Dear Parents, 

Please read our Covid Health and Safety Procedures and Protocols below in conjunction with the updated School Area Specific Information to ensure a safe and seamless return to the site. It is essential to discuss this information with your child and reinforce the importance of consistently adhering to all procedures and protocols before returning to the site. All bus services are operating.  

Updated KingsWay Term 4 COVID Health and Safety Procedures and Protocols

Introduction 

KingsWay welcomes and anticipates the following staff and students to return to the site in Term 4: 

• All Year 7-9 students on 17 November on the Senior Campus. Please note that the location of homeroom classes may have changed.  
• All Year 10 students on 22 November on the Senior Campus, once our Senior School students have departed on study leave. 
• Rostered and registered Year 0-6 students on 17 November on the Junior Campus. Please refer to specific school information for details of this roster and the process for registration. 
• Please note that we continue to supervise registered Year 1-6 children of essential workers who cannot find adequate childcare on days when their child is not rostered for instruction. 
• From 17 November, all staff who meet the following criteria can return: they are either fully vaccinated or have received one vaccine dose with negative weekly COVID test evidence until they are fully vaccinated.   
• Year 11-13 students writing NCEA exams from 22 November or meeting with Senior School staff. 

The staff and leadership are committed to maintaining the health and safety of the KingsWay community. We have recently updated our COVID-19 procedures to minimise the risk of transmission while at school. We aim to regularly update our procedures and protocols in response to feedback and Ministry information. We will publish these updates to the community after each iteration.  

The Ministry of Education’s three tenets are: 

• Reduce the risk of someone getting infected in the first place 
• Ensure we can identify and contact anyone who becomes infected 
• Understand that any return to school during a lockdown is not business as usual  

KingsWay School’s Five Overarching Principles  

1. Maintain effective and safe hygiene practices. 
2. Ensure that people with COVID-19 symptoms stay away from school. 
3. Maintain physical distancing. 
4. Contact tracing and minimising contact with adults outside the KingsWay School bubble. 
5. Common sense. 

Procedures can only go so far in protecting the community. Staff and parents must engage in common-sense decision-making while attempting to maintain the integrity of the overarching principles.  

Existing Alert Level 3 Requirements that Will Continue
There is an extensive range of health requirements and measures at Alert Level 3 that will remain in place:  

• Staff and children who are unwell must stay at home and get tested for COVID-19. 
• Students at higher risk of severe illness must remain home where possible. 
• We permit only essential visitors onsite, and all onsite visitors will need to wear a face-covering and adhere to all procedures and protocols.  
• High-touch surfaces are cleaned and disinfected each day. 
• Physical distancing should be adhered to wherever practicable, particularly between adults, and physical distancing of two metres will be in place from people you don’t know. 
• QR code posters for the COVID App will be displayed, and guests must scan in before entering any sites. 
• Once onsite, guests and contractors must sign in at Reception. 

Additional Public Health Measures
In recent weeks, the Ministry of Education worked with the Ministry of Health to refine public health measures that would need to be in place when young people return to school.
 
Cabinet agreed on these additional public health measures:  

• Face coverings are now required on school transport for anyone Year 4 and over and recommended for all others. 
• Time outdoors for students and staff will be maximised, including breaks, lunchtime, before and after school (unless the weather does not allow), and rooms aired during breaks. 
• Exercising and singing will take place outdoors. 
• Groups meeting indoors, including assemblies or staff meetings, will be avoided. 
• Senior School exams can go ahead while maintaining physical distancing of a minimum of 1.5 metres between desks. 
• Staff and volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated or, if they only have one dose, provide evidence of a negative Covid test weekly until fully vaccinated. 
• All windows and doors must remain open during instruction to ensure optimal ventilation of learning spaces. 

Face Coverings 
Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Health Order, it’s a legal requirement that all students in Years 4-13 wear a face-covering in an Alert Level 3 area when they are inside at school unless they have an exemption.
Face coverings are not required to be worn when outside. However, as is the case for all New Zealanders, face coverings continue to be strongly recommended, especially when unable to distance from people you don’t know.
 
Exemptions from wearing face coverings
You can find information on face-covering exemptions on the Unite Against COVID-19 website. 

Face coverings should be worn on school transport at all alert levels.

