrances, if you are entering the school grounds as an adult you will need to use your camera or QR reader app on your phone to fill in the form every time you come onto the grounds. If you are having trouble, come to the front desk and fill in a paper copy.
30/3 School Holiday Notice
Dear whanau,
I hope in these challenging times you are keeping safe and being kind. These are difficult times for many and please know that as a school we will support where we can.
As you will be aware, school is closed during the lockdown. That includes the grounds. We will alert you once the grounds re-open.
This week marks the start of the school holidays. These will be unlike any holidays we have had before. Staff will be in contact over the break to check in with their tagged/guardian group and also share their plans for when school starts again.
This from the Ministry of Education:
Holidays will now begin from Monday 30 March to Tuesday 14 April inclusive (a reminder that the Tuesday after Easter Monday is always a closed day for schools).
At the end of the school holidays, schools will be open for distance learning but not physically open for staff or students. Teachers will be working offsite.
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates, ideas etc. Also, use the school website as this has constant updates through the COVID19 page. You can also find the distance learning plan below. We are aware a few people have had trouble viewing Community Notices in your emails, our team is working with LincEd to get log on issues resolved as fast as possible.
I wish you well over the next 2 weeks, stay safe, stay home and we’ve got this!
Nga Mihi
Daniel
24/3 School Distance Learning Plan
We would like to share with you our Distance Learning Plan and thank you in advance for looking at this rather massive document. We have included sections for students, staff and parents as we are all in this together. We've got this!
We would like to acknowledge Brightworks School, San Francisco, Global Online Academy and the American School in Japan for their expertise and content that we have adapted or copied verbatim as they've been engaged in Distance Learning and we are beginning to explore the possibilities.
In your own time please view and read two documents in a public shared folder.
1) Our Distance learning Plan with links to our anticipated phases of learning as we shift to Distance Learning
2) A key skills/technology document to help step us all through utilising the various technical platforms we'll be needed.
We are confident we can provide platforms for our children to connect with each other safely and appropriately. It's daunting but our children are amazing, they are resilient and already have a great foundation of skills on which we can build. Our strategy is to slowly build up their technical skills as they engage in fun ways of connecting with each other and us! We have been very deliberate in choosing only a few quality technical tools to leverage.
Over the next few weeks, we are obtaining licenses for some of the tools so keep an eye on our Key skills/technology document as it will expand.
The most important thing for you to remember is that our goals will be to connect our learning in authentic ways and if the plan doesn't work for you let us know - it's 100% flexible. We will reflect, adapt as we go. Staff are juggling their own families at the moment so thank you in advance for your patience.
If your child does not have access to technology at home can you please email your child's learning advisor asap
Take care & let's model kindness,
HPP Leadership Team
23/3 School Closure Update
Notification 2 of 2
Posted and sent at 6:15pm
We have just received an update from the Ministry of Education with more information following the message directly below.
School holidays will be brought forward. School holidays are being brought forward so that they are completed within the 4 week period. Now, holidays will begin from Monday 30th March to Tuesday 14th April inclusive (a reminder that the Tuesday after Easter Monday is always a closed day for schools). At the end of the school holidays, schools will be open for distance learning but not physically open for staff to work at the schools.
Please note the instruction to stay home (Alert Level 4) will continue beyond the new school holiday period but schools will be technically open for distance instruction. Teachers will be working offsite to support learning.
Our school will be open Tuesday 24th March and Wednesday 25th March only for children of essential workers. If this is you, please contact Karma or Yodette if you plan to come to school.
Essential workers
A list of essential businesses can be found here - https://covid19.govt.nz/government-actions/covid-19-alert-system/
More information will be shared tomorrow about the distance learning plan.
Notification 1 of 2 - posted at 5:20pm
Following our Prime Minister's announcement a short time ago, we need to inform you that HPPS will close today for all students except those whose parents are employed in essential services (the definition of this will come soon). This will give them time to plan care arrangements for their children.
Schools will then close entirely from midnight Wednesday for one month.
Information about those who can attend school in the next 2 days and distance learning will be coming soon.
As a staff, we wish you all the best over the coming weeks. If we all follow the clear guidelines, we will get through this.
Kia kaha e te whānau - take care.
CHANGES TO THE ENROLMENT PROCESS AT HPP
DUE TO COVID-19 OUR SCHOOL OFFICE IS NOW ONLY OPEN TO DELIVERIES / URGENT ENQUIRIES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
WE HAVE PUT THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES IN PLACE TO ENSURE THE SAFTEY OF OUR STUDENTS AND STAFF:
If your child is due to start school this year and you require more information please contact the office (09) 557 0810. If you already have the Enrolment forms ready to be returned, please scan and email them to either of the following Office Administratiors:
Karma Carrodus: karma@hpps.school.nz
Yodette Teau: yodette@hpps.school.nz
We thank you in advance for your co-operation during this time.
