13 October 2021 – Continued Level 3 until at least midnight, Monday 18th of October

13 October 2021

Dear Parents, Caregivers, and Students,

As per today’s announcement from the government, Northland will continue to stay at Level 3 until at least midnight, Monday 18th of October.  This is not the news we were hoping for but please be reassured that we have been pre-planning to ensure that Cambridge examinations for our senior students continue.

All Year 7 – 10 students must continue to stay home, and we will begin online learning from Monday 18 October.  All lessons will be provided through continued online formats whether your child is at home or based at school.  Your child’s subject teachers will communicate directly with their students via email and google classroom so please ensure they are prepared.

As directed by the government, if you can keep your child at home please do so as this is the safest place for them to be, however the College will be open for students of parents or carers who need to continue working.   All lessons will be provided through continued online formats.  We need to know if your child/children will not be attending the College during the Level 3 alert period.  If your child is in years 7 – 10, can you please complete the google doc letting us know if your child will need to physically attend school https://bit.ly/HCOctL3attendance.  We will have senior exams on under strict government regulations, therefore any junior students coming to school must congregate outside the main foyer after they have scanned the Covid tracer app on the exterior window. They must not enter the foyer until their supervisor collects them at 8:45am.

Our Year 11 to 13 students will be able to attend school to complete their examinations only under strict guidelines which will be emailed directly from our Cambridge Examinations officer with further explanation around the protocol of attendance for exams including bubble information, where to assemble, location of your examination, etc.

Following on from the email correspondence we sent on the 11th of October, we have applied for an extension to our dispensation so that our external examinations may continue under the stricter Level 3 guidelines.

The restrictions are, but not limited to the following:

• Physical distancing of 1 metre inside and 2 metres outside 
• Bubbles of up to ten students (staff are additional to the ten) 
• Bubbles cannot mix with each other inside or outside in the school grounds 
• Staff and invigilators cannot change bubbles 
• Rigorous hand washing and drying is adhered to and hand sanitiser is available at the entrance to classrooms and bathroom, only one student is allowed in the bathroom at a time
• All students and teachers must wear a mask – except when eating. Food will be eaten outside the classroom where 2 metre distancing will be in place
• Attendance must be noted by the teacher in charge of each bubble as students will not be allowed in the foyer to sign in (must have contact tracing in place – staff and students to use the QR code outside office)
• Year 11 – 13 students can only attend school for their examinations and must be collected immediately after their examination has ended.
• If any students or staff are symptomatic, they will be asked to go home. If you have any questions around this please email the exams officer margaret.cleland@hc.school.nz
• Please contact Healthline if you are unsure 0800 611 116
  

Students attending school must be dressed in summer uniform and all year 7 – 10 students attending are requested to bring their own laptop for online learning if they have one available to them. The College will provide a Chromebook or similar if students are unable to bring a laptop to class. Please note that buses will not be running during the Level 3 alert period.

Stay home, stay safe and enjoy the weekend.

Yours sincerely, 

Philip Coombe
Principal