Students in Year 4-13
The exemption from wearing face coverings for students on school transport has been revoked under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Health Order.
This mandate means that from 11.59 pm Friday 22 October, everyone 12 years and older legally must wear a face covering on school transport services (both Ministry and regional council-operated) at all alert levels unless they have an exemption.
This mandate includes charter buses hired by schools to transport students and staff. 
Please note bus drivers are not required to enforce the wearing of face coverings. They will report any non-compliance to your school’s bus controller (noting that some students may be exempt from face-covering requirements for health and safety reasons). KingsWay will manage any non-compliance just as they currently manage behavioural issues of school transport users. 

Additional KingsWay Protocols 

1. Maintain Effective and Safe Hygiene Procedures 

• Effective washing and drying of hands and good cough and sneeze etiquette remain fundamental to preventing the spread of an illness such as colds, flu and COVID-19. 
• Hand sanitiser and disposable towels are available in all areas of the school. The expectation is that staff lead by example by sanitising at the start and end of every lesson or activity.  
• Disinfect any shared equipment before and after use. 
• Clean and sanitise any area used for lunch preparation, and place rinsed dishes immediately into the dishwasher.  
• We clean toilets thoroughly at the end of each day. Staff and students are encouraged to disinfect the toilet area and taps before and after use. 
• Students are discouraged from bringing along toys, games or sharing sports equipment.  
• Only one student is allowed into the Health Centre at a time. Students must wait outside for appointments with the nurse. 

2. Ensure people with COVID-19 symptoms stay away from school 

• All students and staff should remain at home if they are sick and sent home immediately if they display any symptoms.  

3. Maintain Physical Distancing 

• Students and staff must maintain physical distance and avoid breathing on or physical contact with each other. 
• No sharing of food or drinks is permitted. Drink bottles are encouraged to avoid drinking from water fountains.  
• We have cancelled all school trips for Term 4. 
• There will be no assemblies or large group meetings.  
• We have postponed all face-to-face community gatherings until further notice.  
• Students are allocated and restricted to specific areas during morning tea and lunch. 

4. Lunch and Morning Tea Arrangements 

Students must practise physical distancing and good hygiene habits. They are restricted to maintain social distancing when eating and drinking. Drink bottles are encouraged to avoid using drinking fountains. Designated areas have been allocated in the school information.  

5. Contact tracing and minimising contact with adults outside of the KingsWay school bubble.  

The school will keep track of people who enter the school sites– through the attendance and visitor registers and Covid tracing app. In the event of a confirmed transmission within the KingsWay community, it is essential to track the extent of transmission.  

• We require all visitors to sign in at the gate using the COVID App, and if leaving their vehicle, they must sign in at Reception using the blue contract tracing button on the VisTab. 
• Parents should communicate through phone or email and avoid coming onto the site unless essential. 
• We require staff to maintain a log of their interactions with outside agencies and contractors to assist with contact tracing. 
• Students are requested to leave school by 3:30 pm daily to allow for the site to be cleaned and secured.
• Contractor Procedures
  All contractors need to sign in and sign out daily at Reception before undertaking any work on site. There they will be briefed by a receptionist regarding the school’s current Alert procedures. They are required to fulfil the requirements of the Health Order if they are onsite while there are students onsite. 

6. Reported Cases of COVID-19 in the KingsWay Community 

In the event of a reported case of a parent or student, KingsWay’s leadership will liaise with the Ministry of Education and Health and enforce a mandatory shutdown of the school. The Executive Principal will contact parents via the KingsWay School app and other communication tools.   

7. Health Centre  

FIRST AND FOREMOST- to protect students and staff  – NO unwell students should be at school. Nurses will be onsite and contact parents to collect their child if they present any COVID like symptoms.

8. Tuckshop 

The tuckshop resumes service on 17 November for online orders only. Please note the orders will be available from the Tuckshop at the start of the lunch time or delivered to Junior Campus in time for lunch. Students ordering or collecting food must wear a facemask and maintain social distancing. 

9. Uniform Shop 

The uniform shop remains closed, and we continue to encourage parents to purchase online. All online orders received by the end of Sunday 14 November will be available for contactless pick-up from the main Reception at Senior Campus on Monday 15 November between 10:00 – 12:00. Should you wish to exchange or return an item, please mark this clearly and hand it in at the main Reception no later than 15:00 on Monday 15 November. All exchanges will be available for contactless pick-up from the main Reception on Tuesday 16 November between 10:00 – 12:00. Please scan in at the gate before coming onsite. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation. There is a uniform grace period from 17 November until 26 November. 

10.  Sport and Sport Practices  

We have postponed all school sports until further notice. 

 11. Afterschool Programmes 

The Ministry of Education has postponed all after school programmes until further notice.  

 12. Itinerant Music Lessons 

We have cancelled all itinerant music lessons for Term 4.