Please read our Omicron Health and Safety Procedures and Protocols below to ensure a safe and seamless return to the school 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 from the start of the year.  

Introduction

The staff and leadership are committed to ensuring effective health and safety practices at school. We have recently updated our COVID-19 procedures to reduce 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.

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.

There is an extensive range of health requirements and measures:

• 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 mask (not face coverings) and adhere to all procedures and protocols.
• High-touch surfaces are cleaned and disinfected regularly.
• Physical distancing should be adhered to wherever practicable, particularly between adults.
• 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

• Masks 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.
• Groups meeting indoors, including assemblies or staff meetings, will be avoided.
• Staff and volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated.
• We encourage all windows and doors to remain open during instruction to ensure optimal ventilation of learning spaces. This may be impractical when running an air conditioning unit.

Masks

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-mask when they are inside at school unless they have an exemption.
Masks are not required to be worn when outside. However, as is the case for all New Zealanders, masks continue to be strongly recommended, especially when unable to distance from people you don’t know.

Exemptions from wearing masks
You can find information on mask exemptions on the Unite Against COVID-19 website.
Masks should be worn on school transport at all alert levels.

Students in Year 4-13
The exemption from wearing masks for students on school transport has been revoked under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Health Order.
This mandate means that everyone 12 years and older legally must wear a mask 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 masks. They will report any non-compliance to your school’s bus controller (noting that some students may be exempt from mask 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Assemblies or large group meetings are restricted.
• We have postponed all face-to-face community gatherings until further notice.

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 device.
• 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.
• 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 COVID Protection Framework 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 determine a measured and appropriate response. 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

Students ordering or collecting food must maintain social distancing.

9. Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is open for business and the hours are as advertised on the KingsWay website. We request customers to sign in using the QR code and wear a mask.

10.  Sport and Sport Practices

Sport and sport practices resume under the red traffic light.

11. Afterschool Programmes

Skids morning programme is cancelled for Term 1, however the afternoon programme will resume.

12. Itinerant Music Lessons

Itinerant music lessons resume.