22/3 CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Dear Whanau,
We trust you are all well and managing as best you can in these difficult times.
With the changing nature of the COVID-19 information, we wanted to keep you updated on where we are at as a school.
What worked well during our 13 weeks of closure in Christchurch, as a result of the earthquakes, was coming together, sometimes in novel ways to support and reach out to each other. This is what I would like for our community. To teach our children how to be compassionate, patient and caring towards each other. This link to a blog reiterates this point and is a worthwhile read.
As school leaders, we received information about the Level 2 alert at the same time as you. However, the Ministry has been great in breaking down what this means for us as a school. This means you as a family need to carefully decide if you fit the criteria to be at home from tomorrow. If this is the case, please email the office (not the teachers) to let them know you are criteria 2 and will be self-isolating. We are also supporting staff who need to consider whether to isolate as well. You need to know that our primary function right, now as a school and community, is to keep everyone well and safe.
In terms of being inside the school building, thanks to all those caregivers who are now dropping children off outside the school, keep it up. With regards to our office, we would also ask that you email or call the office for help rather than interacting with them face to face unless it is urgent. We are working hard to reduce social contact as much as possible.
In response to these needs, most Individual education meetings (student lead conferences with teachers & parents) will also be cancelled for this term, we will look to do them later next term. This is the same for IEPs. Erin will be in touch with those whom this relates to.
Lisa and I have been working on a plan around distance learning which we will share with you soon. We need some more information from the Ministry before we can go live with it. In the meantime, please just be a family, support those around you and be kind.
Together, we’ve got this!
Thanks,
Daniel and the Leadership Team at HPPS
19/3 CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
We are following the expectations from the Ministry of health and would like to highlight this message which relates directly to our families who have recently been overseas.
Below is the extract direct from the official website.
Who should self-isolate?
If you arrived in New Zealand from any country (except the Pacific Island countries listed in Category 2) prior to 1:00am on Monday 16 March you should self-isolate from the date of departure for 14 days.
Voluntary registration is available at https://healthy.org.nz/register.
Please follow the guidelines, if they apply to you, and don't send your children to school taking social responsibility to keep everybody safe please. We will be strictly enforcing.
17/3 CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Dear HPP community,
As you know we focus our learning on developing children's resilience and abilities to be informed thus calmly prepare for all possibilities. While handling the spread of a serious contagion like the Coronavirus is a task for public health agencies, our response gives us an opportunity to model risk assessment and calm preparation.
New border measures are in place as of Monday 16 March. Most travellers arriving in New Zealand are now required to self-isolate for 14 days
For our families who have been overseas just prior to this cut off we ask that in the interests of all our well-being you keep your children home. If you have recently returned from a country with ongoing COVID-19 infections, monitor your health and follow the instructions of public health officials.
Let's help prevent the spread of fear and stigma and be careful not to fall prey to speculative information and or stigmatization. Please model respect and compassion as there is no racial, ethnic or cultural basis for the disease. Children will model off adults and we have had some unacceptable comments made by children and it is not tolerated.
Staying Informed
In this changing situation, we are looking to national health agencies for the most reliable information and guidance. Students might be picking up on public anxiety around Coronavirus. As parents and good educators, the best way to reassure our children is with good information.
Children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events such as COVID-19. Parents, caregivers, whānau and teachers will have a particularly important part to play in reassuring children at this time.
Children will react to and follow your verbal and non-verbal cues. If you are able to stay informed and realistic, it will be easier for you to reassure children effectively as well.
Children need factual, age-appropriate information about COVID-19 so that they can also feel informed and in control. They need to know how they can play a part in avoiding infection and the spread of the virus.
They also need to feel that any fears that they may have can be talked about and addressed.
For more information on how to support your child in an age-appropriate way have a look at some of these sites:
Talking to Children about COVID_19
Washing hands video from Oxfam
Dr Michelle Dickinson (nanogirl) talks about the virus
What's going on in this graph? NY Times
Reducing Risk
The best way to reduce the risk to our community is to practice good hygiene. To stay healthy, we ask students and families follow these basic practices:
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Washing hands with soap and water, and for at least 20 seconds (try singing the happy birthday song).
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Coughing or sneezing into your elbow.
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Staying home if you are feeling ill.
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Getting your flu shot to protect against flu or symptoms similar to novel coronavirus.
We are being vigilant about getting children to follow these practices at school and have recently had a deep and thorough clean of the school conducted. In addition, we have additional cleaning products and routines being put in to encourage good hygiene in the learning spaces and are getting children to wash hands before they eat.
Preparing for possibilities
At this point, the Ministry of Education has shared a survey with schools identifying what might be needed in case students need to continue learning should a school be closed for a period of time which our leadership team are doing should a worst-case scenario occur. We are actively reviewing information as it comes to hand and as per guidelines and focusing on prevention through good hygiene, awareness and vigilance.
HPP Leadership Team